Chapter 8 - THE RED COAT
Pier 4 was a graveyard of rusted shipping containers and rotting wooden docks.
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour, masking the sound of Dante’s SUV rolling to a stop a block away.
Luca’s men were shadows in the night, fanning out with silent, lethal precision.
“Stay in the car,” Luca ordered, checking the magazine of his weapon.
“No.” I gripped the ledger. “Vanessa wants this. She wants to see me hand it over. If you breach the warehouse with guns blazing, she’ll shoot my mother.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. He knew I was right, but every protective instinct in his body fought against it.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Emma. I swear on my life.”
“I know,” I said, looking into his eyes.
I stepped out into the rain.
I walked slowly down the pier, the heavy ledger shielded under my jacket.
The main warehouse doors were slightly ajar, spilling sickly yellow light onto the wet concrete.
I stepped inside.
The smell of rust and seawater was overpowering.
In the center of the massive, empty warehouse, my mother was tied to a wooden chair. She looked frail, her head slumped forward, exhausted from the paralytic drugs.
Sitting on a crate next to her was a little boy. Leo. He was clutching a dirty teddy bear, crying silently.
And pacing in front of them, wearing the dark red wool coat I had found in her closet, was Vanessa. She held a silver revolver.
“Emma!” Vanessa smiled, a twisted, victorious grin. “You survived the bank. I’m almost impressed.”
“Let them go, Vanessa,” I yelled, my voice echoing off the corrugated metal roof. I held up the ledger. “I have it.”
Vanessa’s eyes locked onto the book with greedy obsession.
“Bring it here,” she ordered.
I walked forward slowly. My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy.
“You’re pathetic, Emma,” Vanessa sneered as I got closer. “You actually thought Luca cared about you? You’re a maid. A servant. Tomorrow, I will walk down the aisle, take his name, take this ledger, and crush his family’s empire from the inside out.”
She snatched the ledger from my hands.
She opened it, laughing as she saw my father’s handwriting.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
Then, she raised the revolver and aimed it directly at my mother’s chest.
“No loose ends,” Vanessa smiled.
“Wait!” I screamed.
Vanessa paused.
“He’s here,” I said, my voice dropping to a terrifying calm.
Vanessa frowned. “Who?”
“Luca.”
I turned my head, angling my deaf left ear perfectly toward her.
“What did you say?” Vanessa demanded, stepping closer.
I didn’t react. I kept my face completely blank, pretending I couldn’t hear her at all.
Vanessa grew frustrated. She took another step, lowering the gun slightly to yell at my deaf side. “I said, what are you talking ab—”
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I didn’t wait for her to finish.
I pivoted with everything I had, grabbing the heavy, iron fire extinguisher off the pillar beside me, and swung it directly into Vanessa’s knees.
