Chapter 4 - THE GIRL IN THE RED ROOM
Elena had been counting footsteps for six hours.
Seven from the steel door to the far wall.
Eleven from the mattresses to the small bathroom.
Twenty-three from where Sofia slept against her lap to the corridor outside.
She had learned the habits of their guards.
The heavy one came every forty minutes.
The younger one smoked.
The third spoke Italian when he was angry.
Sofia stirred.
“Mama?”
“I’m here.”
“Dommy coming?”
Elena swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Miss Rose too?”
“Yes.”
The certainty in her daughter’s eyes nearly broke her.
Sofia believed Dominic Moretti could fix anything.
Adults knew better.
The door opened.
Vincent Colombo entered.
Elena recognized him from photographs.
He was younger than she expected.
Mid-forties.
Tailored suit beneath a winter coat.
No visible weapon.
That made him more frightening.
“You made a phone call,” he said.
Elena tightened her arms around Sofia.
“You allowed it.”
“True.”
“So why sound surprised?”
Vincent smiled.
“I understand why Dominic likes you.”
“He doesn’t like people who kidnap children.”
“He doesn’t like children at all.”
Sofia frowned.
“Dommy likes me.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yes.”
“That’s the problem.”
Elena moved Sofia behind her.
“Don’t speak to her.”
Vincent smiled.
“Protective.”
“She’s three.”
“And very valuable.”
Elena fought the urge to hit him.
“What do you actually want?”
“Dominic gone.”
“Then why ask for territory?”
“Because men like Dominic understand territory.”
“And men like you?”
Vincent looked amused.
“I understand families.”
“No.”
Elena held his gaze.
“You understand using them.”
His smile faded slightly.
Good.
“Someone in Dominic’s family brought you into this.”
Vincent’s eyes sharpened.
She had guessed.
“No?”
He said nothing.
“Salvatore.”
Still nothing.
That was enough.
Elena continued.
“Dominic will find out.”
“Perhaps.”
“And then?”
“Then the Morettis eat themselves.”
There it was.
This kidnapping was bigger than Red Hook.
It was meant to fracture the family.
Vincent crouched in front of Sofia.
“What’s your doll’s name?”
Sofia hid behind Elena.
“Don’t answer.”
Vincent smiled.
“Miss Rose, right?”
Sofia’s eyes widened.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
Someone had watched them closely.
“Where is she?” Sofia whispered.
“Elena,” Vincent said.
“What?”
“You understand the danger better than Dominic does.”
“He understands perfectly.”
“No.”
Vincent stood.
“He thinks this is a rescue.”
“What is it?”
“An execution.”
Cold moved through her.
“He walks into Pier Thirty-Eight tomorrow and he dies.”
Elena stared.
“You’re telling me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to know there’s another option.”
She almost laughed.
“What?”
“Leave.”
She froze.
“With Sofia.”
“What?”
“I’ll put you in a car. New identities. Money.”
Elena stared.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“I expect you to understand survival.”
“In exchange for what?”
“You call Dominic.”
“And?”
“You tell him you escaped.”
She understood.
“You want him to lower his guard.”
“I want him to believe you’re safe.”
“And then you kill him.”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
Elena looked at Sofia.
Then at Vincent.
“No.”
Vincent’s expression barely changed.
“You should reconsider.”
“No.”
“Dominic will die.”
“Then I’m not helping you do it.”
“You love him.”
“Yes.”
“That makes you foolish.”
“Maybe.”
She looked down at her daughter.
“But Sofia loves him too.”
Vincent laughed softly.
“You think loyalty means something to men like us?”
“It means something to him.”
That answer irritated him.
Elena saw it.
“Dominic Moretti has killed people.”
“I know.”
“He has burned businesses.”
“I know.”
“He built his reputation on fear.”
“I know.”
“And you think a few bedtime stories changed him?”
“No.”
She lifted her chin.
“I think loving someone gave him a reason to change himself.”
Vincent stared at her.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His expression changed.
“When?”
A pause.
“Impossible.”
