Chapter 7 - THE BURNING HOUSE
The rain poured down in sheets, washing away the shattered glass on the asphalt, but it couldn't wash away the terror closing my throat.
"Leo!" I screamed into the darkness, spinning around in the maze of shipping containers.
Luca grabbed the child's drawing from the seat. The paper was getting soaked, the crayon lines blurring, but the image of the burning house was unmistakable.
Sofia leaned heavily against the SUV, clutching her chest. "Antonio," she gasped, her face pale. "He found him."
"No," I said, my voice shaking. "Vanessa. Vanessa has a limp. I broke her knee in the garage. She wouldn't have been able to outrun us or the cops. She called her father."
Answer one: Vanessa's family, the Bellinis, had intercepted Leo while we were inside the warehouse.
Open one: Where did they take him?
Open two: What did the drawing of the burning house mean?
Luca stared at the drawing, the muscle in his jaw ticking furiously. "This isn't just a threat. It's a location." He looked at Sofia. "Aunt Sofia... the old summer house on Lake Michigan. The one that burned down ten years ago."
Sofia’s eyes widened in horror. "The Bellini family bought that land after the fire. They built a private compound over the ruins."
"That's where they have him," Luca said. His voice was no longer frantic. It had settled into something much more dangerous—a quiet, absolute resolve. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
"Get a medic to the harbor, South entrance," Luca ordered into the phone. "My aunt needs extraction. Then call every loyal man we have left. We are going to war."
He hung up and turned to me. "Rachel. The medic will take you and Aunt Sofia to a safe house. You've done enough. You saved my life tonight. You saved her."
"I am not going to a safe house," I said, stepping right up to him, ignoring the rain plastering my hair to my face. "Leo was under my protection. I lost him. I'm coming with you."
Luca looked down at me, the harsh floodlights catching the conflict in his dark eyes. For a second, the mafia boss vanished, and he was just a desperate, heartbroken man. He reached out, his thumb gently wiping a streak of grease and rain from my cheek.
"It's a suicide mission, Rachel," he whispered. "The Bellini compound is a fortress."
"Then we better hurry," I replied, grabbing the keys from the ignition.
We drove through the night, the silence in the car heavier than the storm outside. Sofia had been safely handed off to Luca's men, leaving just the two of us speeding toward the lake.
As we neared the compound, the rain slowed to a drizzle. The Bellini estate loomed in the distance, surrounded by high stone walls and a wrought-iron gate. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter.
Luca pulled the car into a dirt access road hidden by thick pine trees, cutting the headlights.
He reached into the backseat, pulling out a heavy duffel bag. He unzipped it, revealing a terrifying arsenal of tactical weapons. He handed me a compact, suppressed pistol.
"Safety is on the left," he instructed, his voice strictly professional now. "Keep it pointed at the ground until you need it."
I took the gun. It felt unnaturally heavy in my hand.
We slipped through the trees, moving silently toward the rear of the compound. Luca knew the security blind spots. We scaled a low section of the stone wall, dropping onto the manicured lawn.
We crept toward the main house, a sprawling glass and steel monstrosity. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the main living room, we could see them.
Vanessa was sitting in a wheelchair, her leg heavily cast and elevated. Her father, Carlo Bellini, stood by the fireplace, smoking a cigar.
And sitting on the floor, surrounded by three armed guards, was Leo. He was clutching his knees, staring blankly at the floor.
My heart ached.
"There's too many guards in that room," Luca whispered, pressing his back against the stone exterior. "If we go in guns blazing, the boy gets caught in the crossfire."
Reversal: We couldn't fight our way in. We had to draw them out.
"The ledger," I said suddenly.
Luca looked at me. "What?"
"Sofia said the ledger was a carved wooden rosary left in her desk," I whispered rapidly. "Antonio tore the room apart. But Vanessa doesn't know that. Vanessa thinks we have it."
Luca’s eyes widened as he realized my plan.
I didn't wait for his permission. I stepped out from the shadows, walking straight up to the glass doors, holding nothing but a plain wooden rosary I had taken from Sofia's hospital bag before we left.
I knocked on the glass.
May you like
Inside, every guard raised their weapon.
Vanessa wheeled herself around, her eyes narrowing with pure, venomous hatred when she saw me standing in the rain, holding the beads up to the light.
