Chapter 6
The Trade
I don't remember dropping the phone.
I remember Luca catching it.
I remember him listening.
I remember the change in his face.
But I don't remember breathing.
“My mother,” I said.
Luca held the phone away from his ear.
“Victor.”
A laugh came through the speaker.
“Still quick, Luca.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“If you've touched either one—”
“You'll what?”
Victor sounded amused.
“Kill me? How predictable.”
Luca's voice went quiet.
“Tell me where.”
“Bring yourself to the old Morrison elevator yard at midnight.”
I stared at him.
Morrison.
My father's old company.
Victor continued.
“No security. No police. Emma comes too.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“Then Margaret Sullivan dies first.”
My knees buckled.
Luca caught me.
I grabbed the phone.
“Please.”
“Emma.”
Victor's voice changed.
Almost gentle.
“I've spent fourteen years making sure your family stayed alive. Don't make that investment meaningless.”
“You threatened my father.”
“Your father is a liar.”
“Where is he?”
Silence.
Then Victor said, “Ask Luca what his father did the night Daniel Sullivan disappeared.”
I looked at Luca.
He frowned.
“What is he talking about?”
Victor laughed again.
“Midnight.”
The line went dead.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then I turned to Luca.
“What did your father do?”
“I don't know.”
“Victor thinks you do.”
“Victor is trying to divide us.”
“That's not an answer.”
Luca stepped closer.
“My father did not tell me anything about Daniel Sullivan.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Why should I believe you?”
His jaw tightened.
“You shouldn't.”
That surprised me.
He continued.
“You should verify everything.”
I stared.
“Including me.”
Michael began making calls.
Within minutes, the cabin became a command center.
Maps.
Weapons.
Phones.
Security feeds.
I stood near the window.
Luca approached.
“We're getting them back.”
“How?”
“By not doing what Victor expects.”
“He said no security.”
“Yes.”
“He'll kill them.”
“If we arrive alone, he'll kill all of us.”
My hands shook.
“I can't lose them.”
“You won't.”
“You can't promise that.”
He hesitated.
“No.”
At least he didn't lie.
I looked at him.
“Would you go if it were your family?”
He didn't answer.
“That means yes.”
“It means this isn't the same.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't have much family left.”
There was something in his voice.
I looked toward him.
“Bruno.”
His expression softened.
“Bruno.”
“And Antonio.”
“Not anymore.”
I should have felt afraid of Luca.
Instead, I felt something worse.
I trusted him.
Despite my father's warning.
Despite the secrets.
Despite common sense.
At eleven forty-seven, we arrived at the abandoned Morrison yard.
It was exactly the kind of place where people disappeared in movies.
Rusting industrial buildings.
Broken windows.
A tall elevator-testing tower rising against the Chicago sky.
Luca and I entered through a chain-link gate.
Apparently alone.
Michael's team was hidden several blocks away.
A calculated violation of Victor's instructions.
My heart pounded with every step.
Inside the main warehouse, lights clicked on.
My mother sat in a chair.
Ethan beside her.
Their hands were tied.
“Mom!”
“Emma!”
I ran forward.
A gunshot hit the concrete in front of me.
I stopped.
Victor Bellini stepped from the shadows.
He was tall, broad, and impeccably dressed.
Like his daughter, he looked expensive.
Unlike Vanessa, he looked completely comfortable around violence.
“That's far enough.”
Luca stepped beside me.
“Let them go.”
Victor smiled.
“You came.”
“You asked.”
“I expected more men.”
“They're nearby.”
Victor's smile faded.
“At least you're honest.”
“Sometimes.”
Three armed men appeared above us on a metal walkway.
Victor looked at me.
“Your father always liked impossible situations.”
“Where is he?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
My mother shook her head.
“Emma, don't believe him.”
Victor looked annoyed.
“Margaret, you were always difficult.”
My mother stared at him.
“You're older than I expected.”
