Chapter 5

“My mother’s rosary,” I choked out, reaching out to touch the cold silver beads hanging from the knife handle.

“Mateo had it,” Gabriel said quietly, stepping up beside me. “He told me once he always kept it in his pocket to remember what he was fighting to get back to.”

“Silas took it,” I said, tears blurring my vision. “He’s telling us he has him.”

Suddenly, the swinging yellow bulb above us flickered and died.

The warehouse plunged into total darkness.

“Get down!” Gabriel roared, tackling me and Ethan to the dirty concrete floor just as the deafening crack of automatic gunfire erupted from the catwalks above.

Bullets chewed through the metal walls, showering us in sparks and concrete dust. Gabriel pulled us behind a massive steel shipping crate, returning fire blindly into the dark.

“There’s too many of them!” Gabriel yelled over the gunfire. “Maya, keep the boy behind you!”

I gripped the pistol, terrified, pressing Ethan’s head into my chest.

Footsteps echoed on the metal stairs. Silas’s men were coming down.

Gabriel reloaded his clip, breathing heavily. He looked at me.

“I’m going to draw their fire. When I move, you run for that side exit. Do you understand me?”

“You’ll die!” I screamed.

“Mateo took bullets for me,” Gabriel said, his eyes fierce. “I owe him a life.”

Before I could stop him, Gabriel lunged out from behind the crate, firing rapidly toward the stairs.

The mercenaries turned their weapons on him.

I grabbed Ethan and ran.

We sprinted through the dark, the sound of bullets pinging against steel ringing in my ears. We reached the heavy side door and I slammed my shoulder against it. It burst open, throwing us out into the muddy, rain-soaked alley behind the warehouse.

I gasped for air, dragging Ethan toward the fence line.

Then, a heavy hand grabbed my hair.

I screamed as I was violently yanked backward. I dropped the gun in the mud.

A massive man in a tactical vest dragged me up, pinning my arms. Another man grabbed Ethan, lifting him off the ground as my son kicked and screamed.

“Mommy!” Ethan cried.

“Let him go!” I shrieked, kicking wildly at the man holding me.

A slow, chilling clap echoed from the end of the alley.

An older man in a pristine black raincoat stepped out of the shadows. He held a silver-tipped cane.

Silas Moretti.

“Such a devoted wife,” Silas smiled, though his eyes were completely devoid of warmth. “Mateo always did have a soft spot for strays.”

“Where is my husband?” I spat, struggling against the guard.

Silas sighed. “Mateo has been a persistent thorn in my side. He hid my ledgers. He ruined my business. But tonight, it ends. Bring them.”

The men dragged us through the rain toward a rusted cargo ship docked in the harbor.

They hauled us down into the dark, damp hull of the ship. The smell of oil and seawater was overpowering.

They threw me to the steel floor. Ethan scrambled to my side, crying.

The lights flickered on.

And I stopped breathing.

Chained to a metal pipe in the center of the room was Mateo.

He was bruised, his clothes torn, his face covered in blood. But when he lifted his head and saw us, his eyes widened in sheer panic.

“Maya,” he gasped, straining against the heavy iron chains. “No… no, Silas, you promised! You said if I surrendered the books, you’d leave them alone!”

Silas stepped into the light, leaning on his cane.

“I lied, Mateo. And now, you get to watch them drown.”