Chapter 6 – A Phone Call In The Dark

“Nobody moves,” the man in the black coat snarled, stepping into the dining room.

The remaining guests, who had just started to emerge from under the tables, screamed and hit the floor again.

Marco and Luca’s guards drew their weapons instantly, but they froze.

The man in the black coat had his finger tight on the trigger, the barrel aimed squarely between Luca’s eyes.

“Drop them,” the man barked at Marco. “Or the Boss loses his head right now.”

Luca didn’t flinch.

He stood perfectly still, his dark eyes locked onto the intruder.

“You’re one of Bellini’s men,” Luca said calmly. “You’re the one who was at the front gate.”

“And I’m the one leaving with the ledger,” the man spat, gesturing with the gun toward the table. “Kick the lockbox over here. Now.”

My heart hammered in my chest.

I was kneeling on the floor next to Frank, still clutching the paid-in-full mortgage papers in my hands. Frank was shaking so violently his teeth were chattering.

“Ruth,” Frank whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. “He’s going to hurt Mr. Moretti.”

“Don’t look, honey,” I whispered, pulling his face into my shoulder. “Just close your eyes.”

But Frank didn’t close his eyes.

He opened them wide, staring at the man in the black coat.

Then, he looked down at his dented blue lunchbox on the floor.

He slowly reached inside and pulled out something I hadn’t noticed before. It was a heavy, rusted iron wrench.

“Frank, no,” I breathed, horrified.

Before I could stop him, Frank stood up.

His movements were no longer frail or hesitant. For a split second, he moved with the decisive, practiced motion of a man who had spent forty years working with his hands.

Frank threw the heavy iron wrench with all his might.

It sailed across the room and slammed directly into the gunman’s wrist with a sickening crack.

The gunman screamed in agony, dropping the heavy silver handgun to the marble floor.

Instantly, Marco and the guards tackled the man, pinning him to the ground and pressing their knees into his spine.

Luca let out a sharp breath, looking at Frank in absolute awe.

Frank stumbled backward, the adrenaline leaving his body as quickly as it had come. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.

“Frank!” I screamed, sliding across the floor to catch him.

His face was terrifyingly pale. His eyes were unfocused, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“I… I fixed the pipes, Ruth,” Frank mumbled, his voice slurring. “The pipes in the basement were leaking. I fixed them.”

My heart shattered.

The sudden burst of action had completely scrambled his fragile mind. He was retreating into a memory from twenty years ago to escape the trauma of the present.

“You fixed them beautifully, sweetheart,” I sobbed, cradling his head in my lap. “You did such a good job.”

Luca knelt beside us, his expression incredibly gentle.

“Call a doctor,” Luca ordered Marco, who was busy handcuffing the intruder. “Get the best neurologist in the city here right now. Tell them Frank Bennett needs immediate attention.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Luca looked down at me, his eyes filled with profound gratitude.

“Ruth,” Luca said softly. “Your husband has saved my life, my family’s legacy, and my father’s honor tonight. I owe him a debt I can never repay.”

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face.

“I just want to take him home, Mr. Moretti,” I cried. “I just want to put him in his own bed.”

“You will,” Luca promised. “And you will never have to worry about a single bill, or a mortgage, or a medical expense for the rest of your lives. You have my word on that.”

I closed my eyes, a wave of immense relief washing over me.

But then, the quiet of the dining room was shattered by a sharp, shrill sound.

It was a cell phone.

It was coming from the pocket of the restrained gunman in the black coat.

Marco reached into the man’s pocket and pulled out the phone. He looked at the screen, his face draining of color.

“Boss,” Marco said tightly. “It’s Vanessa.”

Luca stood up slowly.

He took the phone from Marco and pressed accept, putting it on speaker.

“Is it done?” Vanessa’s frantic voice echoed through the dining room. “Do you have the ledger?”

Luca stared coldly at the phone.

“Your man is in handcuffs, Vanessa,” Luca said quietly.

There was a sharp gasp on the other end of the line.

Then, Vanessa started laughing.

It was a chilling, desperate, unhinged sound.

“You think you’ve won, Luca?” Vanessa sneered. “You think because you have the ledger and my father’s photograph, you can just erase me?”

“You’re finished, Vanessa,” Luca said. “My men are already hunting down the rest of your family.”

“Maybe,” Vanessa replied smoothly. “But I left a little parting gift at the Bennett house before I came to the dinner tonight.”

My blood ran cold.

“What did you do?” I screamed at the phone.

Vanessa chuckled darkly.

“I knew the old man had hidden the ledger somewhere,” Vanessa said. “But I also knew I might not find it in time. So, I made sure that if I went down, Ruth would go down with me.”

“Speak clearly, Vanessa,” Luca commanded.

“I didn’t just frame Ruth for embezzlement, Luca,” Vanessa whispered. “I hid the stolen Moretti diamonds inside the walls of her daughter’s bedroom. The police are already there, searching the house.”

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

“You framed my daughter?” I choked out.

“Enjoy federal prison, Ruth,” Vanessa spat. “And tell your brain-dead husband I said goodbye.”

She hung up the phone.

I sat frozen on the floor, the paid-off mortgage papers crinkling beneath my shaking hands.

It didn’t matter that we owned the house.

It didn’t matter that the ledger was found.

Vanessa had planted stolen diamonds in Sarah’s bedroom. My innocent daughter was going to be arrested for a mafia jewel heist.

I looked at Frank, desperate for him to have another moment of clarity, to tell me he had seen her plant them, to tell me he had moved them.

But Frank was just staring at the ceiling, smiling softly.

“The maple tree looks so pretty in the autumn, Ruth,” he whispered.

He was completely gone.

And my daughter’s life was over.