Chapter 10 - The Locker At Union Station
The fluorescent lights of Chicago’s Union Station buzzed above our heads, casting a sickly, pale glow over the rows of scuffed metal lockers.
It was 3:00 AM. The station was mostly deserted, save for a few sleeping travelers and the distant echo of a floor buffer.
I stood shivering in my soot-stained coat. Adrian stood beside me, his ruined tuxedo drawing strange looks from a passing security guard, but the sheer, intimidating presence of the man kept anyone from asking questions.
Adrian held a small, brass key in his hand.
He had found it taped inside the envelope his mother left him.
Find the wooden box at the train station.
Teresa Moretti had orchestrated everything. She had known about the fire. She had known Celeste’s true nature. She had known Adrian would eventually find the letter and end up exactly where we were standing.
Adrian stopped in front of locker number 412.
He slid the brass key into the lock. It turned with a heavy, satisfying click.
The metal door swung open.
Inside the dusty locker sat a single object.
A polished mahogany box, about the size of a shoebox. It was heavy, sealed with a small brass latch.
Adrian pulled it out. He set it on the metal bench behind us.
Neither of us spoke. The weight of fourteen years of secrets lay inside that wood.
Adrian undid the latch and opened the lid.
Inside, resting on a bed of faded red velvet, were three things.
A stack of hundred-dollar bills, thick enough to start a new life.
A pristine, sealed envelope addressed to me. Kate.
And a silver rosary.
Not the charred, ruined rosary I had found in the floorboards of the restaurant kitchen. This one was perfect, the silver gleaming, the beads carved from smooth, dark obsidian.
I reached out with a trembling hand and picked up the envelope with my name on it.
“Open it,” Adrian said softly.
I broke the wax seal. Inside was a single sheet of heavy, cream-colored paper. The cursive handwriting was identical to the note Teresa had left for Adrian.
Kate,
If you are reading this, my son has finally opened his eyes, and the Romano girl has paid for her sins.
Fourteen years ago, I made a choice that damned my soul. I knew Celeste set the fire. I knew she killed my Nico. But Vincent Romano threatened to butcher Adrian in his sleep if I went to the police. I had to protect my surviving son.
But I also had to protect you.
I lied to Adrian. I told him I paid Marco to kill your mother. I knew Marco would betray me to Vincent Romano. I needed Vincent to believe Sarah and the baby were dead, so he would stop hunting you.
Answer one: Teresa didn't order my mother’s death. She faked a hit to convince the Romanos we were dead, keeping us safe for fourteen years.
Open two: If Teresa wanted us safe... why did she leave me this box now?
I continued reading, my eyes blurring with tears.
But I didn't pay Marco with money. I paid him with the one thing he wanted more than Vincent Romano’s favor.
I gave him the deed to the restaurant.
Marco has owned the building in secret for fourteen years. He let Sal run it as a front. But Marco is a greedy, violent man. I knew he would eventually come for Adrian.
So I left you a weapon.
The silver rosary in this box belonged to Vincent Romano’s wife. She was murdered twenty years ago. The police never found the killer. But I did.
The killer dropped this rosary at the scene. Look at the back of the crucifix.
I dropped the letter. I reached into the box and pulled out the gleaming silver rosary.
I flipped the heavy crucifix over.
Engraved into the polished silver was a single name.
Marco.
My blood ran entirely cold.
Marco, Adrian’s trusted head of security. The man who had driven us tonight. The man who had shot at us in the burning kitchen. He was the one who had murdered Vincent Romano’s wife two decades ago.
If Vincent Romano saw this rosary... he wouldn't care about Adrian or the Moretti empire. He would tear Marco limb from limb.
“Kate,” Adrian said, reading the end of the letter over my shoulder. “Look at the last line.”
I looked down at the cream-colored paper.
Give the rosary to Vincent. Let the wolves eat each other. Then, take what belongs to you.
I stared at the words.
Take what belongs to you.
Before I could ask what she meant, the heavy glass doors of the train station shattered inward.
The deafening crack of gunfire echoed through the empty terminal.
I screamed, dropping the letter.
Adrian grabbed me, pulling me behind the thick marble pillar next to the lockers.
“They found us,” Adrian snarled, drawing his weapon.
Footsteps echoed rapidly across the tile floor. But it wasn't the Romano soldiers.
It was Marco.
He was alone, his black overcoat soaked with rain and smelling of smoke. He held an assault rifle, his eyes wild and desperate.
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“Throw out the box, Boss!” Marco yelled, his voice echoing in the cavernous station. “I know she left the proof in there! Throw it out, and I’ll let the girl walk away!”
TITLE: The Weapon In The Velvet
