Chapter 3 - Shadows of the Moretti Empire
I walked out of the office and into the main area of the bakery,
where the smell of cinnamon had been replaced by the scent of gun oil.
My men were checking their weapons,
the metallic clicks echoing against the tiled walls.
"Status report,"
I demanded.
Luca looked up from his tablet,
his brow furrowed.
"The car is a ghost, Boss,"
"The plates were cloned from a suburban minivan in Jersey."
"But we tracked the GPS pings from the cell towers in the area."
"There was a surge of encrypted data right before the girl walked in."
"Someone was monitoring the bakery,"
"waiting for her to lead them to the mother, or vice-versa."
I gripped the edge of a table,
the wood groaning under my strength.
"They used the girl as bait,"
I muttered,
the realization sickening even a man like me.
"They let her wander in here,"
"knowing she’d attract attention."
"They wanted to see who would pick her up."
"They didn't expect it to be me,"
Luca added,
a hint of a smirk on his face.
"No,"
I said,
"they didn't."
"If they knew I was here, they would have stayed a mile away."
"Which means they aren't local."
"They’re outsiders,"
"trying to squeeze a secret out of a schoolteacher."
I looked at the map on the screen,
the red dots marking the last known location of the sedan.
It was headed toward the old industrial district near the docks.
A place where screams are drowned out by the sound of foghorns and the lapping of the dark river.
"Get the SUVs ready,"
I ordered.
"We’re going to the Pier 42 warehouses."
"And Marco,"
"Stay here with Emma."
"If a single hair on her head is touched,"
"don't bother coming back to see me."
Marco nodded solemnly,
placing his hand on his holster.
I stepped out into the night again,
the snow now a blizzard.
My fleet of black SUVs pulled up to the curb,
their engines humming like restless beasts.
I climbed into the back of the lead vehicle,
the leather cold against my skin.
"Drive,"
I said.
As we sped through the deserted streets,
I looked at my reflection in the window.
I saw the face of a man who had done terrible things,
but I also saw a man who finally had a reason to do something right.
The girl's "I'm so hungry" still rang in my ears.
She wasn't just hungry for food;
she was hungry for safety,
for a mother’s hug,
for a world that didn't hide in the shadows.
May you like
I would give her that world,
even if I had to burn this one down to build it.
