Chapter 10 - The Man Who Bought the City
Vale didn't run. He walked into the warehouse as if he owned it.
“Lorenzo,” he said. “You've made this unnecessarily difficult.”
“Put the folder down.”
Vale glanced at Mia. “So that's the girl.”
Mia stepped behind a stack of crates, but she kept watching him.
“You've been moving people through the port,” Lorenzo said. “You killed Sofia. You framed Luca.”
Vale sighed. “Your wife was a good woman. That's what made her dangerous. She thought the world could be fixed by telling the truth.”
“You had her killed.”
“I gave an order. Raffaele carried it out.”
Raffaele's face tightened. “You said no one would know.”
Vale ignored him. “I built the system that kept this city running. Judges, police, port officials. Every one of them needed something. I gave it to them.”
“And the families?”
“Collateral.”
Lorenzo moved one step forward. Vale raised the ledger.
“Careful. This book is the only copy. If it burns, your people go down with me.”
A sharp voice cut through the warehouse.
“That's not the only copy.”
Rebecca Shaw entered with two agents. She held a flash drive between two fingers.
Vale's smile vanished.
“Daniel Voss made a copy,” Lorenzo said. “So did Sofia.”
Vale turned toward Raffaele. “You told me the blue room was empty.”
Raffaele's hand drifted toward his gun.
Mia noticed first.
“Mr. Lorenzo!”
Lorenzo moved. The shot went wide, shattering a hanging work light. Agents tackled Raffaele. Vale dropped the ledger and raised both hands.
For one breath, it seemed over.
Then a second gunshot cracked from the loading bay.
Marco fell.
Luca lunged toward him. Lorenzo spun toward the doorway, but the shooter was already gone.
Mia ran to Marco's side and pressed both hands against his shoulder.
“Stay awake,” she ordered. “You're not allowed to leave.”
May you like
Marco tried to smile.
Then his eyes rolled back.
