Chapter 5 - The Midnight Trade
The rain started falling just before midnight, slicking the streets of Chicago like black glass.
I sat in the passenger seat of Luca’s SUV, my hands gripping my seatbelt so hard my knuckles were white. Luca drove in silence, his profile illuminated by the passing streetlights. In the backseat, wrapped in a dark coat, sat Teresa.
She had refused to stay behind.
"Vanessa wants the bank codes," Teresa had said, loading a silver revolver with practiced hands before we left the house. "And I am the only one who knows them."
We pulled into the abandoned shipping yard on the south side. The towering metal containers looked like a maze of shadows in the heavy rain.
Luca stopped the car. He turned off the headlights.
"Stay in the car, Mom," Luca said. "Emily, you stay with her."
"No," I said, my voice shaking but firm. "It's my brother. I'm going with you."
Luca looked at me. He saw the terror in my eyes, but he also saw the resolve. He gave a single, tight nod. He handed me a heavy steel flashlight. "Stay behind me."
We stepped out into the freezing rain. The smell of rust and salt water filled my nose. We walked down a narrow alley between two towering red shipping containers.
At the end of the alley, standing under a single flickering halogen light, was Vanessa.
She wore a long black trench coat, holding a sleek black umbrella. Standing beside her were two massive men in cheap suits. And kneeling on the wet concrete in front of them was Sam.
"Sam!" I screamed, lunging forward.
Luca caught my arm, pulling me back behind him. He raised his gun, pointing it directly at Vanessa's chest.
"Let the boy go, Vanessa," Luca said, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain.
Vanessa smiled. It was a cold, empty thing. "Where is your mother, Luca? Did you put her to bed?"
"I'm right here," a voice called out from the darkness.
Vanessa's smile vanished as Teresa stepped out from behind a container to our left. She wasn't holding an umbrella. The rain soaked her gray hair, but she held the silver revolver perfectly steady, aiming it at Vanessa's head.
"You brought the old lady," Vanessa laughed, though it sounded forced. "What is she going to do, knit me to death?"
"I brought the codes," Teresa said, pulling a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "Let the boy walk to his sister. Then I'll drop the paper."
Vanessa snapped her fingers. One of the men grabbed Sam by his collar and hauled him to his feet. He shoved him forward.
Sam stumbled, crying, and ran toward me. I caught him, wrapping my arms around him, pulling him behind the safety of Luca's broad shoulders.
"I have him," I whispered to Luca.
"Drop the codes, Teresa," Vanessa demanded.
Teresa threw the folded paper onto the wet ground.
Vanessa gestured to one of her men. He walked forward, picked up the paper, and unfolded it. He shined a light on it.
The man looked up at Vanessa. "Boss... it's blank."
Vanessa’s eyes flared with rage. She pulled a gun from her coat and aimed it at Teresa.
"You stupid old woman!" Vanessa screamed.
But before she could pull the trigger, the piercing sound of a police siren tore through the shipping yard. Red and blue lights flooded the alleyway, reflecting off the wet pavement.
Vanessa froze. "You called the cops? You broke the code?"
Luca didn't lower his gun. He smiled. "I didn't call the cops, Vanessa. My mother did. Twenty minutes ago. From the car."
"You're going to prison with me, Luca!" Vanessa shrieked over the sirens.
"No, I'm not," Luca said calmly. "Because I don't own the Chicago syndicate anymore. I signed it all over to a federal trust yesterday morning. My mother's offshore accounts are clean. Yours are the ones tied to the extortion."
Vanessa stared at him in horror.
"It's over," Luca said. "Drop the gun."
Vanessa looked at the approaching police cars, then at Luca. Her hand trembled. But instead of dropping the gun, she turned it toward me.
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"If I lose everything," Vanessa snarled, "you lose her."
A gunshot rang out, echoing like a cannon in the narrow alley.
