Chapter 19 - The Iron Silos of Calumet
The industrial district along the Calumet River looked like a graveyard of rust and concrete against the stormy night sky.
Massive, decaying grain silos towered eighty feet above the dark, sluggish water of the shipping canal.
The rain had tapered to a freezing mist that coated the metal catwalks in a thin, treacherous glaze of ice.
Mateo signaled with two fingers, and four men moved in silence toward the warehouse perimeter, shotguns held low.
The heavy corrugated sliding doors were unlatched, groaning softly in the wind.
Inside, the scent of stagnant river water and diesel exhaust hung thick in the cold air.
A single overhead halogen work light illuminated the center of the vast concrete floor.
Parked beneath the light was the black sedan from the highway ambush.
The driver’s side door hung open, but the vehicle was empty.
"Spread out," I whispered through my tactical earpiece.
"Thermal scopes up; watch the overhead catwalks."
My boots made no sound against the grimy concrete as I moved toward the center of the structure.
Suddenly, a metallic click echoed from the shadows sixty feet above us on the industrial gantry.
"Elena!" Bianca’s voice echoed down through the hollow steel beams, distorted and mocking.
"You really are your father’s daughter; stubborn, ruthless, and completely blind!"
I stepped into the pool of light, my weapon raised toward the overhead platform.
Bianca stood on the iron catwalk, holding a high-caliber hunting rifle fitted with a laser sight.
The crimson dot danced across the center of my chest, glowing brightly against the black fabric of my coat.
She was filthy; her blonde hair was plastered to her skull with sweat and rain, her expensive designer clothes torn at the knees.
Her eyes burned with the frantic, deranged energy of a trapped animal that knew its cage was shrinking.
"Drop the weapon, Bianca!" Mateo shouted from the shadows, his laser aligning on her shoulder.
"Shoot me, and this whole place turns into a furnace!" Bianca screamed, pulling a small radio detonator from her coat pocket.
"There are two hundred gallons of aviation fuel stored in the basement silos beneath your feet!"
"One spark, and we all drown in fire together!"
I raised my hand, signaling Mateo and the men to hold their fire.
"You don't want to die, Bianca," I said, my voice ringing clear and steady through the cavernous space.
"If you wanted to die, you would have stayed in that burning transport van on Interstate 55."
"You crawled through that ditch because you love luxury too much to let go of this world."
Bianca laughed hysterically, her finger trembling against the rifle trigger.
"You think this was about luxury?" she spat.
"You had everything, Elena! The name, the empire, the father who moved mountains to protect you!"
"And what was I? A secretary from Bridgeport who had to smile at pigs like Enzo just to pay my mother’s medical bills!"
"Enzo was a pathetic dog, but he had the keys to the kingdom; all I had to do was give him a little poison and a warm bed."
"You killed a child who never drew a single breath," I said, taking one slow, deliberate step toward the staircase.
"A child who never hurt you."
"That child was going to inherit thirty percent of the syndicate's voting stock!" Bianca shrieked.
"That child was the only thing keeping Enzo tied to you!"
"With that brat gone, Enzo belonged to me, and the Romano name belonged to the Bellinis!"
"And where are the Bellinis now, Bianca?" I asked, pointing toward the dark, empty river outside the loading dock.
"The cargo ship left twenty minutes ago."
"They didn't wait for you."
"They left you in an abandoned silo with an empty fuel tank and an empty promise."
Bianca’s eyes darted toward the river doors, a split second of sickening realization crossing her pale face.
"No... they promised," she stammered, the rifle barrel dipping two inches.
"They promised me safe passage to Rio..."
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That two-inch dip was all Mateo needed.
***
