Chapter 6 - The Empty Bed
The guesthouse door was open.
One guard lay unconscious beside it.
I ran upstairs.
"Mia!"
Nothing.
The bedroom was empty.
A lamp was shattered.
One curtain had been torn down.
On the floor lay Mia's stuffed rabbit.
Elena and Mia were gone.
For five seconds, I couldn't move.
Then something primitive took over.
"Lock the estate."
Rocco was already calling men.
"Every gate. Every road. Nobody leaves."
I picked up the rabbit.
There was blood on one ear.
Not much.
Still too much.
Rocco found the security footage.
A delivery van had entered using credentials belonging to Mrs. Russo's nephew.
Fake.
Three masked men entered the guesthouse.
But Elena fought.
The footage showed her smashing a vase over one man's head before another grabbed Mia.
Elena stopped instantly.
A mother would endure almost anything once someone put hands on her child.
They were forced into the van.
"Track it."
"Plate was stolen."
"Traffic cameras."
"Already doing it."
My phone rang.
Vivien.
I answered.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"Business."
"You ran out."
"Something happened."
Silence.
Then:
"Is everything all right?"
I listened carefully.
Too carefully.
"I'll call you."
I disconnected.
Rocco stared at me.
"You think she knows?"
"I think we're going to find out."
We traced the van to an abandoned church property in Queens owned by one of Gabriel's charities.
I went with twelve men.
The building was empty.
Almost.
Elena's coat lay on the floor.
Beside it was a phone.
It rang.
I answered.
Gabriel.
"You've always been impatient, Lorenzo."
"Where are they?"
"You should be more concerned about how I knew where they were."
I looked at Rocco.
Someone had betrayed us.
"What do you want?"
"The documents Daniel left."
"No."
A child's cry came through the phone.
Mia.
Every man around me became still.
"Uncle Lorenzo!"
Then the line went quiet.
Gabriel spoke.
"Now?"
"I want proof they're alive."
"You just heard proof."
"I want video."
He laughed.
"Still negotiating."
"Always."
A video arrived thirty seconds later.
Elena sat tied to a chair.
Mia was in her lap.
Both alive.
Mia had a cut above her eyebrow.
I watched twice.
Background.
Concrete wall.
Industrial window.
A low mechanical vibration.
Rocco heard it too.
"Train," he whispered.
Gabriel gave me three hours.
We identified seven properties near elevated tracks associated with his companies.
Then Vivien called again.
I ignored it.
She called four times.
On the fifth, I answered.
"Where are you?"
"Busy."
"Lorenzo, please come home."
"Why?"
Her breathing sounded wrong.
"Because my father knows."
Silence.
I motioned for Rocco to trace the call.
"What does he know?"
"Everything."
"You mean Gabriel?"
She began crying.
Not elegantly.
Not performatively.
Actually crying.
"He took them, didn't he?"
"You tell me."
"I didn't know he would take Mia."
"You threatened Mia."
"I know."
Her voice broke.
"I know what I did."
"Then why should I believe a word you say?"
"Because he just told me you're going to bring him Daniel's evidence, and once you arrive, he's going to kill all three of you."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then you're useless to me."
"Wait."
I almost hung up.
"There's a sound."
"What?"
"When he called me, I heard bells."
"Church bells?"
"No. Trains. And water."
Rocco started searching.
Vivien continued.
"My father owns an old printing warehouse near Newtown Creek. The train runs behind it."
We had it.
"Why are you helping me?"
Silence.
Then:
"Because I became my father long before I realized how much I hated him."
I said nothing.
"I frightened Elena because he told me to. I threatened Mia because I thought fear was just another tool."
"It isn't."
"I know that now."
"No. You know you're losing."
That hurt her.
Good.
"Lorenzo..."
"What?"
"I did love you."
I disconnected.
We hit the warehouse seventeen minutes later.
Gabriel had six armed men.
I had twelve.
The confrontation lasted less than two minutes.
We found Elena upstairs.
But Mia wasn't with her.
"Where is she?"
Elena sobbed.
"He took her downstairs."
I ran.
A steel door stood open.
Beyond it was a loading platform overlooking black water.
Gabriel stood at the edge.
Mia was in his arms.
A gun pressed against her side.
I stopped.
"Lorenzo!"
Her little face crumpled.
"It's okay, piccola."
Gabriel smiled.
"Drop the gun."
I did.
"Documents."
Rocco placed the bag on the concrete.
Gabriel kicked it toward himself.
"You look like your father."
"Did he look like this before you killed him?"
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
"Your father was sentimental."
"So was Daniel?"
"Daniel was nosy."
Elena appeared behind us.
Her breath caught.
"Mia."
Gabriel raised the weapon.
Then a gunshot exploded.
Gabriel staggered.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Mia fell from his arms.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
Gabriel collapsed.
Behind him stood Vivien.
A pistol trembled in her hands.
Her face was soaked with tears.
"My whole life," she whispered to Gabriel, "you told me fear made people loyal."
Police sirens approached in the distance.
Gabriel looked at his daughter with hatred.
"You stupid girl."
Vivien lowered the gun.
"No."
May you like
She looked at Mia clinging to me.
"It just makes them wait for the chance to escape."
