Chapter 3 - Lorenzo stepped aside.
“Tell me what you see.”
Elara studied the map.
At first she examined individual lines.
Then she changed focus.
She stopped looking at what had been marked.
She looked at the empty space.
Her father’s old voice returned.
Look for what is missing.
“There.”
She pointed near the Hudson River.
Then another location.
“And there.”
Stefano frowned.
“Dead zones.”
He looked at the map.
“Industrial waste sites.”
“Exactly.”
Elara’s voice strengthened.
“That is why you ignore them.”
The men watched her.
“You are searching for trucks.”
She drew a line.
“For roads.”
The marker connected the dead zones with the river.
“They are not using either.”
Lorenzo stared.
“The old drainage tunnels.”
Elara nodded.
“Look at the shipment times.”
Stefano leaned closer.
“They always move at low tide.”
The room fell quiet.
Stefano traced her line with his finger.
The realization came over his face.
“The tunnels run beneath the checkpoints.”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“That is how they pass us.”
Lorenzo turned toward his capos.
“She saved us $50 million in approximately 5 minutes.”
No one responded.
“Anyone still wish to discuss whether she is worth the trouble?”
The men lowered their eyes.
Lorenzo looked at Elara.
Pride was visible in his expression.
“Well done.”
The telephone rang.
Lorenzo answered.
His face changed almost immediately.
“When?”
He listened.
“Is he alive?”
Then he slammed the receiver down hard enough to crack the plastic.
Stefano stood.
“What?”
“Camila retaliated.”
Lorenzo’s voice shook with controlled rage.
“She did not hit our warehouses.”
He looked toward Elara.
“She hit the nursing home in Queens.”
Elara felt the room tilt.
“My father.”
Lorenzo’s eyes met hers.
“They took him.”
She caught the edge of the desk.
“The Rossi family has Victor.”
A pause.
“And they sent terms.”
“What terms?”
Elara barely managed the words.
“They return him alive.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“In exchange for you.”
Elara swayed.
Lorenzo caught her.
“I will not let you go.”
His hands closed around her arms.
“We will find him.”
He forced her to look at him.
“I promise.”
“No.”
Tears came immediately.
Elara pulled free.
“You do not understand.”
She shook her head.
“If I refuse, they will not simply kill him.”
Her voice broke.
“They will make him suffer.”
“Elara—”
“He is an old man.”
She shouted now.
“I have to go.”
“If you walk into Camila’s hands, she kills you.”
Lorenzo’s voice hardened.
“She does not want an exchange.”
He stared at her.
“She wants revenge.”
“Then let her have it.”
Elara became very quiet.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“I am only a pawn.”
She swallowed.
“Sometimes you sacrifice a pawn to save the king.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
He saw intelligence in her expression.
And the same willingness to destroy herself for someone else that had almost killed her on the terrace.
“You are not a pawn to me.”
His voice became rough.
He touched her cheek.
“You are the queen.”
His eyes held hers.
“And the queen is the most powerful piece on the board.”
Lorenzo turned.
“Load every man.”
Stefano straightened.
“Every weapon.”
Lorenzo took his handgun from the desk and worked the slide.
“We are not making a trade.”
His expression went cold.
“We are ending this.”
A convoy of black SUVs moved through the snow-covered roads at close to 100 mph.
Inside the lead vehicle, gun oil mixed with nervous sweat.
Lorenzo checked the magazine of his customized Beretta again.
Elara sat beside him wearing a Kevlar vest over the cashmere sweater.
Her body looked small beneath the armor.
Her hands were steady.
Stefano’s voice came from the front.
“We are approaching the rendezvous point.”
He looked toward the road ahead.
“Old shipyard.”
A pause.
“Rossi territory.”
“It is a trap.”
Elara’s tone was matter-of-fact.
“We know.”
Lorenzo holstered the Beretta.
“That is why I brought the family.”
“No.”
Elara continued looking through the windshield.
“It is more than a trap.”
Lorenzo turned.
“It is a fork.”
His brow tightened.
“In chess, a fork attacks 2 pieces at the same time.”
Elara looked at him.
“Camila is not only attacking us here.”
Understanding began to enter Lorenzo’s face.
“She is attacking your home.”
“The estate is a fortress.”
His tone sharpened.
“I left 20 men there.”
“Camila knows.”
Elara looked at him.
“She pulled you away using my father.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“While you are fighting here, who is watching your back door?”
Lorenzo took the radio.
“Team B.”
Static.
“Status at the estate.”
A broken voice answered.
“Breached…”
Gunfire was audible in the background.
“Heavy fire inside the walls—”
The connection died.
“Turn around.”
Lorenzo shouted toward the driver.
“No.”
Elara grabbed his arm.
Lorenzo turned.
