Chapter 7 - MIDNIGHT AT THE FREIGHT TERMINAL
Lorenzo argued with me for twenty-two minutes.
I counted.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
“No.”
“You are not walking into Charles Vane's trap.”
“He has my brother.”
“Which means you're emotionally compromised.”
“And you're not?”
His eyes flashed.
That silenced the room.
Victor sat handcuffed in a chair.
Isabella stood near the fireplace.
Security teams prepared weapons and vehicles.
I took a breath.
“Charles thinks the ledger is all we have.”
Lorenzo stared at me.
“The flash drive.”
I nodded.
“We give him the ledger.”
“A copy.”
“He’ll check.”
“Then the real ledger.”
Victor laughed from the chair.
Everyone looked at him.
“You're all assuming Charles wants the evidence destroyed.”
“What else?” I demanded.
Victor leaned back.
“He wants it returned.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because the ledger isn't evidence.”
Victor looked toward the safe.
“It's a map.”
My stomach twisted.
“A map to what?”
“Accounts.”
He explained.
Each transaction code corresponded to offshore holdings.
Shell companies.
Properties.
Hundreds of millions accumulated over decades.
“The Vane family can't access much of it without the original ledger.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Victor hesitated.
“Because I helped Charles move some of it.”
Isabella whispered, “Victor.”
Shame crossed his face.
“I was twenty-seven.”
“You betrayed this family.”
“I thought I was protecting it.”
Lorenzo laughed without humor.
“That excuse must run in our blood.”
Victor leaned forward.
“Charles told me federal investigators were closing in. He said if I didn't cooperate, your father’s entire network would fall.”
“My father was already dead.”
“You had just taken over.”
“So you sold me.”
“I bought you time.”
“For twenty years?”
Victor looked away.
Lorenzo's voice dropped.
“Did you take Toby?”
“No.”
“Did you let them into this house?”
Victor hesitated.
Lorenzo moved instantly.
Victor shouted, “I gave someone old security codes!”
I felt sick.
“You helped them.”
“I didn't know they were coming tonight.”
Lorenzo grabbed his throat.
“You gave Vane access to my mother’s home.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made a choice.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“Lorenzo.”
He released Victor.
Barely.
The plan changed.
At 11:52 p.m., we approached the abandoned freight terminal near the river.
I wore a wire.
Lorenzo hated it.
I carried the ledger in a leather bag.
Lorenzo carried nothing visible.
Twenty armed Moretti men were positioned blocks away.
Charles had warned us.
Any police.
Any visible backup.
Toby died.
Rain fell through holes in the terminal roof.
One light glowed above the old loading platform.
Toby sat in a chair.
His hands tied.
A man stood behind him.
Another held his inhaler.
I stopped breathing.
“Toby.”
“Sophie!”
Charles Vane stepped from the shadows.
Not Senator Vane.
His father.
Charles Senior.
I had misunderstood everything.
The man from the gala was Senator Charles Vane Jr.
This was his father.
Eighty years old.
Still terrifying.
And beside him stood Beatrice.
My heart sank.
“You.”
She smiled.
“Of course.”
“Where's your husband?”
“Giving a speech about ethics.”
Lorenzo's mouth curved coldly.
“Appropriate.”
Charles Senior looked at him.
“You've become your father.”
“No.”
“Antonio understood order.”
“Antonio understood fear.”
“Same thing, eventually.”
His gaze moved toward me.
“Margaret's daughter.”
“You killed Daniel.”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
My breath caught.
Lorenzo's jaw clenched.
“And the journalist?”
“Yes.”
“My mother?”
Charles smiled.
“Tried.”
I wanted to cross the distance and kill him with my bare hands.
Instead, I held the bag tighter.
“Let Toby go.”
“Ledger first.”
“No.”
Beatrice laughed.
“You're negotiating?”
“Yes.”
“You're a waitress.”
“I was.”
She looked toward Lorenzo.
“And now?”
I looked at Toby.
“Now I'm his problem.”
Lorenzo almost smiled.
Charles held out his hand.
“The ledger.”
“Give Toby the inhaler.”
The man behind Toby looked at Charles.
Charles nodded.
Toby took two puffs.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“Now the ledger.”
I walked forward.
Lorenzo grabbed my wrist.
“Enough.”
I whispered, “Trust me.”
His eyes held mine.
Then he let go.
I approached Charles.
Five steps.
Four.
Three.
I handed him the bag.
He opened it.
Saw the black book.
Smiled.
Then Toby shouted.
“Sophie, run!”
The gunman behind him raised his weapon.
Chaos erupted.
Lorenzo moved.
A shot cracked.
I hit the floor.
Moretti men burst through side entrances.
Charles grabbed me by the hair.
A gun pressed against my temple.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze.
Lorenzo aimed at him.
“Let her go.”
Charles dragged me backward.
“You think this girl matters?”
“Yes.”
The answer came instantly.
Something in my chest broke open.
Charles laughed.
“Then you've already lost.”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s eyes never left mine.
“She made me remember what winning was for.”
Another gunshot.
Charles screamed.
His weapon fell.
Beatrice had shot him.
Everyone stared.
Even me.
She stood behind her father-in-law holding a pistol.
Charles collapsed.
“Beatrice?” he gasped.
She looked down.
“You were going to kill me after tonight.”
He stared at her.
She smiled.
“I learned from you.”
Then she turned the gun toward me.
Lorenzo fired.
Beatrice’s weapon flew from her hand.
She dropped, clutching her shoulder.
Security rushed forward.
I ran to Toby.
His hands were still tied.
“Sophie.”
“I've got you.”
He was shaking.
I cut the ropes with a pocketknife someone handed me.
He threw his arms around me.
I held him.
Hard.
Across the terminal, Lorenzo stood over Charles.
The old man was bleeding but alive.
Police sirens approached.
I looked up.
“Police?”
Lorenzo nodded.
“I called them.”
That surprised everyone.
Even Victor, who had been brought under guard.
Charles laughed weakly.
“You think police can touch me?”
Lorenzo crouched beside him.
“These can.”
Federal agents entered.
Dozens.
Charles's face changed.
Lorenzo pulled a small transmitter from inside his jacket.
“You talked for fourteen minutes.”
Charles looked at the wire beneath my coat.
Then at Lorenzo.
“You recorded me.”
“I didn't.”
He looked at me.
“She did.”
For the first time all night, I smiled.
The federal agents dragged Charles away.
Beatrice followed on a stretcher under arrest.
Toby remained against me.
I thought it was over.
Then Victor shouted.
“Lorenzo!”
A gunshot exploded from above.
Lorenzo jerked.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He fell.
Everything inside me stopped.
“Lorenzo!”
I ran.
He hit the concrete hard.
Blood poured between my fingers when I pressed my hands to his chest.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes struggled to focus.
“Sophie.”
“No.”
“Your brother?”
“He's safe.”
“Good.”
“Don't you dare.”
His mouth moved.
I leaned closer.
“What?”
He whispered, “Still difficult to protect.”
I started crying.
“Shut up.”
For the first time, Lorenzo Moretti smiled at me like an ordinary man.
May you like
Then his eyes closed.
And the monitors in the ambulance began screaming.
