Chapter 6 - The Maid Was Never the TargetPier 19 was empty.
That frightened Lucy more than armed men would have.
Rain glazed the concrete.
Shipping containers rose around them like steel tombstones.
Dante had brought 12 men.
Enzo commanded the perimeter.
Lucy wore a wire beneath her coat.
“Stay behind me,” Dante said.
“You’ve said that 6 times.”
“I’ll say it 60.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“Lucy.”
“I’ll stay behind you.”
A light appeared inside the warehouse.
They entered.
Elisabetta sat alone at a table.
No restraints.
No visible injuries.
Dante stopped.
“Mother?”
She looked at Lucy.
“Run.”
The warehouse doors slammed.
Gas hissed from vents.
Dante grabbed Lucy.
His men began coughing.
Lucy’s vision blurred.
The last thing she saw was Dante trying to carry her toward the door.
Then darkness.
She woke in a room she recognized.
Her childhood bedroom.
Lucy sat up violently.
Same faded wallpaper.
Same wooden desk.
Same tiny crack in the ceiling.
Impossible.
The house had been sold after her father died.
The door opened.
Victor Sanz entered.
He looked ordinary.
That was the disturbing part.
Late 50s.
Gray suit.
Gentle smile.
“You look like Anna.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that.”
“Your mother was exceptional.”
Lucy stared.
“You knew her too?”
Sanz sat.
“I loved her.”
Lucy almost laughed.
“You people have a strange definition of love.”
“She chose Samuel.”
“And you murdered him?”
Sanz’s smile disappeared.
“I did not kill your father.”
“Then who did?”
“Your mother.”
Lucy went still.
“My mother died when I was 9.”
“No. Anna disappeared when you were 9.”
He placed a photograph on the desk.
Lucy stared at it.
Her mother.
Older.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken 3 years ago.
Lucy’s hands went cold.
“Where is she?”
Sanz leaned back.
“That depends on you.”
He explained.
Anna Warren had created the original cipher.
Samuel had taken credit publicly to protect her.
Anna discovered the trafficking network first.
She tried to expose it.
But unlike Samuel, she believed destroying the network required controlling it from inside.
Eventually husband and wife turned against each other.
Samuel wanted the evidence public.
Anna wanted leverage.
Lucy shook her head.
“You’re lying.”
“Probably about some things.”
Sanz smiled.
“But not that.”
The door opened again.
Dante was pushed inside.
Blood ran from his temple.
Lucy stood.
Sanz watched her reaction carefully.
And smiled.
There.
That was the real experiment.
Not the archive.
Not the languages.
Dante.
Lucy understood.
“You wanted him here.”
Sanz applauded softly.
“Samuel’s daughter really is quick.”
Dante wiped blood from his face.
“What do you want?”
“The Moretti routes.”
“You already have routes.”
“I want yours.”
Dante laughed once.
“No.”
Sanz pointed toward Lucy.
“Then she dies.”
Dante’s amusement vanished.
Lucy saw the answer in his face before he spoke.
“No.”
Sanz smiled.
“Excellent.”
Lucy turned toward Dante.
“What does that mean?”
Dante said nothing.
Sanz answered.
“It means the most disciplined Moretti in 3 generations finally has a weakness.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped.
She had never been the target.
She was leverage.
Dante looked at her.
“Don’t listen.”
“He’s right.”
“Lucy.”
“You walked into a trap because of me.”
“I walked into a trap because I made a decision.”
Sanz placed documents on the desk.
“Transfer control of the eastern docks and the international routes. Lucy walks away.”
“No,” Lucy said immediately.
Dante looked at the papers.
“Give me a pen.”
Lucy grabbed his arm.
“Absolutely not.”
“Lucy.”
“No.”
Dante met her eyes.
She saw something terrifying there.
He meant to do it.
Not bluff.
Not negotiate.
He would surrender an empire to keep her alive.
“Dante, don’t.”
He whispered, “It’s only an empire.”
Her eyes filled.
Sanz slid the pen across the desk.
Dante signed.
Page after page.
Sanz collected them.
“Love makes men wonderfully stupid.”
Dante looked at Lucy.
“Maybe.”
The lights died.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Sanz spun.
Dante moved.
He smashed the lamp into the guard beside him and pulled Lucy down.
The door exploded inward.
Enzo entered with armed men.
Sanz escaped through a rear corridor.
Dante started after him.
Lucy stopped him.
“Elisabetta.”
They found her locked in a container outside.
Alive.
Enzo had survived the gas because Lucy’s wire had transmitted the ambush before losing signal.
By dawn, they returned to the estate.
But Dante’s empire was collapsing.
The signed transfers had already been transmitted.
Banks froze accounts.
Captains defected.
Warehouses changed hands.
In 6 hours, Dante Moretti lost nearly everything.
Lucy stood inside his office.
“I’m sorry.”
Dante looked up.
“For what?”
“You lost this because of me.”
“No.”
“You signed those papers.”
“I signed them.”
“For me.”
“That was my choice.”
She turned away.
Dante crossed the room.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“You think I regret it?”
“You should.”
“I don’t.”
“You built this your entire life.”
“No. My father built it. I inherited it.”
He touched her cheek.
“You are the first thing I chose.”
Lucy’s breath caught.
Then Enzo burst through the door.
“Boss.”
Dante lowered his hand.
“What?”
“We found Sanz’s server.”
“Good.”
“No.”
Enzo looked at Lucy.
“There’s a live camera feed.”
He opened the laptop.
A woman appeared on-screen.
Lucy stopped breathing.
Older.
Silver threaded through dark hair.
But unmistakable.
Her mother.
Anna Warren looked directly into the camera.
Then she spoke.
“Lucy, if you’re watching this, Victor has already lost.”
Lucy stepped closer.
Anna smiled sadly.
“And Dante Moretti is about to discover that those transfer papers didn’t give Victor his empire.”
Dante frowned.
May you like
Anna continued.
“They gave us his.”
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