Chapter 6 - The Warehouse Trap
The old warehouse stood beside the river.
Dante arrived with the Black Book in a metal case.
Victor was waiting.
Ethan was tied to a chair.
Lucy was not there.
Dante had refused to bring her.
Victor smiled.
"Where is the girl?"
"Safe."
"You disappoint me."
"You don't get to."
Victor laughed.
"Your family has been disappointing me for years."
Dante stepped forward.
"Let the boy go."
"Give me the ledger."
Dante opened the case.
Victor's men approached.
Then every light in the warehouse turned on.
Dante smiled.
"Now."
Gunfire erupted.
Raphael's team moved from the rafters.
Victor's men scattered.
Dante reached Ethan.
"Ethan."
The boy looked up.
"Lucy?"
"She's safe."
Ethan's shoulders dropped.
Dante cut the ropes.
"You did well."
"My mama?"
Dante hesitated.
"She's alive."
Ethan stared.
"She is?"
Dante nodded.
"We'll find her."
Victor ran.
Dante chased him onto the pier.
"Stop!"
Victor turned.
"You don't understand what this empire is."
Dante raised his weapon.
"I understand exactly."
Victor smiled.
"No. You think you're saving one maid and two children."
He shook his head.
"You're saving the people who can destroy you."
Dante lowered the weapon slightly.
"Tell me where Anna is."
Victor smiled.
"Ask Isabella."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Victor stepped backward.
"She's the one who disappeared Anna."
"What?"
Victor smiled.
Then jumped into the river.
Dante stared after him.
Back at the warehouse, Ethan was wrapped in a blanket.
Dante knelt before him.
"Did Victor hurt you?"
Ethan shook his head.
"He made me play chess."
"What?"
"He said Mama knew how."
Dante looked at the rook.
"And he asked about the black pieces."
"What did you say?"
Ethan shrugged.
"I said Dante had one."
Dante froze.
"What else?"
"He asked where the other pieces were."
Dante looked at Raphael.
Other pieces.
The chess set wasn't the message.
It was a map.
Every piece led somewhere.
The rook.
The knight.
The missing bishop.
The queen.
The king.
A network of hiding places.
Anna had spread evidence across the city.
Dante smiled grimly.
"Victor doesn't have the ledger."
"What?"
Dante opened the Black Book.
The pages were blank.
Raphael stared.
"Empty."
Dante nodded.
"I switched it."
"The real ledger?"
"Already safe."
"Where?"
Dante looked toward Ethan.
"Anna knew the only person Victor wouldn't search."
Ethan understood.
"Mama gave it to Lucy."
Dante's eyes widened.
"Where?"
Ethan pointed toward the toy car.
"There."
The wheels were hollow.
Inside was a folded memory card.
Dante stared.
May you like
Anna had hidden the evidence in the only toy Victor would ignore.
The truth was still alive.
