Chapter 6 - The Night Hope Became the Target
Domenico Ferretti had been declared dead after a fire destroyed a private residence in Connecticut.
Dental records identified the body.
Luca had been twenty-three.
Elias eighteen.
Their father’s death had made Luca heir.
Now Cal discovered the dental records had been approved by a physician connected to Red Meridian.
“He staged it,” Hope said.
Luca stared at the evidence.
“Why?”
“To disappear.”
“But he left me the organization.”
“Maybe that was the point.”
Cal displayed financial records.
“After Domenico’s death, Ferretti businesses expanded legally. Meanwhile, someone quietly used the old criminal routes to move weapons and money.”
Hope understood.
“Luca became the visible boss.”
“Yes.”
“And Domenico operated underneath.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“He used me as cover.”
Cal nodded.
“Elias found out.”
“And Daniel found out.”
Hope’s voice shook.
“My father called Luca because he wanted us gone.”
“Yes.”
“Marco intercepted him.”
“Likely.”
“And my mother disappeared because Domenico was hunting her.”
“Likely.”
Hope stood.
“So where is Domenico now?”
Cal looked at the latest Red Meridian records.
“Rhode Island.”
Luca reached for his coat.
Hope blocked him.
“No.”
“He killed my brother.”
“Probably.”
“He killed your father.”
“Probably.”
“He hunted your mother.”
“Probably.”
Luca looked at her.
“What word do you need removed?”
“Probably.”
She pointed at Cal.
“We get proof.”
Luca laughed coldly.
“This isn’t a courtroom.”
“That attitude is why your family has bodies instead of answers.”
Silence.
Luca looked wounded.
Hope did not care.
Then the power went out.
Cal immediately stood.
“Not again.”
A vehicle engine roared outside.
Headlights swept across the room.
Luca drew his gun.
“Down.”
A truck smashed through the front gate.
Hope heard boots.
Multiple.
Cal grabbed a weapon from his bag.
“How did they find this place?”
“No idea.”
Hope looked at Cal.
“Your safe house.”
“Yes.”
“Who knew?”
“Three people.”
“Names?”
“One is me.”
“Other two?”
Cal’s face changed.
Before he answered, the back window shattered.
Smoke canisters rolled inside.
“Move!”
Hope covered her face.
Luca caught her hand.
They ran toward the kitchen.
A man came through the rear door.
Hope struck his wrist.
Weapon fell.
Luca drove him into the wall.
Another appeared.
Cal fired.
The attacker dropped.
Hope grabbed the fallen weapon but did not fire.
Her military instincts returned.
Routes.
Angles.
Cover.
“Garage!”
They moved.
A blast shook the house.
Fire spread along the front hallway.
Luca pushed Hope through the garage door.
Cal followed.
Outside, three vehicles blocked the road.
“They want us alive,” Hope said.
“How do you know?”
“If they wanted us dead, they’d burn the whole building without coming inside.”
A voice came from the darkness.
“Hope Whitaker.”
Everyone froze.
An older man stepped into the headlights.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
Heavy signet ring.
Luca’s gun rose.
The man smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Domenico Ferretti.
Alive.
Hope felt Luca stop breathing.
“You’re dead,” Luca said.
Domenico smiled.
“Clearly not.”
“Elias?”
“Yes.”
One word.
No remorse.
Luca moved forward.
Hope caught his arm.
Domenico watched.
“So that’s Rebecca’s girl.”
Hope stared at him.
“You killed my father.”
“Daniel caused his own death by becoming sentimental.”
Luca raised the gun.
Domenico’s men aimed weapons.
“Shoot me and she dies first.”
Luca stopped.
Domenico smiled.
“Still predictable.”
Hope stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Your mother has something that belongs to me.”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“I know.”
“Then why me?”
Domenico’s smile disappeared.
“Because Rebecca will trade anything for her daughter.”
Hope understood.
She had been bait since the beginning.
The delivery order.
The mansion attack.
Every chase.
Not to kill her.
To expose her.
To force Rebecca out.
Domenico extended a hand.
“Come with me and your new brother lives.”
Hope looked at Luca.
“No.”
Domenico sighed.
A laser sight appeared against Luca’s chest.
Hope stepped forward.
