Chapter 6 - The Price of Loyalty
They drove through the rain without turning on the headlights until they reached the river road. Lorenzo called his oldest lieutenant, Marco Bellini, who answered on the first ring.
“Tell me you're not involved.”
Marco was silent.
“That's not an answer.”
“I've been trying to reach you,” Marco said. “Raffaele has the house. He says you're unstable. He's telling the crews you brought a child into the family business and started making threats.”
“Let him talk.”
“He's also moving men toward the docks.”
“Why?”
“There's a shipment coming in tonight. He wants you there.”
Lorenzo glanced at Mia. She was watching the road signs.
“Don't go near the docks,” Marco warned. “It's a trap.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because Luca is alive.”
Lorenzo nearly missed the turn. “Where?”
“Old St. Vincent's clinic. He asked me to get Mia out, but I couldn't reach her.”
“Why didn't you tell me six months ago?”
“Because I thought you ordered the ambush.”
The words cut deep.
Marco explained that the convoy had been rerouted using a dispatch code only three people knew: Lorenzo, Raffaele, and Marco. The evidence pointed to Lorenzo. Marco had believed the paperwork.
“Someone wanted us to blame each other,” Lorenzo said.
“Someone succeeded.”
The clinic was abandoned, its windows boarded and its sign hanging by one chain. Inside, they found a room with a mattress, a bottle of water, and a child's drawing taped to the wall. The drawing showed Mia holding hands with a man whose face had been crossed out.
On the mattress lay a bloodstained shirt.
Mia picked it up.
“That's Dad's.”
A noise came from the far end of the corridor.
Lorenzo raised his gun.
A figure stepped from the shadows, thin and limping, with one hand pressed to his ribs.
“Don't shoot,” the man rasped.
Mia ran before Lorenzo could stop her.
“Dad!”
Luca caught her in his arms. He looked older, thinner, and terrified. He held her as if the world might take her away again.
Then he looked over her shoulder at Lorenzo.
“You shouldn't have brought her here,” Luca said.
“Why?”
“Because they know what she is.”
May you like
Luca reached into his coat and pulled out a folded document.
“Mia isn't just evidence,” he whispered. “She's the key to the whole operation.”
