Chapter 8 - The Last Caruso
We had one hour.
Gabriel wanted the ledger.
Sloan wanted control.
And Julian was being held somewhere underground.
I knew the only way to win was to make them believe we were fighting each other.
Vincent agreed.
Dante objected.
Hannah refused to stay behind.
“I've already lost too much,” she said.
I looked at her.
“You could die.”
“So could you.”
She was right.
We found the location through the video.
An old train station beneath Manhattan.
The tunnels had been abandoned for decades.
We entered at 2:00 a.m.
The place smelled of rust and rain.
Then we heard Julian.
“Marco!”
We ran.
Julian was chained to a chair.
Sloan stood behind him.
Gabriel stood nearby.
I raised my gun.
Gabriel smiled.
“You look like your father.”
“I'll take that as an insult.”
“You should.”
Sloan stepped forward.
“Ledger.”
I held up the drive.
“Release my brother.”
“No.”
“Then you get nothing.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Still negotiating.”
He walked toward Grace's photograph.
“You brought the child?”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“Then this ends badly.”
Vincent stepped from the shadows.
“Gabriel.”
Gabriel stared.
“You.”
Vincent raised his weapon.
“You should have died years ago.”
“So should you.”
Gunfire erupted.
I pulled Julian down.
Dante attacked Sloan.
Hannah appeared from another tunnel.
She had found a control panel.
She shut off the lights.
Darkness.
Screaming.
Shots.
Then silence.
When the emergency lights came on, Gabriel was gone.
Sloan was wounded.
Vincent was bleeding.
Julian was alive.
But Grace was missing.
Hannah screamed.
“She was with me!”
I turned.
A security camera showed Gabriel carrying her.
My heart stopped.
We chased him into the tunnels.
The tracks disappeared into darkness.
Then a train whistle sounded.
Gabriel was escaping.
I ran.
A train began moving.
I jumped onto the final car.
Julian grabbed my arm.
“Marco!”
I pulled myself inside.
Gabriel stood at the front.
Grace was in his arms.
He looked at me.
“Come any closer.”
I stopped.
“You don't want to hurt her.”
“No.”
He looked down at Grace.
“I want her to live.”
“Then give her to me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
His expression changed.
“Because I'm dying.”
I stared.
He wasn't lying.
His hands shook.
His breathing was shallow.
“Then let us help you.”
He laughed.
“You would save me?”
“No.”
I looked at Grace.
“I would save her.”
Gabriel stared at the baby.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Regret.
Then the train jolted.
Grace slipped.
I lunged.
Gabriel grabbed her.
For one second, we were both holding her.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot.
Gabriel fell.
Grace screamed.
I caught her.
The train stopped.
I looked around.
Sloan stood at the end of the car.
He had shot Gabriel.
“Why?”
Sloan smiled.
“Because he was becoming weak.”
He raised his gun.
Then Vincent appeared behind him.
One shot.
Sloan dropped.
Vincent lowered his weapon.
“It's over.”
But Gabriel was still alive.
Barely.
He looked at me.
“Marco.”
I knelt.
“What?”
He looked at Grace.
“Don't let her become us.”
Then he closed his eyes.
He died before the ambulance arrived.
For the first time, I felt no hatred.
Only exhaustion.
May you like
The war was finally over.
Or so I thought.