“Hope.”
She ignored him.
Another step.
Luca grabbed her wrist.
“No.”
She whispered, “Trust me.”
“I barely know you.”
“Then start.”
Hope looked at Cal.
His eyes moved toward the parked vehicle behind Domenico.
He understood.
Hope continued walking.
Domenico’s men relaxed slightly.
Five steps.
Four.
Three.
Hope reached him.
Domenico smiled.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
Hope smiled back.
“And my father’s temper.”
She drove her knee into him.
Chaos erupted.
Cal shot out the headlights.
Darkness swallowed the yard.
Luca pulled Hope down.
Gunfire exploded.
Hope crawled behind a vehicle.
Domenico shouted.
“Alive! I want her alive!”
Exactly what Hope needed.
His men were afraid to shoot her.
Luca had no such restriction.
Within seconds, Cal reached the truck.
He started it.
“GO!”
Hope ran.
A man grabbed her from behind.
She slammed her heel into his shin.
Twisted.
Escaped.
Luca reached her.
They climbed into the truck.
Cal accelerated.
Bullets struck metal.
The road opened.
They escaped.
For ten minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Hope started laughing.
Luca stared.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Everything.”
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
“You walked toward him!”
“You froze.”
Luca looked offended.
“I did not freeze.”
“You absolutely froze.”
“My dead father walked out of the dark.”
“Fair.”
Cal laughed.
Luca glared.
For one absurd moment, all three laughed.
Then Cal’s phone rang.
He answered.
Silence.
His expression changed.
“Rebecca.”
Hope grabbed the phone.
“Mom?”
“Hope.”
“You’re alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I saw what happened.”
Hope looked around.
“How?”
“I’ve been tracking Domenico.”
“For how long?”
“Eight years.”
Hope closed her eyes.
“Mom.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know what I did to you.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I chose your anger over your funeral.”
Hope had no answer.
Rebecca continued.
“Domenico exposed himself tonight. That was the mistake we needed.”
“We?”
A pause.
“Your brother.”
Hope looked at Luca.
“Luca?”
“No.”
Rebecca’s voice broke.
“Elias.”
Hope froze.
“What are you talking about?”
“Before he died, Elias built a trap.”
Cal leaned closer.
“What trap?”
Rebecca answered.
“The flash drive isn’t evidence.”
Luca looked confused.
“What is it?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
“The real archive.”
Hope’s pulse accelerated.
“Where?”
Rebecca whispered, “Inside the Ferretti estate.”
Luca stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Rebecca’s voice hardened.
“Your father built a private vault beneath the house.”
“I know every room.”
“You know the rooms he wanted you to know.”
“How do we open it?”
Rebecca was silent.
Then:
“Hope’s scars.”
Hope looked at her arms.
“What?”
“The vault requires a biometric sequence Elias created.”
Cal frowned.
“Scars aren’t biometric.”
“No.”
Rebecca continued.
“But the numbers hidden in Hope’s surgical records are.”
Hope suddenly understood why Elias had stored her medical file.
Dates.
Procedures.
Scar revisions.
Case numbers.
A code.
“Domenico doesn’t know?”
“He knows the archive exists.”
“But not how to open it.”
“No.”
“And the archive proves everything?”
“Everything.”
Luca asked the question all of them were thinking.
“Then why hasn’t Domenico destroyed the estate?”
Rebecca whispered, “Because there’s one thing inside that vault he wants more than freedom.”
“What?”
A long pause.
“The original Ferretti ledger.”
Luca’s face hardened.
Hope asked, “What does it contain?”
Rebecca answered.
“The names of every politician, judge, businessman and criminal who ever owed Domenico Ferretti a favor.”
Cal exhaled.
“That could destroy half the network.”
“Yes.”
“And if Domenico gets it?”
“He doesn’t run anymore.”
Rebecca’s voice became cold.
“He becomes untouchable.”
Hope looked toward the road ahead.
The decision was already made.
“We go back to the mansion.”
Luca shook his head.
“It’ll be occupied.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
Hope pulled up her sleeves.
The scars glowed pale beneath the dashboard lights.
“For three years I thought these were proof of the worst day of my life.”
She looked at Luca.
May you like
“Tonight they become useful.”
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