Chapter 11 - THE BROKER'S BARGAIN
"Mom, you can't do this!" I screamed, running up the stone steps and pounding my fists against the heavy iron door.
"It’s strictly business, Sophie," my mother, Helen, replied. Her voice was terrifyingly calm, devoid of any maternal warmth. "The Romanos promised me ten percent of the estate. I’m securing my retirement."
"By killing your own daughter?" I choked out, tears of absolute disbelief blurring my vision.
"You chose your side when you shot Carmine’s man," she said coldly. "Now, slide the tube under the gap, Luca."
Luca stood at the bottom of the stairs, holding the document tube tightly. Amelia was clutching his leg, terrified.
"If I give you the deed, you'll kill us anyway to tie up loose ends," Luca called out, his voice echoing in the crypt.
"Probably," Helen admitted without a hint of remorse. "But if you don't, I open the valve to the old boiler room right now. Carbon monoxide is a very peaceful way to go, Sophie. Like falling asleep."
I stumbled backward down the stairs, feeling nauseous. The woman who had packed my lunches, the woman I had worked my fingers to the bone to support, was casually discussing my murder.
A loud hiss echoed through the crypt.
White, odorless gas began to vent through the grated pipes along the ceiling.
"She turned it on," Luca said, his eyes scanning the stone walls frantically. "We have three minutes before we pass out."
"Daddy, I don't want to sleep," Amelia cried, coughing as the air grew thin.
Answer one: My mother was completely ruthless, loyal only to the Romano syndicate.
Open two: How do we escape a sealed stone crypt with no tools and no signal?
"There has to be another way out," I said, ripping off my coat and pressing it against Amelia’s face to filter the air.
Luca rushed to the old iron grates covering the drainage pipes along the floor. He pulled with all his strength, his wounded shoulder bleeding through his shirt, but the iron was rusted solid.
"It won't budge," Luca coughed, his breathing becoming shallow.
I looked frantically around the crypt. My eyes landed on the stone tombs. Some were hundreds of years old.
"Luca!" I yelled, pointing to a crumbling wall behind the oldest crypts. "The mortar is decaying! Caroline told Amelia this church was connected to the old city catacombs!"
Luca didn't hesitate. He grabbed a heavy bronze candle stand from the wall.
With a roar of effort, he swung the heavy base directly into the decaying brickwork.
The wall cracked.
He swung again, harder.
The bricks gave way, collapsing inward in a cloud of dust, revealing a pitch-black tunnel.
"Go!" Luca ordered, shoving me and Amelia through the hole just as the carbon monoxide alarm began to blare in the crypt.
We scrambled into the dark, damp tunnel. Luca followed, using his body to block the hole with a loose slab of stone, cutting off the gas.
We were in total darkness.
"Keep moving," Luca gasped, turning on his phone's flashlight.
We navigated the winding catacombs for what felt like miles, the air finally clearing into a cold, earthy dampness.
When we finally found a rusted iron ladder leading up to a street-level grate, my arms were shaking with exhaustion.
Luca pushed the grate open, and we climbed out onto a deserted alleyway behind the church.
The freezing rain washed the dirt from our faces. We were alive. We still had the deed.
"We have to take this straight to the FBI," I said, catching my breath.
"No," Luca said, his expression hardening into pure, lethal mafia boss mode.
Reversal. Luca wasn't going to play by the law anymore. The law hadn't stopped them from trying to suffocate his daughter.
"Agent Miller can't touch Helen Bennett while she's protected by the Romanos," Luca said, pulling his gun from his holster. "I'm going to end this tonight."
"Luca, you promised no more violence," I pleaded, holding Amelia close.
"I promised to keep you both safe," Luca corrected softly. "Take Amelia to the hotel. Stay with the agents."
He turned and walked toward the main street.
"Where are you going?" I called after him.
Luca didn't look back.
May you like
"To have a conversation with your mother."
Cliffhanger. Luca is walking into the Romano stronghold alone, heavily wounded, armed with a single gun, to face the woman who raised me.
