Chapter 10 - The Second Fire
The flames spread fast.
Too fast.
Accelerant.
Dante knew instantly.
Victor had prepared the building to burn.
“Secondary exit!” Matteo shouted.
Paul pointed toward a metal door.
“Tunnel!”
They ran.
Smoke filled the underground room.
Lena coughed into her sleeve.
The heat triggered memories she did not own.
Her mother’s terror.
Gabriel dying somewhere above.
Dante pulled the steel door open.
A narrow tunnel stretched beneath the warehouse.
Matteo moved first.
Lena followed.
Dante remained behind Paul.
Halfway through, Paul stumbled.
Dante caught him.
“Move.”
Paul looked at him.
“You should leave me.”
“No.”
“I betrayed Gabriel.”
“I know.”
“I betrayed Elena.”
“I know.”
“I failed Sofia.”
Dante shoved him forward.
“You don’t get forgiveness by burning to death.”
Paul stared.
Dante’s voice hardened.
“You live long enough to testify.”
They continued.
Behind them, the tunnel ceiling cracked.
A beam collapsed.
Dante shoved Lena forward.
The timber struck Dante’s shoulder and knocked him down.
“Dante!”
Lena ran back.
“Go!”
“No!”
She and Paul lifted the beam enough for Dante to crawl free.
Blood soaked his shirt.
Lena stared.
“You said you weren’t allowed to die.”
“I don’t remember saying that.”
“I’m saying it now.”
Even then, Dante almost smiled.
They reached daylight near the rail yard.
Matteo’s remaining men were fighting Victor’s attackers.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Federal agents.
Lena stared.
Dante looked at Matteo.
“You called the FBI?”
“No.”
Paul raised one hand.
“I did.”
Everyone turned.
“Before you arrived.”
Dante’s expression hardened.
Paul continued.
“I knew Victor would come.”
“You set him up.”
“I tried.”
A black SUV raced from behind the warehouse.
Victor.
Dante moved toward it.
Lena grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Let them take him.”
“He killed my brother.”
“And my mother.”
“He killed Sofia.”
“I know.”
Dante’s face twisted.
Lena tightened her grip.
“If you go after him now, you become exactly what Gabriel died trying to stop.”
The words hit.
Dante looked toward the fleeing vehicle.
Then at Lena.
His brother’s daughter.
Gabriel’s legacy.
He lowered his gun.
Federal vehicles pursued Victor.
Dante stood watching until they disappeared.
Paul sank to the ground.
“It isn’t over.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
“Victor has Sofia’s evidence.”
Dante’s face changed.
“How?”
“He took something from her before she died.”
“What?”
“A journal.”
Dante clenched his jaw.
Paul continued.
“But Sofia kept a duplicate.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Dante stared.
“She left you a clue.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in my life apparently communicates through clues.”
Paul almost smiled.
“Sofia knew you.”
“Meaning?”
“She knew you’d ignore anything subtle.”
Lena actually laughed.
Dante glared.
“Not helpful.”
Paul looked toward Lena.
“Sofia wrote something in Leo’s baby book.”
Dante went still.
“The blue book?”
Paul nodded.
Dante called Rosa immediately.
She found it in the nursery.
Page after page of Sofia’s handwriting.
First kick.
First ultrasound.
First heartbeat.
Then, near the final page, a line written shortly before her death:
If anything happens to me, remember where Dante proposed.
Dante closed his eyes.
Lena whispered, “Where?”
Dante looked at her.
“Lake Como.”
Italy.
Matteo sighed.
“We’re going to Italy.”
Dante nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Rosa.
He answered.
Her voice was panicked.
“Mr. Rosselli.”
“What?”
“It’s Leo.”
Dante’s face drained.
“What happened?”
“He’s sick.”
“How sick?”
“He started vomiting. He can barely keep his eyes open.”
Dante turned toward the car.
“I’m coming.”
“Sir…”
Rosa’s voice broke.
“The doctor found something.”
Dante stopped.
“What?”
“A sedative in his blood.”
Everyone looked at Paul.
Paul shook his head immediately.
“I didn’t—”
Dante’s voice became almost inaudible.
May you like
“Someone poisoned my son.”
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