Elena listened.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Find him.”
Vincent disconnected.
He looked at her differently now.
“What happened?” Elena asked.
He smiled again, but tension had entered it.
“Nothing.”
A lie.
Then shouting sounded outside.
Gunfire.
Sofia screamed.
Elena dropped to the floor and covered her daughter.
The lights went out.
Someone yelled:
“MOVE THEM!”
The door opened.
The younger guard rushed inside.
“Get up!”
Elena grabbed Sofia.
A second explosion shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The guard pulled Elena toward the corridor.
Smoke.
Emergency lights.
Men running.
Then one guard dropped.
A suppressed gunshot.
Another.
Elena turned.
A figure emerged from the smoke.
Carlo Moretti.
She had seen him at Dominic’s house once.
“Come with me.”
The guard aimed.
Carlo shot him.
Elena froze.
“Who are you?”
“Dominic’s cousin.”
“Are you here to save us?”
Carlo looked toward the corridor.
“I’m here to stop my father.”
Salvatore.
Elena understood.
“Move.”
They ran.
Carlo led them through service corridors.
“You knew we were here?”
“I knew there were two possible locations.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dominic?”
“I did.”
She remembered Dominic’s warning about betrayal.
“Are you the traitor?”
Carlo’s face tightened.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“My father thinks I’m working with him.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
“I’ve been feeding Salvatore false information for months.”
Gunfire behind them.
Carlo pushed open a side door.
Cold air struck Elena’s face.
They were near the docks.
A black sedan waited.
“Get in.”
Elena stopped.
“Where’s Dominic?”
“Coming.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he never listens.”
Despite terror, she almost smiled.
Then Sofia suddenly screamed.
“MISS ROSE!”
Carlo turned.
“What?”
“My dolly!”
Elena grabbed her.
“Sofia, we can’t—”
But the child was pointing toward a parked SUV.
A familiar pink rag doll sat on the dashboard.
Elena froze.
That was impossible.
Dominic had Miss Rose.
Unless—
The SUV exploded.
Carlo tackled them.
Glass rained across the pavement.
Sofia screamed.
Elena’s ears rang.
Carlo dragged them behind concrete barriers.
“That was bait.”
Elena realized the doll was a copy.
They had expected Dominic to recognize it.
Expected him to approach.
Vincent wasn’t simply holding them.
He was studying Dominic’s heart.
Using everything Sofia loved against him.
Elena looked at Carlo.
“Call him.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Signal jammer.”
Then she heard engines.
Black vehicles.
Moretti.
Carlo swore.
“They’re early.”
Gunfire erupted from warehouse rooftops.
Dominic’s convoy had entered a kill zone.
Elena stood.
“DOMINIC!”
Carlo yanked her down.
“Are you insane?”
“He doesn’t know!”
Across the dock, men spilled from vehicles.
Then she saw him.
Dominic.
Black coat.
No hat.
Moving through gunfire as though death had insulted him personally.
“DOMINIC!”
He heard.
Even through everything.
He turned.
Their eyes met across the chaos.
His face changed.
Elena would remember that expression forever.
Not relief.
Not yet.
Disbelief.
Then Sofia shouted:
“DOMMY!”
Dominic ran.
Men covered him.
Carlo stood and fired toward a rooftop.
Dominic reached them.
Sofia launched herself from Elena’s arms.
“DOMMY!”
He caught her.
The most feared man in New York buried his face against a three-year-old girl’s wet hair.
His shoulders shook.
“Sofia.”
“Miss Rose?”
He laughed and cried at the same time.
“She’s safe.”
Elena stared.
Dominic looked at her.
Everything around them disappeared.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
He touched her face.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He pulled her into his arms with Sofia between them.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“All of it.”
She pressed her forehead against his.
“Later.”
Carlo shouted:
“We need to move!”
Dominic looked at him.
“You.”
Carlo lowered his weapon.
“We can hate each other later.”
Dominic considered it.
Then nodded.
They ran.
May you like
Behind them, one Colombo warehouse burned.
Ahead, the war had only begun.