Victor laughed.
“You remember me?”
“Of course I remember you.”
I looked at her.
“Mom?”
She closed her eyes.
Oh God.
“You knew?”
“I knew his face.”
“For fourteen years?”
“I didn't know your father was alive.”
“Then what did you know?”
Victor interrupted.
“We don't have time for family therapy.”
He looked at Luca.
“The ledger.”
“We don't have it.”
Victor sighed.
“Then this becomes unpleasant.”
“We know where it is.”
That got his attention.
Luca looked at me.
I understood.
Lake Michigan.
The bathtub.
Our old apartment.
Victor smiled.
“Better.”
“Release them first.”
“No.”
“Then no ledger.”
Victor lifted his gun.
He pointed it at Ethan.
“Perhaps this motivates you.”
My brother looked at me.
“Emma, don't.”
Victor cocked the weapon.
“Where is it?”
I couldn't think.
Then Bruno barked.
Everyone froze.
Victor turned.
Another bark.
Closer.
Luca looked genuinely shocked.
So was I.
Bruno came limping through a side doorway wearing a tactical harness.
Michael appeared behind him with a weapon raised.
Chaos exploded.
Victor fired.
Luca tackled me.
Michael's team burst through two doors.
Ethan knocked his chair sideways into one of Victor's men.
My mother screamed.
Gunfire echoed through the warehouse.
I crawled toward them.
A man grabbed my hair.
I swung backward with my elbow.
He cursed.
Then Bruno lunged.
Old.
Drugged less than twenty-four hours earlier.
Barely able to walk that morning.
And somehow still willing to attack anyone who touched me.
He clamped onto the man's arm.
The gun fell.
I grabbed it.
I had never held a firearm in my life.
“Don't move!”
The man looked at the trembling weapon.
Then at me.
He stopped.
Luca reached my mother.
Michael cut Ethan loose.
Victor ran toward the freight elevator.
Luca followed.
“Luca!”
He disappeared inside.
I chased him.
The elevator doors closed before I reached them.
I hit the button.
Nothing.
Then I saw the maintenance stairs.
I ran.
Six flights.
My lungs burned.
At the top, I found Luca and Victor fighting near the open shaft.
Victor slammed Luca into the railing.
“You still don't know, do you?” Victor shouted.
Luca hit him.
“Know what?”
“Who killed your father!”
Luca froze for half a second.
Victor smiled.
“That was your mistake.”
He punched Luca.
Luca staggered.
I raised the gun.
“Stop!”
Victor turned.
He laughed when he saw me.
“You won't shoot.”
“I might.”
“No, Emma.”
He stepped toward me.
“You're Daniel Sullivan's daughter.”
Another step.
“He couldn't do it either.”
“Do what?”
“Finish what he started.”
Luca slowly stood behind him.
Victor didn't notice.
“He had a gun on Antonio fourteen years ago.”
My blood went cold.
“He could have ended everything.”
Victor smiled.
“Instead, he made a deal.”
“What deal?”
“To keep you alive.”
Luca tackled him.
Both men crashed against the railing.
Metal screamed.
Victor slipped.
For a second, Luca held his wrist.
Victor dangled over the elevator shaft.
“Help me!”
Luca stared down.
Every terrible thing inside him appeared in his face.
His father's death.
Vanessa.
Bruno.
My family.
Then Luca pulled.
He dragged Victor back onto the platform.
Victor stared at him.
“Why?”
Luca breathing heavily.
“Because Emma's watching.”
I lowered the gun.
Something inside my chest changed forever.
Police sirens approached.
Victor began laughing.
“You think this ends with me?”
Luca grabbed his jacket.
“Where is Daniel?”
Victor smiled.
“Ask Antonio.”
Then the elevator machinery roared beneath us.
A steel cable snapped.
The platform shook.
May you like
And from somewhere deep inside the shaft, my father's voice screamed my name.
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