Chapter 4 - THE SHADOW IN THE DOORWAY
"Isabella?" Gabriel’s voice was deadly quiet. "Are you sure?"
Helen nodded, tears spilling down her wrinkled cheeks. "The woman from the news. Gabriel Romano's fiancée. She stepped out of a silver Mercedes. She had two armed men with her. They forced Sarah, Leo, and little Elijah into the car."
I couldn't breathe.
My mother. My strong, fiercely independent mother, who had supposedly been recovering from knee surgery in her small Queens apartment.
She wasn't resting. She was running for her life. And she had taken Gabriel's brother and nephew with her.
"Why would Isabella take them?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Marcus already has all the power."
Gabriel released Helen and stepped back, his mind working fast.
"Because Isabella knows Marcus is going to kill her the moment my father signs those papers," Gabriel said. "She tried to buy Leo from Marcus and failed. So now she's stealing him. She’s going to use Leo and your mother to force Marcus into giving her a cut of the empire."
Gabriel looked at me. "She needs leverage."
"We have to find them," I said, my panic rising. "My mother is still weak. She can't protect a six-year-old child against Isabella's men."
Gabriel pulled his phone from his pocket.
"Anthony," he said the moment the call connected.
"Boss. I'm sorry. Isabella slipped out the kitchen entrance right after you left. Uncle Marcus's men created a distraction."
"I know," Gabriel said coldly. "Track her phone. Now."
"Already on it. She tossed her primary phone in the driveway. But the Mercedes has a built-in GPS tracker we installed last month. She doesn't know about it."
"Where is she?"
"Heading toward the old Brooklyn navy shipyards. Pier 41. One of Marcus's old smuggling warehouses."
Gabriel hung up.
He looked at me. "I'm going to get your mother back, Claire. I swear to you."
I nodded, wiping a stray tear from my cheek. "I'm coming with you."
"No. It's too dangerous."
"She's my mother, Gabriel. And Elijah is my brother." The word tasted strange, but true. "I'm going."
Gabriel studied my face. For the first time, the cold, impenetrable mafia boss looked at me with genuine respect.
"Stay behind me," he said.
The drive to Brooklyn was a blur of rain and neon lights.
My mind raced, connecting the dots I had missed for six months.
My mother had insisted I apply for the housekeeping job at the Romano estate. She said it paid well. But really, she wanted me inside. She wanted me near Mr. Vincent.
That's why she made me promise to be extra patient with the elderly man. To listen to him.
She knew he held the key. She knew Vincent was the only one who could break Marcus’s grip.
We arrived at the navy yards at 2:00 AM.
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour.
Pier 41 was a massive, rusted warehouse sitting on the edge of the black water.
Gabriel parked the SUV two blocks away. He pulled a handgun from a hidden compartment under his seat and racked the slide.
"Keep your head down," he whispered as we stepped into the freezing rain.
We approached the warehouse through an alley of stacked shipping containers.
A silver Mercedes was parked near the side entrance. Empty.
Gabriel led me to a shattered window on the ground floor. We climbed through, landing silently on a catwalk overlooking the main warehouse floor.
Below us, lit by harsh industrial spotlights, was a scene that made my heart stop.
My mother, Sarah, was kneeling on the concrete floor. She looked exhausted, her face bruised.
Beside her sat a man in a wheelchair.
He had Gabriel’s dark hair and broad shoulders, but his face was hollow, worn down by eighteen years of captivity. His legs were thin and atrophied.
Leo Romano.
Clinging to my mother’s arm was a small boy in a blue sweater. Elijah.
And standing over them was Isabella.
She was holding a gun, pacing back and forth.
"Call him again!" Isabella screamed at one of her suited thugs. "Tell Marcus I want twenty million and safe passage to Italy, or I put a bullet in his precious nephew right now!"
The thug held up a phone. "He's not answering, Ms. Varela."
"Call him again!"
My mother pulled Elijah closer. "Isabella, stop this," she said, her voice raspy but steady. "Marcus doesn't care about Leo anymore. He only kept him alive to torture Vincent. If you threaten him, Marcus will just kill us all."
"Shut up!" Isabella snapped, pointing the gun at my mother.
Up on the catwalk, Gabriel raised his weapon.
He was aiming directly at Isabella’s head.
"Don't move," he whispered to me.
He was about to pull the trigger when the massive corrugated metal doors of the warehouse suddenly rolled open with a deafening screech.
Headlights pierced the gloom.
Three black SUVs drove straight onto the warehouse floor.
Isabella froze, lowering her gun.
The doors of the SUVs opened simultaneously. A dozen armed men poured out, forming a semicircle.
From the center vehicle, Uncle Marcus stepped out.
He was holding a long, wooden cane, tapping it against the concrete as he walked.
"Isabella," Marcus said, his voice echoing in the massive space. "You really are a foolish girl."
Isabella’s hand shook, but she raised her gun toward Leo. "Stay back, Marcus! I'll do it!"
Marcus laughed. A cold, hollow sound.
"Do you think I came here to negotiate?" Marcus asked.
He snapped his fingers.
One of his men dragged someone out of the back of the SUV.
An old man. Bound and gagged.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was Mr. Vincent.
Gabriel tensed beside me, a low growl escaping his throat.
"Drop the gun, Isabella," Marcus ordered. "Or I blow Vincent's brains out right in front of his long-lost son."
Isabella hesitated.
Then, slowly, she lowered her weapon.
Marcus smiled. "Good girl. Now, kill the nurse."
My mother gasped. Elijah buried his face in her chest.
Isabella stared at Marcus. "What?"
"Kill the nurse," Marcus repeated, pointing at my mother. "She's been a thorn in my side for almost a decade. Do it, and I'll let you leave."
Isabella looked at my mother. She raised the trembling gun.
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Gabriel didn't wait.
He fired.
