Chapter 8 - THE RANSOM OF A BLOODLINE
The smell of gasoline drifted across the city skyline like a suffocating shroud.
Vivienne grabbed Lorenzo’s lapels with both hands.
“Leo,” she gasped, her eyes wide with terror. “He has Leo?”
“I thought Leo was in Switzerland,” Lorenzo said, turning toward Mateo.
“Silvio intercepted his flight in Frankfurt three days ago,” Mateo replied, coughing blood into his fist. “He kept him in a shipping container on Pier 42. He’s using him as leverage to get the offshore accounts unlocked.”
Vivienne pushed herself up from the floor, leaning heavily against Lorenzo.
“We have to go.”
“No,” Lorenzo said firmly, steadying her by the waist. “You stay here under federal protection. I will bring your brother back.”
“You don't understand!” she shouted, tears burning her cheeks. “Silvio doesn't want money! He wants to exterminate my family! He knows Leo is the sole trustee of my father's private shipping licenses!”
Agent Vance entered the wrecked room, holding an encrypted radio.
“Coast Guard reports fires on two commercial docks,” Vance said. “The city is declaring an emergency. Silvio’s barge is anchored half a mile off Fort Point Channel. He’s threatening to detonate the fuel tanks if federal boats approach.”
Lorenzo looked down at Vivienne.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the platinum wedding band he had carried from their bedroom.
He gently took her left hand.
His fingers were rough, but his touch was unbelievably tender.
He slid the ring back onto her finger.
“Lorenzo...” she whispered.
“If I don't come back,” he said, looking straight into her eyes, “every legal asset, every property, and every trust is already signed over to you and our child. Agent Vance has the notarized deeds.”
“I don’t want the deeds!” she cried, clutching his forearms. “I want you to stop running toward the fire!”
“I spent five years running from the truth,” Lorenzo said softly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “The truth is that I fell in love with you the second you opened your father's door. I thought making you hate me would keep you safe from the rot inside me.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“I am going to get your brother,” he promised against her skin. “And then I am going to end this.”
He turned to Agent Vance.
“I need a Coast Guard cutter and a clear perimeter.”
“You’re a civilian asset now, Falcone,” Vance said warily. “You have no authority.”
“Silvio won’t negotiate with feds,” Lorenzo replied, racking the slide of his weapon. “He wants me. Give me what he wants.”
Ten minutes later, Lorenzo was on the deck of a black harbor patrol vessel cutting through the choppy, oil-slicked waters of Boston Harbor.
Thick black smoke billowed into the morning sky.
Flames danced across the water where fuel had leaked from the containment booms.
Through the haze, the massive silhouette of the fuel barge Prometheus appeared.
Searchlights from the barge suddenly swept across the water, blinding Lorenzo’s pilot.
A heavy machine gun opened fire from the barge’s upper gantry.
Bullets chewed through the patrol boat’s fiberglass hull, showering Lorenzo with shards of deck plating.
“Hold your fire!” a loudspeaker blared from the barge. “Send Lorenzo Falcone across in the dinghy, or the boy goes into the furnace!”
Lorenzo climbed down into the rigid inflatable boat tied to the stern.
May you like
He looked back at the city skyline once.
Then he cut the line and drifted into the smoke.
