Chapter 7 - The Father at the Harbor
The original recordings were not in the ledger.
Vincent had hidden them in a place only he knew.
But one page contained coordinates leading to an abandoned boathouse near the harbor.
At dawn, Salvatore, Elena, and Marco went there.
Inside, they found Vincent Russo.
He looked older than Elena remembered, with gray in his hair and a scar across his cheek. But his eyes were the same.
Elena stopped breathing.
“Dad?”
Vincent turned.
For a long moment, neither moved.
Then Elena crossed the room and slapped him across the face.
The sound echoed against the old wood walls.
“You were alive,” she said, crying. “You were alive.”
Vincent did not defend himself.
“I know.”
“You let Mom die alone.”
“I watched from a distance.”
“You watched?”
“I had to make sure Vale’s men weren’t near you.”
“You could have helped us.”
“I was afraid.”
Elena laughed through tears. “So was I.”
Vincent looked destroyed.
“I thought staying away would protect you.”
“It destroyed us.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Salvatore stood nearby, silent.
Vincent turned toward him.
“I’m sorry about Luca.”
Salvatore’s jaw clenched.
“I spent fifteen years wanting to kill you.”
“You had reason.”
“No,” Salvatore said. “I had a lie.”
Vincent handed over a small recorder.
“This has everything. Vale’s orders. The accounts. The names of officers and politicians he paid. Enough to bury him.”
“And where is he?” Marco asked.
Vincent looked toward the harbor.
“Planning to take Sophia tonight.”
Elena went cold.
The plan was simple and dangerous.
Salvatore would trade the recordings for Sophia at an abandoned freight terminal. Marco would position men around the perimeter. Vincent would contact law enforcement officers whose names were not in the recordings.
But Sophia had already overheard enough from Maria to understand that something terrible was happening.
She slipped out of the estate through a service gate.
By the time anyone noticed, she was gone.
She left a note on her bed:
I don’t want anyone hurt because of me.
Elena found it first.
The scream that came from her did not sound human.
Salvatore read the note once and went pale.
“She thinks she has to save us,” Elena said.
“She’s seven,” Salvatore replied.
“She thinks this is her fault.”
“It isn’t.”
“But she doesn’t know that!”
Salvatore grabbed his coat.
“Then we tell her.”
The freight terminal was dark, wet, and empty except for rusting shipping containers.
Sophia stood beside Dominic Vale, terrified but trying not to cry.
“I came by myself,” she said. “You can let them go.”
Dominic looked amused.
“That is very brave.”
“Are you going to hurt my mom?”
“No,” he lied.
Sophia looked around the shadows.
“Mr. Costa will come.”
“Oh, I know.”
May you like
And somewhere beyond the terminal walls, Salvatore heard her voice.
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