Chapter 5 – [THE ROSARY WRAPPED IN BARBED WIRE]
Silvio Bellini didn’t bother knocking.
One of his men raised a heavy sledgehammer and smashed it against the reinforced glass of the restaurant doors. The glass shattered, raining down like diamonds, and the men stepped through the empty frame.
I shoved Tyler behind me, shielding his body with my own.
Silvio walked in slowly. He was a broad, aging man with slicked-back gray hair and a cruel, jagged scar across his jaw. He dropped the heavy red gasoline canister onto the floor. It sloshed ominously.
“Good evening, Luca,” Silvio said, his voice like grinding stones. “I believe my niece has something that belongs to me.”
Luca didn’t flinch. He stood in front of the table where David’s coat and the black ledger rested.
“You’re out of your mind, Silvio,” Luca said calmly. “You come into my territory, smash my doors, and threaten my family? You won’t live to see the sun come up.”
Silvio chuckled. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, tossing it onto the dining table.
It was a delicate silver rosary.
But the beads were tightly wrapped in a short, rusty length of barbed wire.
Luca’s stoic expression cracked. He stared at the rosary, the color draining from his face.
“Your mother’s rosary, Luca,” Silvio smiled. “I took it from her grave this morning. A little reminder that I can reach anyone. Anywhere. Even the dead.”
Silvio pointed a thick finger at the ledger.
“Give me the book, Luca. Give me Vanessa. And I let you walk away.”
“And the little girl?” Luca asked. “Mia.”
Silvio laughed. “The junkie’s kid? She’s a loose end. She burns with the orphanage tonight. A tragic electrical fire.”
Tyler screamed, surging forward, but I tackled my own son, pinning him to the floor. “No, Tyler! No!”
“Let me go!” Tyler sobbed, fighting my grip. “He’s going to kill my baby!”
Silvio looked down at Tyler with absolute disgust. “You should have died under that scaffolding, kid. You would have saved us all a lot of trouble.”
I looked up at the man who had murdered my husband. The man who had orchestrated the “accident” that broke my son’s spine and fueled his addiction. The man who was currently holding my granddaughter hostage.
I didn’t feel fear anymore. I felt something much, much more dangerous.
I felt a mother’s wrath.
I looked at Marco. He had his gun drawn, but he was outnumbered six to one. Luca had two other guards in the back room, but they wouldn’t make it in time if Silvio’s men opened fire.
I knew this restaurant better than anyone. I cleaned the vents. I restocked the supplies.
I knew that directly above Silvio’s head was the master emergency fire suppression sprinkler. And I knew it was triggered by a manual pull station behind the bar.
“Mr. Moretti,” I whispered, looking up at Luca.
He glanced down at me.
I tapped my chest twice, then pointed subtly toward the bar.
Luca’s eyes widened slightly. He understood.
“Silvio,” Luca said loudly, taking a step forward to draw their attention. “You want the ledger? Fine. Take it.”
Luca grabbed the black book and threw it onto the floor, halfway between them.
As Silvio’s men looked down at the book, I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, sliding behind the mahogany bar.
“Smart boy, Luca,” Silvio sneered, walking forward to pick up the book.
I reached up and grabbed the red emergency fire handle.
I yanked it down with all my strength.
The alarm blared with a deafening screech. Instantly, the ceiling pipes blasted high-pressure water mixed with chemical foam directly down onto Silvio and his men.
The men shouted in surprise, blinded by the thick foam.
“Now!” Luca roared.
Gunfire erupted.
