Chapter 8
The ledger contained 4,812 names.
Chloe knew because she counted them.
For fourteen hours, the library at the Rossi estate became a war room.
Joseph produced his half from a hidden compartment beneath the floor of Saint Vincent.
Antonio’s box contained the first.
Together they formed something far larger than Chloe had imagined.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Property deeds.
Payoffs.
Confessions.
Judges who had dismissed cases.
Police officers who had buried evidence.
Executives who had laundered money.
Union leaders who had arranged disappearances.
Criminal families that had purchased elections.
Chloe sat surrounded by scanners and computers.
Dominic watched.
“This could burn the city down.”
“Yes.”
“Some of these people work with us.”
“I know.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You still want to release it?”
Chloe stopped typing.
“My brother is ten years old.”
Dominic said nothing.
“I don’t care whose career survives.”
Joseph stood near the window.
“If everything goes public, the Rossi organization gets hit too.”
Chloe looked at Dominic.
“I know.”
Dominic did not hesitate.
“Do it.”
Paulie stared at him.
“Boss.”
“You heard me.”
“We could lose everything.”
Dominic’s gaze remained on Chloe.
“I can rebuild everything.”
He paused.
“I can’t rebuild Sam.”
Chloe’s eyes filled.
She looked away before the tears fell.
They created dozens of encrypted packages.
News organizations.
Federal prosecutors.
State investigators.
Internal affairs divisions.
Foreign financial regulators.
Each package was scheduled for automatic release.
One command would send them.
Silvio called at 9:00 p.m.
“Midnight,” he said.
“Old Grand Central freight terminal.”
Dominic recognized it.
Abandoned underground rail platforms beneath the city.
“Bring Joseph.”
“No.”
“Then the boy dies.”
Dominic looked at Joseph.
Joseph nodded.
“Fine.”
“And Chloe.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“No.”
Silvio laughed.
“She comes, or Sam loses a finger every ten minutes after midnight.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
Dominic looked ready to crush the phone.
“I’ll come,” she said.
Silvio heard.
“Good girl.”
The line ended.
Dominic turned toward her.
“No.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“I always have a choice.”
“So do I.”
Chloe stepped closer.
“You told me staying meant staying completely.”
“This isn’t what I meant.”
“It’s exactly what you meant.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“I will not walk you into that building.”
“You won’t.”
She looked at the laptop.
“I’ll walk myself.”
At 11:43 p.m., three vehicles entered the underground freight tunnel.
Dominic drove the first.
Chloe sat beside him.
Joseph and Paulie were in the rear.
The ledger occupied a metal case.
But the real weapon was Chloe’s phone.
One button.
Send.
The terminal appeared ahead.
Hundreds of dead lights hung from the ceiling.
Only a small section had power.
Sam sat in a chair beneath one lamp.
His hands were tied.
Chloe stopped breathing.
He was alive.
“Chloe!”
A man struck the back of his chair.
“Quiet.”
Dominic’s entire body tightened.
Then a wheelchair emerged from the darkness.
Silvio Bellandi looked almost fragile.
Eighty years old.
Thin.
Oxygen tube beneath his nose.
Blanket across his legs.
But his eyes were alive.
Cold.
Intelligent.
He looked at Dominic.
“Nico.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Let him go.”
Silvio smiled.
“You look like your mother.”
Dominic’s hand moved toward his gun.
Ten rifles rose from the darkness.
Silvio chuckled.
“Still emotional.”
Joseph stepped forward.
“You wanted us.”
Silvio’s expression changed.
“Joseph.”
Twenty-five years collapsed into one word.
“You were always stubborn.”
“You were always a coward.”
Silvio smiled.
“Perhaps.”
He looked toward Chloe.
“And this is the accountant.”
Chloe said nothing.
“You’ve caused trouble.”
“Good.”
Silvio laughed.
“I understand why he likes you.”
Dominic moved slightly in front of her.
Silvio noticed.
“Exactly.”
He looked delighted.
“Men like Dominic spend their lives building armor. Then one day a woman walks in and gives them something to lose.”
Chloe looked at Sam.
“Show me he’s okay.”
Silvio nodded.
A guard cut the tape from Sam’s mouth.
“Chloe!”
“I’m here.”
“I’m okay.”
His voice trembled.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
Chloe forced herself to smile.
“Remember what I told you when Dad died?”
