Chapter 6 - The Locker
The brass key opened locker 317.
Mina stood inside South Station with Alfred beside her and two plainclothes security men positioned far enough away not to draw attention.
Her hand trembled as she turned the key.
Inside sat a battered blue backpack.
Owen's.
Mina recognized the torn strap.
For a moment she couldn't move.
Alfred didn't rush her.
She pulled it out.
Inside were three things.
A baseball cap.
A disposable phone.
And a child's wooden music box their mother had owned.
Mina stared at it.
“Owen hated that thing.”
“Why?”
“The song annoyed him.”
Alfred examined it.
“Then why hide it?”
Mina understood.
She opened the bottom.
A tiny flash drive fell into her palm.
Eight years of grief.
Eight years of questions.
Smaller than her thumb.
Back at the townhouse, Mina decrypted it using a password only she would know.
Their mother's birthday.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Bank records.
Audio recordings.
Shipping manifests.
Photographs.
Then a video.
Owen appeared on screen.
Mina stopped breathing.
He was young.
Alive.
“Min,” he said into the camera, “if you're watching this, then I probably screwed up.”
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Alfred stepped away, giving her privacy.
Owen explained everything.
Marino had been siphoning millions from the Costello organization while secretly financing a rival group.
Alfred's father, Salvatore, discovered part of the scheme.
But instead of exposing Marino, he helped cover it up to protect the family name.
Owen found proof.
Then came the final recording.
Marino's voice.
“Make the accountant disappear.”
Another voice answered.
Salvatore.
“No blood. Scare him.”
Marino laughed.
“You're getting sentimental.”
The recording ended.
Mina stared at the screen.
Alfred said quietly, “My father was guilty.”
“Yes.”
“But he didn't order the murder.”
“No.”
Neither felt relief.
Salvatore had still covered it up afterward.
Alfred called an emergency meeting of the Costello leadership.
Mina stopped him.
“No.”
He frowned.
“If Marino has people inside, showing everyone the evidence tells him exactly what we have.”
Alfred considered that.
“What do you suggest?”
“We make him believe the drive is useless.”
A slow understanding appeared in Alfred's eyes.
“You want to bait him.”
“I want him to come to us.”
“No.”
Mina raised an eyebrow.
“You asked what I wanted.”
“I regret discovering democracy.”
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Their plan was simple.
Daniel contacted Marino and claimed the drive had been damaged.
Only Mina knew the encryption key.
Marino responded within eleven minutes.
He wanted Mina.
Alfred read the message and said, “Absolutely not.”
“You don't have to hand me over.”
“Good.”
“You have to make him believe you will.”
That was harder.
Because everyone knew Alfred Costello's weakness now.
Mina.
And their unborn child.
For the trap to work, Marino needed to believe Alfred would sacrifice Mina to preserve his empire.
So Alfred did something Mina never expected.
He called a meeting.
Twenty-three senior Costello men gathered inside a private dining room.
Mina stood beside him.
Alfred placed Owen's drive on the table.
“My uncle wants this woman in exchange for peace.”
Several men shifted.
Alfred continued.
“For years, this organization has treated loyalty as something demanded downward.”
He looked around the table.
“Tonight that changes.”
He picked up the drive.
“I choose her.”
Silence.
“If anyone believes that makes me weak, stand up.”
Nobody moved.
Alfred's eyes hardened.
“My child will not inherit an empire built on graves we pretend not to see.”
Mina stared at him.
This was not the man she had planned to flee.
Maybe he had never been given a reason to become someone else.
Then one chair moved.
Lev stood.
Mina's heart stopped.
But Lev walked to Alfred's side.
“I choose them too.”
One by one, others stood.
Not all.
Three men remained seated.
Alfred looked at them.
And smiled.
They had just found Marino's insiders.
One reached beneath his jacket.
Lev shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
Alfred shoved Mina behind the marble bar.
A bullet shattered bottles overhead.
Men screamed.
Then silence.
Mina opened her eyes.
Alfred was crouched in front of her.
Blood covered his white shirt.
“Alfred?”
He looked down.
The blood wasn't his.
He touched her face.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He exhaled.
Then Lev approached holding a phone taken from one of the traitors.
“Boss.”
On the screen was a live message from Marino.
Cute speech.
Another appeared.
But you forgot something.
A photograph loaded.
Daniel was tied to a chair.
Behind him stood Marino.
May you like
And beneath the photograph:
MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE, MINA.
