Chương 11
Her eyes found Vincent’s, then Tony’s, then the empty space behind them.
“Where is she?” Elena asked.
“Safe,” Vincent said.
Her shoulders dropped a fraction.
Gus picked up a laptop. “Card.”
Vincent removed a black microSD card from his shirt pocket.
It contained a copy of the files and a hidden program Marco had installed to transmit the laptop’s network identity if it connected to any service. The files were real. The card was not the original.
Gus held out his hand.
Vincent did not approach.
“Release her first.”
Dario laughed from behind them. “You know how trades work.”
“I know how Sal works.”
“Mr. Rinaldi isn’t here.”
“I noticed.”
Gus’s smile faded. “Card.”
Elena looked at Vincent. Her left eye was swollen, but her attention was clear.
“Don’t,” she said.
Gus struck the back of her chair with his hand. The metal sound cracked through the warehouse.
Vincent did not move.
“Give him the card,” Elena said.
“You told Sophie not to.”
Her eyes changed at the name.
“She kept it safe?” Elena whispered.
“Yes.”
Gus looked sharply toward Dario.
Vincent saw the mistake register.
They had not known Sophie still carried the original.
Dario raised his pistol.
Tony moved sideways.
Everything happened quickly without feeling fast.
The plastic curtains behind Elena lifted inward though there was no wind inside the warehouse. Marco was there.
Gus turned toward the movement.
Tony drove his shoulder into Dario’s chest. The pistol discharged once, the blast punishing in the enclosed space. Tony struck the concrete and rolled against a pallet.
Marco fired from behind the curtains. Gus fell beside the table, clutching his thigh.
Vincent seized Dario’s wrist before he could aim again. Dario was younger and leaner, but he fought with panic rather than control. They struck the folding table, sending the laptop to the floor. Dario’s forehead hit Vincent’s cheek. White light burst behind Vincent’s eyes.
Elena kicked the fallen laptop into Dario’s ankle.
He stumbled.
Vincent twisted the pistol free and pressed it beneath Dario’s jaw.
The warehouse became still except for Gus moaning and Tony’s strained breathing.
Dario looked up at Vincent.
“You said no kids,” Vincent said.
Dario smiled despite the gun. “Sal said you’d make it about rules.”
Vincent’s finger rested against the trigger.
“He said you needed rules so you could sleep.”
Tony made a wet sound behind him.
Vincent looked over.
Blood spread across Tony’s white shirt near the lower ribs.
That glance was enough.
Dario slammed his forearm into Vincent’s wrist and ran through the plastic curtains toward a side exit. Marco fired once and missed. A metal door banged open, then closed.
Vincent started after him.
“Elena,” Tony gasped.
Vincent stopped.
Dario’s footsteps vanished outside.
He returned to the chair and cut Elena’s bindings with Marco’s knife. Her hands were swollen and raw. When she tried to stand, her knees gave way. Vincent caught her by the elbow.
“Tony,” she said.
Marco was already pressing both hands against Tony’s wound.
“The bullet went through,” Marco said. “Maybe liver, maybe not.”
Tony’s face had turned gray.
“Tell Teresa,” he whispered, “her sandwich got stepped on.”
“Tell her yourself,” Vincent said.
Tony smiled weakly. “That’s sentimental nonsense.”
Reed entered through the loading door with Brennan and two officers who had been kept off radio dispatch. Her gun remained raised until she saw Elena, Gus, and Tony on the floor.
“Ambulance now,” she shouted.
Brennan moved to Tony while Reed secured Gus.
Vincent handed her Dario’s pistol.
“He got out the east side.”
“You let him go?”
“I chose the living people.”
Reed looked at Tony, then Elena.
For once, she did not argue.
The ambulance took Tony and Elena to different hospitals. Gus went in a third, guarded by Brennan. Marco rode with Tony after Vincent ordered him to. Reed remained at the warehouse with Vincent.
“You’re coming with me,” she said.
“Not yet.”
“You participated in an armed exchange, withheld evidence, and entered before authorized units arrived.”
“Sal isn’t here.”
“I’m aware.”
“He never intended to trade.”
“I’m also aware.”
Vincent picked up the fallen laptop using a cloth from the table. The screen had cracked but remained lit. Marco’s transmission program showed one brief network handshake before the machine lost connection.
An address appeared in the log.
Bella Vista’s private office server.
Sal had connected remotely to monitor the card.
Vincent looked at Reed.
“He’s at the restaurant.”
She read the address and reached for her phone.
Vincent said, “Don’t use dispatch.”
“Harlan already knows we found the warehouse.”
“How?”
“Because Dario escaped.”
“No. Dario doesn’t call while he’s running.”
Reed stared at him.
Vincent looked toward the ambulance lights flashing across the wet warehouse walls.
“Harlan was watching official movement,” he said. “The units you requested were delayed.”
Her expression changed.
She called Brennan directly and told him to contact a trusted supervisor, then requested officers through a separate command channel. Even so, the response would take time. Bella Vista was across the borough, and evening traffic had thickened.
Vincent walked toward the Cadillac.
Reed followed. “You’re not going there.”
“It’s my restaurant.”
“That is not a legal principle.”
“Elena hid the original paper ledger.”
Reed stopped. “Where?”
“She hasn’t told us.”
“You said Sal is at Bella Vista.”
“She worked there. He believes it’s there.”
“And you know this how?”
“Because he monitored the card from my office server instead of from a disposable device. He needed access to a system only Sal and I can reach remotely. He’s searching something.”
Reed’s phone rang. She answered.
It was the hospital.
Elena was conscious.
They spoke to her over a nurse’s phone. Her voice was weak, every breath shallow.
“The wine cellar,” she said. “Loose brick behind the old furnace pipe.”
“Why put it there?” Reed asked.
“Because Mr. Torino never goes downstairs.”
Vincent looked away.
“What’s in the ledger?” he asked.
“Names. Payments. Routes. The women. Harlan. Other officers.”
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“Sal knows?”
“He knows I copied it. He doesn’t know where.”
