Chapter 3 - The Silver Bracelet In The Rain
Marco.
The man who had stood guard outside Lily’s bedroom every night.
The man who Luca trusted with his life.
“Why would Marco take her?” I asked, staring at the crumpled drawing in Luca’s trembling hand.
Luca didn't answer immediately.
He pulled out his cell phone, his thumb flying across the screen.
“Marco’s GPS tracker is disabled,” Luca growled, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “He knows protocol. He knows how to disappear.”
“But he didn't know Lily saw his license plate,” I pointed out.
“She’s a smart girl,” Luca said, a fierce pride cutting through his panic. “She left us a trail.”
We ran back to the SUV.
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour, turning the mountain roads into slick ribbons of black ice.
“Where would Marco go?” I asked as Luca slammed the car into drive.
“If he’s working for Vanessa, he needs to get Lily out of the city. Away from my jurisdiction.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed, processing the variables like the seasoned syndicate boss he was.
“The docks,” he decided. “Marco has a private slip at the old Eastside Marina. He uses it for moving untraceable cargo.”
My chest tightened.
Untraceable cargo.
They were treating a ten-year-old girl like contraband.
We sped through the desolate streets of the industrial district.
The glowing streetlamps reflected off the flooded pavement.
We arrived at the Eastside Marina twenty minutes later.
The docks were completely abandoned, shrouded in a thick, freezing fog rolling off the dark water.
Luca parked the SUV a block away so our headlights wouldn't alert anyone.
He reached into the center console and pulled out a heavy black handgun.
He checked the magazine, the metallic click echoing loudly in the quiet car.
“Stay behind me, Sophie,” he ordered, his voice stripped of all warmth.
I nodded, stepping out into the freezing rain.
We moved silently along the wooden planks of the pier.
The boats bobbed violently in the churning water, their ropes groaning against the wooden cleats.
“There,” Luca whispered, pointing toward the end of the dock.
A black sedan was parked near the edge of the water.
Marco’s car.
The engine was off, but the driver’s side door was hanging wide open.
We hurried toward it.
Luca raised his weapon, sweeping the interior with a terrifying precision.
“Clear,” he muttered.
The car was empty.
I shined my phone flashlight into the backseat.
My breath hitched.
Caught on the inside door handle was a delicate chain of metal.
I reached in and pulled it loose.
It was a silver bracelet.
Small, intricately woven, with a tiny charm shaped like a daisy.
“It’s Lily’s,” I said, handing it to Luca. “Teresa gave it to her for her birthday. She never takes it off.”
Luca closed his fist around the bracelet.
The metal bit into his skin, but he didn't seem to care.
“There was a struggle,” Luca said, inspecting the scuff marks on the leather seats.
I moved the flashlight down to the floorboards.
A small piece of damp paper was stuck to the rubber mat.
I picked it up.
It was a receipt.
“Luca, look at this,” I said, my voice shaking.
He took the receipt.
“Ferry ticket,” he read, the rain instantly smudging the ink. “One-way to international waters. Departure at midnight.”
I checked my watch.
It was 11:45 PM.
“They have fifteen minutes,” I said.
Answer one: Marco was taking her out of the country.
Open two: Who was waiting for her on that ferry, and what did Vanessa stand to gain by kidnapping her future stepdaughter?
Suddenly, a sound pierced through the howling wind.
A sharp, terrified scream.
It came from the massive storage warehouse at the far end of the pier.
“Lily!” Luca roared, abandoning all stealth.
He sprinted down the wet wooden dock, slipping on the slick surface but recovering instantly.
I ran right behind him, the freezing rain blinding me.
The warehouse doors were slightly ajar, a flickering yellow light spilling out into the darkness.
Luca didn't hesitate.
He kicked the heavy metal door, sending it crashing back against the corrugated steel wall.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Inside, the warehouse was a maze of wooden shipping crates.
“Marco!” Luca shouted, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. “You have ten seconds to show your face before I burn this place to the ground!”
Silence.
Then, a voice called out from the shadows.
“I didn't want to do this, Boss.”
Marco stepped out from behind a stack of crates.
He was soaking wet, his security uniform soaked through.
He held a gun in his right hand.
But his left hand wasn't holding Lily.
He was entirely alone.
“Where is she, Marco?” Luca asked, leveling his weapon directly at his most trusted guard’s chest.
Marco’s hands were shaking.
“I wasn't trying to kidnap her, Mr. Moretti,” Marco pleaded, lowering his weapon an inch. “I swear on my life. I was trying to save her.”
A reversal.
I stared at the security chief, completely bewildered.
“Save her from what?” Luca demanded, not lowering his gun a single millimeter.
“From Vanessa,” Marco said, his voice cracking. “Vanessa wasn't going to send her to boarding school. She paid me to drop Lily off with the Romanos.”
The Romanos.
The rival family. The family that had sworn to wipe the Morettis off the map.
“But I couldn't do it, Boss. I couldn't hand a little girl to them,” Marco cried. “So I took her to the docks. I was trying to put her on a ferry to my sister in Canada to hide her.”
“Then why did she scream?” I asked, stepping forward.
Marco looked at me, his eyes wide with genuine terror.
“Because Vanessa figured out I double-crossed her,” Marco whispered.
Before Marco could say another word, a small figure darted out from behind the crates and slammed into my legs.
“Sophie!” Lily sobbed, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I dropped to my knees, holding the freezing, trembling child against my chest.
She was safe.
But as Lily pulled away, she opened her small, wet backpack.
She reached inside and pulled out a heavy, waterlogged garment.
It was a dark velvet coat.
“Daddy,” Lily cried, holding the coat up to Luca. “Vanessa’s bodyguard was here. He tried to take me. But Marco fought him.”
Lily pointed to Marco, who was bleeding from a deep knife wound in his side that I hadn't noticed in the dark.
“The bodyguard dropped this when he ran away,” Lily said, her voice shaking.
May you like
Luca lowered his gun and took the velvet coat from his daughter.
“Sophie,” Lily whispered, her large brown eyes looking up at me in absolute horror. “Feel the pockets. There’s something inside.”
