Chapter 5 - THE TARNISHED BRACELET
The rain fell in sheets, washing the blood into the gutters of the alley.
Luca grabbed my hand, pulling me deeper into the shadows as the hitman descended the fire escape.
We watched the man drape my heavy grey winter coat over his shoulders and climb into a black, unmarked sedan idling at the end of the alley.
“We need a car,” Luca said, his eyes scanning the street.
He spotted an old, rusted pickup truck parked near the corner deli.
Without a word, he approached the driver’s side, smashed the window with the butt of his gun, unlocked the door, and reached under the steering column.
Within seconds, the engine roared to life.
“Get in,” he ordered.
I climbed into the passenger seat, shivering violently. My thin waitress uniform offered no protection against the freezing Chicago night, but the cold was nothing compared to the ice in my veins.
Lily.
My sweet, six-year-old girl, with her missing front tooth and her obsession with drawing stars. She was in the hands of monsters.
“They’re going to the old railyard,” Luca said, shifting the truck into gear and pulling out, keeping two car lengths behind the hitman’s sedan. “Carlo owns it. He uses the abandoned warehouses for trafficking.”
“Will they hurt her?” I choked out, tears mixing with the rain on my face.
Luca didn't offer a polite lie.
“Carlo doesn't care about children, Megan. But he won't touch her as long as he thinks your mother still has the proof hidden. He’ll use Lily as leverage to force your mother to talk.”
He glanced at me, his jaw tight.
“We have to get that rosary from the hitman before he realizes what’s inside the coat.”
We drove through the desolate, industrial district of the South Side. The streets were empty, illuminated only by flickering amber streetlights.
Finally, the hitman’s sedan turned through a set of rusted chain-link gates leading into the massive, overgrown railyard.
Luca killed the headlights and parked the truck behind a crumbling brick wall a hundred yards away.
“We go on foot from here,” he said.
He pulled a spare, suppressed handgun from his ankle holster and handed it to me.
I stared at the heavy black metal.
“I’ve never held a gun before,” I whispered, my hands shaking.
“Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to destroy whatever is in front of you,” Luca said softly, his dark eyes locking onto mine. “You are a mother protecting her child. You already know how to fight.”
I swallowed hard and took the weapon. The cold steel felt heavy, but it grounded me.
We slipped through the shadows, moving silently between rusted, decaying train cars. The air smelled of wet rust and old oil.
Ahead, inside a massive, dimly lit warehouse, several black SUVs were parked.
We crept up to a broken window covered in grime.
Inside, the scene made my blood run cold.
My mother, looking incredibly frail and pale, was tied to a metal chair in the center of the concrete floor.
Standing beside her, holding a terrified, crying Lily by the arm, was Vanessa Bellini.
Vanessa was no longer wearing her elegant red gown. She wore a sleek black trench coat, her face twisted with a cruel, vindictive pleasure.
Sitting on a wooden crate across from them was a man in his late sixties. He wore an expensive tailored suit and had a deep, jagged scar running down the left side of his face.
Carlo Moretti. Luca’s uncle.
“I’m losing my patience, Helen,” Carlo said, his voice raspy and cruel. “Where is the ledger?”
“I don't know what you’re talking about,” my mother gasped, coughing weakly.
Vanessa yanked Lily’s arm, causing my daughter to cry out.
“Stop lying, you old hag!” Vanessa shrieked. “My father is dead because of the games your family played! Tell us where the proof is, or I’ll throw this brat into the river!”
“Mommy!” Lily cried, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks.
I raised the gun, pressing the barrel against the dirty glass window, my finger trembling on the trigger. I was going to kill Vanessa. I didn't care about the consequences.
Luca gently placed his hand over mine, lowering the weapon.
“Not yet,” he whispered. “Look.”
The hitman we had followed walked into the warehouse. He was still wearing my grey winter coat.
He approached Carlo.
“The apartment was empty, Boss. But Luca Moretti was there. He killed two of our men before escaping.”
Carlo slammed his fist onto the wooden crate.
“Find him! If Luca contacts the Commission, this is over for all of us!”
The hitman nodded, taking off my heavy grey coat to shake off the rain.
As he draped it over a nearby metal barrel, something caught on the fabric.
A heavy, tarnished silver bracelet slipped out of the hitman’s pocket and clattered onto the concrete floor.
Vanessa saw it.
She walked over and picked it up.
Her expression immediately changed from cruelty to pure shock.
“Where did you get this?” Vanessa demanded, holding the bracelet up.
The hitman frowned. “I took it off the body of the Moretti guard we dropped outside the apartment.”
Vanessa stared at the tarnished silver.
“This is my mother’s bracelet,” Vanessa whispered, her voice trembling. “She was buried with this twenty years ago.”
Carlo went completely still.
“Give me that,” Carlo ordered, snatching the bracelet from Vanessa’s hand.
He examined the inside band.
His face turned ghostly pale.
“It’s not possible,” Carlo breathed.
“What?” Vanessa demanded. “Who dug up my mother’s grave?”
Carlo didn't answer. He turned slowly toward my mother, tied to the chair.
“You didn't just witness the murder,” Carlo realized, his voice filled with absolute dread. “You took the bracelet off her body before we buried her. You knew.”
My mother lifted her head. Despite her sickness, her eyes burned with fierce defiance.
“Anthony told me to take it,” my mother said, her voice echoing in the quiet warehouse. “He knew you poisoned her, Carlo. He knew you killed Vanessa’s mother to frame his best friend.”
Vanessa stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth.
“What?” Vanessa gasped, staring at Carlo. “You killed my mother?”
The entire dynamic in the room shattered in a single second.
Carlo raised his gun, pointing it directly at Vanessa’s head.
“Shut up, you stupid girl,” Carlo snarled. “She was going to tell the Commission I was stealing from the pension fund. She had to die.”
Vanessa let out a horrific scream. She dropped Lily’s arm and lunged at Carlo.
Carlo didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger.
The gunshot deafened the warehouse.
Vanessa collapsed to the concrete, clutching her shoulder, screaming in agony.
In the chaos, the hitman drew his weapon, confused about who to protect.
It was the opening we needed.
May you like
“Now!” Luca roared.
He kicked the dirty glass window inward, shattering it into a thousand pieces, and unleashed a barrage of suppressed gunfire into the warehouse.