“If you turn around, my father dies.”
Her voice remained controlled.
“If you stay, you may lose the estate.”
His expression darkened.
“It is the fork.”
“I cannot save both.”
“You can.”
Elara’s eyes sharpened.
“You go home.”
Lorenzo stared.
“You save your house.”
“Your family.”
“Your organization.”
Then:
“And you leave me.”
“Never.”
The answer was immediate.
“I can get my father.”
Elara did not lower her eyes.
“I know Camila.”
A faint hardness entered her voice.
“She is arrogant.”
Elara leaned closer.
“She expects Lorenzo Moretti to attack like a bull.”
She paused.
“She does not expect the mouse.”
“Elara—”
“Give me a gun.”
Lorenzo stared.
“And give me Stefano.”
He remained silent for several seconds.
The woman sitting beside him no longer resembled the frozen maid he had carried through the terrace doors.
“Stefano.”
Lorenzo’s voice hardened.
“You stay with her.”
The consigliere turned.
“If anything happens to Elara…”
Lorenzo’s gaze never left her.
“Do not come back alive.”
Stefano nodded.
“Understood.”
Lorenzo caught Elara’s face between his hands.
Then he kissed her.
Hard.
Desperate.
It carried fear, anger, and something neither of them had spoken aloud.
“Survive.”
His forehead touched hers.
“That is an order.”
Lorenzo left the vehicle and signaled for the majority of the convoy to return toward the estate.
Elara watched him disappear into the storm.
Then she turned forward.
“Drive.”
The vehicle continued.
“Drive into the trap.”
The old shipyard was a graveyard of containers, cranes, and rust.
Snow moved between the structures and limited visibility.
Elara and Stefano approached through the shadows of a dry dock.
Voices came from an abandoned warehouse.
Laughter.
Inside, Victor Vance was tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
He had clearly been beaten.
But he was alive.
Camila stood over him in a white fur coat.
10 armed guards surrounded them.
“He is not coming.”
Camila kicked Victor’s chair.
“Your boyfriend abandoned you.”
Victor spat blood.
“Lorenzo is smarter than you.”
His breathing was rough.
“He recognizes a bad trade.”
Camila drew a gold-plated pistol.
“We’ll see.”
She raised it.
“Perhaps I will send him your ear first.”
“Camila.”
The voice came from across the warehouse.
Camila spun.
Elara stepped from behind a container.
Her hands were raised.
She appeared alone.
Stefano was nowhere in sight.
Camila laughed.
“The maid.”
Her smile returned.
“Did you come to clean the blood?”
“I came to negotiate.”
Elara walked forward.
“You have nothing I want.”
Camila pointed the weapon toward her.
“I wanted Lorenzo.”
Her face twisted.
“I wanted him to bleed.”
She smiled.
“But killing you will be acceptable.”
“You do not want to kill me.”
Elara’s voice remained calm.
Camila frowned.
“Because if you do, you never find the ledger.”
The pistol lowered slightly.
“What ledger?”
“The one I found cleaning Lorenzo’s office.”
Elara lied without hesitation.
“The black ledger.”
Camila watched carefully.
“Every corrupt judge.”
Elara continued.
“Every politician on Moretti payroll.”
“Every offshore account.”
She took another step.
“I stole it.”
Her expression remained steady.
“It is my insurance.”
Camila’s interest overwhelmed her suspicion.
The ledger she imagined would be worth more than a marriage agreement.
More than territory.
It could give her leverage over an entire criminal network.
“Where?”
“Release my father.”
Elara nodded toward Victor.
“He walks out.”
Her tone sharpened.
“When he is safe, I take you to it.”
Camila studied her.
What she saw was still, in some part of her mind, the frightened maid.
“Fine.”
She gestured.
“Cut him loose.”
2 guards removed Victor’s restraints.
He stood unsteadily.
His eyes found Elara.
“No.”
“Go, Dad.”
Her voice became firm.
“Go to the car.”
Victor hesitated.
“Run.”
The guards allowed him to leave.
When he was gone, Camila raised the pistol again.
“The ledger.”
“Right here.”
Elara reached into her pocket.
Every guard tensed.
Her hand emerged empty.
Then she smiled.
It was cold enough to resemble Lorenzo’s.
“Checkmate.”
The warehouse lights went out.
Total darkness.
A flashbang detonated in the center of the guards.
Light and pressure filled the building.
Men shouted.
From the upper catwalks, Stefano and 3 elite shooters opened fire.
They had climbed into position while Elara held Camila’s attention.
Gunfire exploded through the darkness.
Muzzle flashes appeared like brief strobes.
Camila screamed and fired blindly.
Elara dropped and rolled behind a concrete pillar.
May you like
Rounds struck the stone only inches away.
“Secure the target!”
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