Chapter 14 - THE NIGHT ANTHONY CAME HOME
Anthony arrived at Roman’s house at 1:06 in the morning.
Alone.
Unarmed.
And bleeding.
The security system identified him before he reached the front porch.
Roman was awake immediately.
Elena followed him downstairs.
“Stay behind me.”
She gave him a look.
Roman corrected himself.
“Please.”
That she accepted.
Two federal agents had been stationed nearby since the shooting, but Roman saw Anthony collapse through the security camera before anyone reached him.
They opened the door.
Anthony fell forward.
Roman caught him.
Blood covered the side of Anthony’s shirt.
“Who did this?”
Anthony laughed weakly.
“Apparently my employees have trust issues.”
Agents searched him.
No weapon.
An ambulance was called.
Anthony grabbed Roman’s sleeve.
“No hospital.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“No hospital.”
Roman stared down at him.
Anthony whispered:
“They’ll kill Mia.”
Elena moved closer.
“What?”
Anthony saw her.
His face changed.
“Of course you’re here.”
Elena ignored it.
“Who will kill Mia?”
Anthony coughed.
“Victor Sayegh.”
Roman knew the name.
A logistics investor with connections in Europe.
Publicly legitimate.
Privately rumored to finance organized theft rings.
Anthony had not built the operation alone.
He had become trapped inside it.
“Mia’s safe,” Elena said.
Anthony shook his head.
“Not her.”
His breathing became ragged.
“Her son.”
Elena went cold.
“Caleb?”
Anthony nodded.
“He has somebody inside the protection detail.”
Roman immediately called the FBI.
Within minutes, agents confirmed one contract security officer assigned to Mia had disappeared.
So had Caleb.
Mia’s scream over the phone was something Elena would never forget.
Anthony was transported under guard to Hudson Valley Medical.
Doctors removed the bullet.
He survived surgery.
When he woke, Roman was sitting beside the bed.
Anthony looked at him.
“You should hate me.”
Roman said nothing.
“You always were terrible at doing what people expected.”
Roman almost smiled.
“Where is Caleb?”
Anthony closed his eyes.
“Sayegh has a property near Bear Mountain.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman stood.
Anthony grabbed his wrist.
“I can get it.”
“How?”
“He’ll contact me.”
“Why?”
“Because he thinks I still have access to the account.”
Roman stared at him.
Anthony laughed painfully.
“You thought I was the villain.”
“You murdered Daniel.”
Anthony’s expression changed.
“No.”
Roman froze.
“You paid for the drugs.”
“I paid a clinic. Sayegh used it.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Anthony looked at him.
“But Daniel was supposed to be frightened. Not killed.”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“You threatened my children.”
“Yes.”
“You photographed my house.”
“Yes.”
“You kidnapped Frank.”
“Yes.”
Roman’s voice broke.
“You aimed a rifle at my wife.”
Anthony shook his head.
“That wasn’t me.”
Roman grabbed the bed rail.
Anthony continued.
“I ordered men to scare you. I wanted the authorization.”
His eyes filled.
“I wanted what I thought our father owed me.”
Roman said nothing.
“I found out I was his son and suddenly thirty years made sense.”
Anthony laughed bitterly.
“Why he paid my tuition. Why he kept me close. Why my mother hated your mother.”
“You could have come to me.”
“And said what?”
Anthony’s anger surfaced.
“Hello, brother? Your father spent my entire life calling me nephew so nobody would know he betrayed his own family?”
Roman looked away.
Anthony whispered:
“I hated you for being legitimate.”
Roman stared.
“And I hated myself for wanting what you had.”
The room became quiet.
Roman finally said:
“You still chose every crime.”
Anthony nodded.
“I know.”
That answer sounded painfully familiar.
Roman had once spoken the same words to Elena.
Anthony’s phone rang inside an evidence bag.
The FBI traced the number.
Victor Sayegh.
Agents prepared recording equipment.
Anthony answered.
Victor’s voice came through.
“You disappoint me.”
Anthony looked at Roman.
“Feeling’s mutual.”
“Where’s Caruso?”
“Listening.”
Roman took the phone.
“Where’s the boy?”
Victor laughed.
“Straight to business.”
“He’s four.”
“Then don’t waste time.”
Victor demanded both Salerno authorizations and safe passage out of the country.
Roman agreed.
Federal agents prepared a rescue operation.
The location was identified through cell triangulation.
An abandoned mountain lodge north of West Point.
Before Roman could leave, Elena stopped him.
“You’re not going inside.”
“Elena—”
“You have trained federal teams.”
“He asked for me.”
“He can see you outside.”
Roman looked at her.
“Caleb is four.”
“And Lucia is ten. Nicholas is seven.”
Roman’s face tightened.
Elena touched his chest.
“Being brave does not mean being the first person through every door.”
He exhaled.
She was right.
Again.
At 4:52 a.m., federal teams surrounded the lodge.
Roman stood beside a command vehicle wearing a vest.
Anthony, against medical advice, remained connected by video from the hospital.
Victor appeared at a window holding Caleb.
The child was crying.
Mia’s son clutched a stuffed dinosaur.
Roman’s stomach twisted.
Victor demanded Roman approach alone.
Agents refused.
Roman looked toward the child.
Then heard Anthony through an earpiece.
“Victor.”
Victor looked toward a phone inside the lodge.
Anthony continued.
“The account doesn’t exist anymore.”
Roman frowned.
Anthony looked into the hospital camera.
“I transferred my authorization to federal seizure before surgery.”
Victor screamed.
“You liar!”
Anthony smiled weakly.
“You wanted Caruso money?”
His eyes moved toward Roman.
“Now the government owns my half.”
Victor dragged Caleb backward.
Agents moved.
A flash-bang exploded.
Roman heard gunfire.
Then silence.
Thirty-four seconds later, an agent’s voice came through:
“Child secure.”
Roman closed his eyes.
Victor Sayegh was arrested alive.
Caleb had a bruised wrist but no serious injuries.
Mia reached the scene before sunrise.
When Caleb ran into her arms, even hardened agents looked away.
Roman stood at a distance.
Elena joined him.
“He’s okay.”
Roman nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Anthony.
Roman answered.
“You saved him.”
Anthony stared through the video.
“I helped save him.”
Roman nodded.
“Yes.”
Anthony began crying.
Quietly.
Roman had never seen him cry.
“What happens now?” Anthony asked.
Roman knew exactly what he meant.
Prison.
Charges.
Years.
Maybe decades.
Roman did not lie.
“You tell the truth.”
Anthony looked down.
“And after?”
Roman glanced at Elena.
She squeezed his hand.
Roman answered:
“After that, we see what kind of man you choose to become.”
Anthony gave a broken smile.
“You really have changed.”
Roman looked at his wife.
“No.”
He remembered Elena’s words from years earlier.
May you like
“I choose differently.”
And for the first time, Anthony understood that perhaps blood did not doom either of them to repeat their father’s mistakes.
