Chapter 7 - The Price of an Heir
Norah did not cry.
Not immediately.
“Tell me everything.”
Marco hesitated.
“Now.”
The rescue had been a trap.
Dr. Vale was alive, but Carmine had rigged the facility with explosives.
Dante entered first.
He got Vale and 2 men out.
Then Carmine’s people closed the exits.
Dante surrendered when Carmine threatened to detonate the building with everyone inside.
“He traded himself for us,” Marco said.
Norah closed her eyes.
Of course he had.
Carmine called 11 minutes later.
“Bring me the woman.”
Marco reached for the phone.
Norah stopped him.
“What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
“No. You want control. The baby is only a tool.”
Carmine chuckled.
“Elaine taught you well.”
“You murdered her friends.”
“Your biological parents made unfortunate decisions.”
Rage burned through Norah.
“Where is Dante?”
A camera activated.
Dante appeared tied to a metal chair.
His face was bruised.
Blood covered one side of his shirt.
Yet when he saw Norah on the screen, his expression changed from pain to fury.
“Do not come.”
Carmine struck him.
Norah flinched.
Dante looked back toward the camera.
“Norah, listen to me.”
Another blow.
“Do not—”
The screen went black.
Carmine returned.
“Midnight. Pier 19.”
“If I come, you release him.”
“Yes.”
“You are lying.”
“Yes.”
The honesty chilled her.
“What happens to me?”
“That depends on how cooperative you are.”
“And my baby?”
“My family finally receives what belongs to it.”
Norah’s voice became ice.
“My child belongs to nobody.”
She disconnected.
Marco stared at her.
“You are not going.”
“Correct.”
He blinked.
Norah turned toward Dr. Vale, who sat wrapped in a blanket.
“Tell me everything Carmine said while you were captive.”
For the next hour, they built a picture.
Carmine needed Norah alive until birth.
He also needed Elaine’s research files.
He believed Norah possessed the complete archive.
That was leverage.
Norah devised the exchange herself.
Marco hated it.
The attorney hated it.
Even Rosa hated it.
But it could work.
At 11:57 p.m., Norah arrived at Pier 19 wearing a wire.
Not alone.
She appeared alone.
Marco’s men occupied 6 concealed positions.
A federal tactical unit waited 2 blocks away after an independent prosecutor reviewed Elaine’s evidence.
Carmine stepped from a warehouse.
He looked nothing like the monster Norah imagined.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
Grandfatherly smile.
“You have Elaine’s eyes.”
“No.”
Norah stopped 20 ft away.
“I have Rachel Gibson’s.”
The smile disappeared.
Good.
“Where is Dante?”
Carmine gestured.
Two men dragged Dante forward.
He could barely stand.
When he saw Norah, rage replaced exhaustion.
“I told you not to come.”
“I have trouble following instructions.”
Even injured, he almost smiled.
Carmine extended his hand.
“The drive.”
Norah held it up.
“Dante first.”
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“I am the only person who knows the encryption key.”
Carmine’s expression sharpened.
That was a lie.
But he believed it.
“You really are Elaine’s daughter.”
“She raised me.”
“She stole you.”
“She saved me.”
Carmine’s smile vanished.
Norah continued.
“She saved Dante too.”
Dante stared at her.
“She left enough evidence to prove you ordered Salvatore’s murder.”
Carmine’s face hardened.
“Your mother understood nothing about family.”
“She understood you.”
Norah moved closer.
“That is why you spent 30 years hunting a dead woman’s secrets.”
Carmine pulled a gun.
Every hidden sniper adjusted.
Norah’s heart hammered.
But she did not move.
“You are frightened of dead women,” she whispered.
Carmine aimed at her.
Dante lunged.
The pier erupted.
Gunfire.
Shouting.
Marco’s team emerged.
Federal agents stormed the warehouse.
Dante slammed Carmine into a shipping container.
The gun skidded across wet concrete.
Carmine reached for a knife.
Dante struck him.
Again.
Again.
Carmine fell.
Dante climbed over him.
His hands closed around his uncle’s throat.
“Dante!”
Norah ran toward him.
Marco tried to stop her.
She pulled free.
“Dante!”
He looked at her.
For one terrifying second, she saw exactly how easily he could kill Carmine.
Carmine smiled through blood.
“Do it.”
Dante’s grip tightened.
“You become me either way.”
Norah moved closer.
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
She did not tell him Carmine deserved mercy.
She did not believe that.
She simply said, “Our child is going to know what you chose tonight.”
Dante froze.
The word our reached him.
His hands loosened.
He stood.
Federal agents dragged Carmine away.
Carmine laughed.
“You think prison ends this?”
Norah looked directly at him.
“No.”
She lifted the wire beneath her coat.
“But confessing to Salvatore’s murder while threatening a pregnant woman probably helps.”
Carmine’s face collapsed.
For the first time, Dante laughed.
Then his knees buckled.
Norah caught him badly, both of them nearly falling.
“Dante?”
His eyes closed.
Blood spread beneath his coat.
“Dante!”
The ambulance ride became a blur.
Surgery lasted 4 hours.
Norah sat beside Rosa.
At dawn, the surgeon appeared.
“He is alive.”
Norah cried then.
Completely.
Without dignity.
Without restraint.
When Dante woke, she sat beside him.
His eyes slowly focused.
“You came.”
“You told me not to.”
“I noticed.”
She took his hand.
“You nearly died.”
“I have a bad habit.”
“Stop it.”
“I will put it on my schedule.”
She laughed through tears.
Dante looked toward her stomach.
“The baby?”
“Fine.”
His eyes closed with relief.
Then Norah leaned forward.
“And Dante?”
He looked at her.
May you like
“We are fine too.”
For once, the man who always had an answer had none.