Sam nodded.
“What?”
“That being scared doesn’t mean you stop thinking.”
“Exactly.”
Silvio watched them.
“How touching.”
Dominic placed the metal case on the ground.
“The ledger.”
Silvio’s attention sharpened.
“Open it.”
Joseph did.
Documents.
Drives.
Photographs.
Silvio inhaled.
Twenty-five years of obsession sat before him.
“Bring it.”
Dominic lifted the case.
“No.”
Silvio looked at him.
“The boy first.”
Silvio sighed.
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“Neither are you.”
Chloe raised her phone.
Silvio looked at it.
“What is that?”
“Insurance.”
His expression changed slightly.
Chloe continued.
“The entire ledger has been digitized.”
Silence.
“It is scheduled to be sent to forty-three news organizations and twelve law-enforcement agencies.”
Silvio stared.
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe.”
Chloe held up the screen.
“There’s one command that cancels the release.”
Silvio looked toward his men.
Then back at her.
“What do you want?”
“Sam.”
“Give me the phone.”
“Give me Sam.”
Silvio smiled.
Then he nodded.
The guard untied Sam.
“Walk.”
Sam ran.
Chloe dropped to her knees and caught him.
She held him so tightly he gasped.
Dominic looked away for half a second.
Relief almost broke him.
“Now,” Silvio said. “Cancel it.”
Chloe stood.
Sam moved behind Paulie.
Chloe looked at Silvio.
“No.”
The old man’s smile vanished.
“What?”
“I said no.”
Dominic turned toward her.
Silvio’s face became ugly.
“We had a deal.”
“You kidnapped a ten-year-old.”
Chloe pressed the button.
Silvio screamed.
“NO!”
The terminal erupted.
His men raised weapons.
Dominic fired first.
Paulie pulled Sam behind concrete.
Joseph overturned a table.
Gunfire exploded through the underground station.
Chloe dropped.
Dominic covered her with his body.
Bullets struck steel.
Silvio’s wheelchair rolled backward.
“Kill them!”
Dominic fired twice.
One gunman fell.
Paulie shot another.
Joseph grabbed Sam and moved toward the tunnel.
“Go!”
Dominic pulled Chloe with him.
They ran behind a freight car.
Silvio’s men pursued.
Then sirens sounded.
Not one.
Dozens.
Chloe smiled breathlessly.
Dominic looked at her.
“You called them?”
“I sent the terminal coordinates with the files.”
“You invited the FBI to a mob meeting?”
“I told you accountants were dangerous.”
Despite everything, Dominic laughed.
The first tactical teams entered from the east tunnel.
Silvio’s men scattered.
Some surrendered.
Others fired.
Dominic pushed Chloe toward Paulie.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“Silvio.”
“Dominic.”
“He doesn’t leave.”
She grabbed his coat.
“Don’t become eight years old again.”
He looked at her.
“That’s what he wants.”
For one second, rage fought reason.
Then Dominic nodded.
They moved toward the exit.
A gunshot cracked.
Joseph jerked.
Dominic turned.
His father fell.
Silvio stood behind a pillar holding a pistol.
Despite his wheelchair, despite his age, he had fired himself.
Dominic caught Joseph.
Blood spread across his chest.
Silvio aimed again.
Dominic raised his weapon.
Both men fired.
Silvio’s pistol flew from his hand.
Dominic’s bullet struck his shoulder.
Federal agents rushed the platform.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
Dominic could have killed Silvio.
One more shot.
Twenty-five years of pain.
One pull of the trigger.
Chloe watched him.
Dominic slowly lowered the gun.
It struck the concrete.
He knelt beside his father.
Joseph was still breathing.
Barely.
“Nico.”
“I’m here.”
Joseph smiled weakly.
“You came back.”
Dominic pressed both hands against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
Joseph’s eyes closed.
“No. Look at me.”
Dominic’s voice broke.
“Dad.”
It was the first time Chloe had heard him say it.
Joseph opened his eyes.
“You stopped for the boy.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Yes.”
“That’s enough.”
“No.”
Joseph smiled.
“That’s everything.”
His eyes closed.
Dominic shouted for a medic.
This time, people came.
Agents.
Paramedics.
Doctors.
May you like
For the first time in Dominic Rossi’s life, when a frightened boy cried for help in the street, people did not step over him.
They came running.
