Chapter 8 - The Brother Anthony Came to Finish
Dominic moved faster than I had ever seen him move.
Within seconds, we were inside the SUV.
Rafael drove.
Nobody spoke.
The secure location outside Chicago was forty minutes away.
We arrived in twenty-eight.
The building looked untouched.
No broken windows.
No damaged doors.
That frightened me more.
Inside, two guards were unconscious.
Alive.
Drugged.
Mercer was missing.
Dominic reached Luca’s room.
Empty.
Blood on the sheet.
Not much.
But enough.
Dominic stood completely still.
Rafael checked the hallway.
“Back exit.”
Security footage showed Anthony entering with three men.
No masks.
No attempt to hide.
He walked into Luca’s room at 6:22 a.m.
Seven minutes later, he left with Luca in a wheelchair.
Mercer followed.
A gun pressed against his back.
Dominic watched the video twice.
Then a message arrived.
A location.
And one sentence.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR BROTHER TO STAY ALIVE.
“No,” I said.
Dominic looked at me.
“You’re not going.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
He frowned.
“I said you’re not going alone.”
“This is family.”
“It became my problem when your family shot at my kitchen.”
Rafael looked like he agreed with me.
Dominic did not.
“He wants me emotional.”
“Then don’t give him what he wants.”
“My brother is bleeding.”
“And rushing into a trap won’t stop that.”
His jaw clenched.
I stepped closer.
“Listen to me. You trusted me when Luca stopped breathing.”
“That was different.”
“No. It wasn’t.”
He looked at me.
“You couldn’t control what happened then either. You had to let someone else help.”
The words struck somewhere deeper than I intended.
Finally, Dominic turned to Rafael.
“Plan?”
Rafael’s expression changed.
“We give Anthony what he expects.”
An abandoned riverfront manufacturing plant became the meeting point.
Dominic went in first.
Unarmed.
At least visibly.
Rafael’s people positioned outside.
I remained in a medical van two blocks away.
That was the compromise.
I hated it.
Anthony stood inside the plant beside Luca.
Mercer was on the floor nearby.
Luca looked terrible but conscious.
Dominic approached.
Anthony smiled.
“Always dramatic.”
“You kidnapped my brother.”
“You lied about his death.”
“Seems we’re both disappointed.”
Anthony laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
Dominic’s expression flickered.
“Leave him out of this.”
“Why? Everything started with him.”
Inside the van, I listened through the microphone hidden beneath Dominic’s collar.
Anthony continued.
“Your father had one weakness.”
“What?”
“He believed loyalty could be inherited.”
“And yours?”
Anthony smiled.
“I stopped believing in loyalty.”
Luca coughed.
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“Let him go.”
“I will.”
“What do you want?”
“Bluebird.”
“It burned twenty-eight years ago.”
“Not the original ledger.”
“The copy.”
Silence.
I looked toward Rafael.
He frowned.
Dominic said, “There is no copy.”
Anthony’s tone changed.
“Michael Bennett made one.”
My heart stopped.
“He hid it before the fire.”
Dominic glanced toward the microphone.
He knew I was listening.
Anthony continued.
“Margaret found references to it. Grant found the transfer records. But neither knew where Michael put the ledger.”
“What makes you think I do?”
“I don’t.”
Then Anthony smiled.
“But I think Clare does.”
Cold rushed through me.
Rafael turned toward me.
“No.”
I barely heard him.
Anthony said, “Her mother spent years hiding what Michael left behind.”
“My mother?”
I whispered.
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“Leave Clare out of this.”
Anthony’s smile widened.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The weakness.”
Dominic went still.
Anthony took one step closer.
“You barely know her, and already you sound frightened.”
“Anthony.”
“I wondered what would finally make you careless.”
A gunshot exploded through the microphone.
I jumped.
“Dominic!”
Static.
Then shouting.
Rafael was already moving.
I followed.
“No!”
“You need a medic.”
“We have one.”
“You have men who know how to shoot. I know how to stop bleeding.”
We reached the building.
Inside, chaos.
One of Anthony’s men was down.
Mercer had crawled behind machinery.
Luca was on the floor.
Dominic was fighting another man near the stairs.
I ran to Luca.
“Clare?”
“I’m here.”
“Shot reopened.”
“I can see that.”
Blood soaked his bandages.
I applied pressure.
Mercer reached us.
“Take him.”
“What about Dominic?”
“He can take care of himself.”
A second gunshot cracked.
I looked up.
Anthony was backing toward the exit.
Dominic followed.
Then Anthony shouted something.
Everything stopped.
“MICHAEL BENNETT IS ALIVE!”
I froze.
Dominic did too.
Anthony smiled from across the factory floor.
“Ask Clare if she’d like to meet her father.”
My whole body went numb.
He disappeared through a side door.
Dominic could have chased him.
He didn’t.
He looked at me.
I couldn’t speak.
My father.
Alive.
Somewhere.
After nearly three decades.
Luca groaned.
That snapped me back.
We got him into the van.
Mercer stabilized the reopened wound.
Dominic sat across from me.
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, he said, “Anthony lies.”
“Sometimes.”
“Yes.”
“But not always.”
“No.”
I stared at my hands.
“If my father is alive…”
“We’ll find him.”
I looked up.
“Don’t promise things you can’t control.”
His eyes held mine.
“I can control whether I stop looking.”
For some reason, that almost broke me.
Later, when Luca was stable again, Rafael brought me a small package recovered from Anthony’s car.
My name was written across it.
Inside was an old photograph.
My mother.
My father.
And beside them stood a much younger Anthony Romano.
All three smiling.
On the back, someone had written:
THE NIGHT BEFORE EVERYTHING CHANGED.
And beneath it was an address.
May you like
Not in Chicago.
In a small town three hours north.
