Chapter 15 - Pier 19
Victor arrived before the police.
He found Lily standing in the empty kitchen, holding Sofia's bracelet.
"He's taken her," she said.
Victor read the card. His face went hard.
"Then we give him what he wants."
"No."
"Lily—"
"He wants the ledger. He wants me to come alone. That's how he controls the room."
Victor stepped closer. "And what do you suggest?"
"Make him think he controls it."
They planned in the restaurant's office with Ruiz on a secure call. Victor would bring a decoy ledger. Ruiz would position officers along the pier. Eddie would track the men moving Sofia. Lily would enter through the old ferry access, where the cameras had been dead for years.
"You're not going in," Victor said.
"She was taken because of me."
"She's been taken because of Matteo."
"Then let me help bring her back."
Victor looked at her for a long moment. "Your father would have hated this."
"My father didn't raise me to hide."
Victor finally nodded.
At midnight, the harbor was quiet except for the slap of water against the pilings. Floodlights washed Pier 19 in pale yellow.
Matteo stood beside a shipping container. Sofia sat tied to a chair, her face bruised but her eyes alert.
"Where's the ledger?" Matteo called.
Lily stepped into the light, holding the case.
"Let her go."
Matteo smiled. "You look so much like your mother when you're angry."
"Don't say her name."
"She was a stubborn woman."
"And you're a coward."
His smile disappeared.
He lifted a gun and pointed it at Sofia.
"Open the case."
Lily set it on the ground.
Matteo crouched to inspect it. As he did, Sofia shifted her chair and kicked the back of his knee.
May you like
The gun fired into the air.
Lily ran.
