Chapter 6 - The Thing Beneath the River
The warehouse smelled of rust, river water, and forgotten winters.
Dominic entered first.
Riley ignored his instruction to remain in the SUV and entered eleven seconds later.
He turned.
“I told you—”
“I heard you.”
“And?”
“I disagreed.”
Marco walked between them.
“I miss when people were shooting at us.”
They followed Thomas Hayes’s coordinates to a refrigeration chamber sealed behind a false wall.
Inside was a steel safe.
The brass key opened it.
Dominic expected documents.
Instead they found film reels, ledgers, photographs, and a miniature cassette labeled:
LORENZO — FINAL
Dominic stared at it.
Riley touched his arm.
“Do you want us to leave?”
“No.”
His answer came too quickly.
She didn’t move away.
Marco found an old player.
Static filled the room.
Then Lorenzo Castelli spoke.
“Dominic, if you ever hear this, then I failed.”
Dominic’s face became stone.
“I built something I thought I could control. Men like Salvatore convinced me fear could create order. I believed them because fear was easier than trust.”
Riley glanced at Dominic.
The resemblance between father and son went beyond blood.
“I discovered Salvatore was trafficking narcotics through our shipping routes and bribing city officials. When I ordered it stopped, he went around me.”
Lorenzo coughed.
“Thomas Hayes helped me collect evidence. He is a better man than most who sit at my table.”
Dominic lowered his head.
“Victor Crane took Salvatore’s money. Anthony Valente destroyed medical records. Carlo Benedetti tried to leave. I fear he is already dead.”
The tape crackled.
Then:
“Dominic, if I die, do not avenge me.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“End it.”
Silence.
Then the recording stopped.
Riley watched him.
“What are you thinking?”
“That my father knew me too well.”
“You were nineteen.”
“I would have burned Chicago looking for the person who killed him.”
“And Salvatore gave you someone else to blame.”
“Yes.”
A rival named Pietro Morelli.
Dominic had spent fifteen years hating a dead man for a murder he hadn’t committed.
Riley stepped closer.
“Then don’t give Salvatore another fifteen years.”
Dominic looked at her.
For once, he had no answer.
They loaded the evidence.
Then Marco found something hidden beneath the safe.
A recent ledger.
Only six months old.
Salvatore’s operation had never stopped.
Neither had Victor Crane’s involvement.
The redevelopment project around Riley’s butcher shop was intended to construct luxury towers.
Underneath those towers would be a freight tunnel connecting to private river access.
A perfect smuggling route.
Riley’s property sat directly above the final access point.
“That’s why they needed my building.”
Dominic nodded.
“And your father knew what was beneath it.”
A metallic click echoed behind them.
Dominic froze.
“Down!”
Gunfire ripped through the chamber.
Marco returned fire.
Riley crawled behind the safe.
Dominic fired toward the doorway.
Then a second team appeared behind them.
Ambush.
Dominic grabbed Riley.
“River exit!”
They ran through the rear loading corridor.
Marco followed.
Outside, rain had started again.
A bullet struck Dominic’s shoulder.
He stumbled.
Riley caught him.
“Dominic!”
“Keep moving.”
Blood soaked his shirt.
They reached the river dock.
No boat.
Behind them came footsteps.
Dominic pushed Riley behind a concrete barrier.
“Take this.”
He handed her the evidence bag.
“No.”
“Riley.”
“No.”
“If they get this, everyone died for nothing.”
“And if I leave you?”
“Then I get extremely offended.”
She stared at him.
Even bleeding, he was making jokes.
“You’re an idiot.”
“I’ve heard worse.”
Marco fired from behind a loading crane.
“Boss! Boat coming!”
A speedboat approached.
Dominic raised his weapon.
Then recognized the driver.
Frank Russo.
They boarded under fire.
Riley pressed both hands against Dominic’s shoulder wound.
He grimaced.
“Harder.”
“I am pressing as hard as I can.”
“You broke Tony’s knee with one swing. I know you can do better.”
She pressed harder.
He swore.
“Better?”
“Much.”
Twenty minutes later they reached a safe apartment.
A doctor removed the bullet.
Dominic refused anesthesia beyond local numbing.
Riley called him insane.
The doctor agreed.
Hours later, Dominic woke on the couch.
Riley sat beside him.
“You stayed.”
“You got shot because of me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I got shot because someone shot me.”
She stared.
“Do you practice being irritating?”
“Natural talent.”
Then he noticed her hand around his.
Neither knew when it had happened.
Riley slowly released him.
Dominic caught her fingers.
Not forcefully.
“Stay.”
The word contained none of his usual authority.
Riley looked at him.
“You’re drugged.”
“Barely.”
“You’ll regret this tomorrow.”
“Probably.”
She sat again.
He closed his eyes.
“Riley?”
“What?”
“The first night.”
“The knife?”
“Yes.”
“What about it?”
“I wasn’t going to hurt you.”
“I know.”
His eyes opened.
“How?”
“You told your men to put the guns down.”
“They would’ve shot you otherwise.”
“Exactly.”
He studied her.
“You trusted me while holding a knife to my throat?”
“No.”
She squeezed his hand.
“I trusted that you didn’t want me dead.”
Dominic smiled weakly.
“That’s romantic.”
“That’s not romance.”
“Closest I’ve had in years.”
Riley should have laughed.
Instead something in her chest hurt.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
Once.
Briefly.
Then she pulled away.
Dominic stared at her.
“That was definitely the medication.”
“Say another word and I’ll reopen your shoulder.”
He smiled.
Then Marco entered carrying a phone.
His expression killed the moment.
“We found Victor Crane.”
Dominic sat up.
“Where?”
“He found us first.”
Marco placed the phone down.
A live video showed Alderman Crane sitting behind an expensive desk.
Beside him stood Salvatore DeLuca.
And tied to a chair between them was Frank Russo’s seventeen-year-old daughter.
Crane smiled into the camera.
“Mr. Castelli.”
Dominic’s expression went dead.
“We have something you want.”
Salvatore lifted a gun beside the terrified girl’s head.
Crane continued.
“And you have something we want.”
Riley looked at Dominic.
“The evidence.”
Crane smiled.
“Bring it tomorrow night.”
He gave an address.
Then added:
“And bring Miss Hayes.”
Dominic leaned toward the screen.
“No.”
Crane’s smile widened.
“Then the girl dies.”
The feed ended.
Dominic looked at Riley.
“No.”
She crossed her arms.
“You haven’t even heard what I’m going to say.”
“Yes, I have.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
Riley stepped closer.
“You put your empire between me and people trying to kill me.”
Dominic stood despite the pain.
“That does not mean I’m delivering you to them.”
“No.”
May you like
She looked at the frozen image of Frank’s daughter.
“It means tomorrow night, I get to stand beside you.”
