Chapter 8 - THE TRAIN TICKET
The silence inside the train car was absolute.
Only the hiss of the steam engine outside broke the quiet.
Luca didn’t look at me. His gun remained locked on Dominic’s head.
“Don’t play games, Dominic,” Luca said.
“I never play games with family,” Dominic smiled.
He tapped the folded paper on the table.
“Go ahead, Emma. Read it to him. Tell him why Sal hired you ten months ago.”
My hands were shaking as I stepped forward.
The armed men kept their rifles trained on us, but they let me pass.
I picked up the heavy, cream-colored paper.
It was an official Cook County birth certificate.
Name: Emma Rose Reed.
Mother: Catherine Reed.
Father:…
I stared at the name printed in black ink.
I had never known my father. My mother told me he was a salesman who left before I was born. She died when I was twelve.
I read the name on the paper.
Salvatore Russo.
The paper slipped from my trembling fingers.
“No,” I whispered, stumbling back.
Luca finally looked at me.
“Sal?” Luca asked, his voice cracking. “Sal was your father?”
“I didn’t know,” I sobbed, the tears violently spilling down my face. “Luca, I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
Dominic laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound.
“Of course you didn’t know. Sal was a coward. He had a secret family he kept hidden in the suburbs because he was terrified of our world.”
Dominic picked up his scotch.
“But when your mother died, Sal watched you from afar. He paid for your schooling. And when you needed a job ten months ago, he quietly hired you to clean the mansion so he could finally be near you.”
I covered my mouth, a sob tearing through my chest.
Sal.
The old man who brought me coffee every morning in the kitchen.
The man who always asked about my day.
The man who died in the driveway tonight, trying to protect Luca.
He was my father.
“And now,” Dominic said, his smile vanishing. “Sal is dead. Because he chose to protect Luca instead of walking away.”
Dominic leaned forward, his eyes locking onto Luca.
“Sal died for nothing, Luca. Your father died for nothing. Your brother died for nothing. It’s over. Put the gun down, and I’ll let the women live. I just want you and the boy.”
Vanessa screamed, launching herself forward.
“No!”
One of the guards hit her in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. She collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.
“Mommy!” Leo screamed, struggling against the ropes.
Luca looked at the boy.
Then at Vanessa, bleeding on the floor.
Then at me, shattered by the revelation of a father I never got to know.
Luca slowly lowered his gun.
He placed it on the oak table.
“Let them go,” Luca said quietly.
Dominic smiled triumphantly.
He nodded to his men.
“Take them off the train. Kill them in the yard.”
“You gave me your word!” Luca roared, lunging across the table.
Two guards grabbed him, slamming him to the floor, pressing a rifle barrel into the back of his neck.
“My word is worth exactly what my brother’s was,” Dominic sneered. “Nothing.”
The guards grabbed my arms, dragging me toward the door.
Another grabbed Vanessa by the hair, hauling her up.
“Luca!” Vanessa screamed, reaching back toward him.
Luca was pinned to the floor, his face pressed against the rich carpet, completely helpless.
They dragged us out into the freezing rain.
The rail yard was pitch black.
The two guards pushed us against a rusted shipping container.
They raised their rifles.
“Close your eyes, Emma,” Vanessa whispered, grabbing my hand.
I closed my eyes.
I thought of Sal. I thought of the father I never knew.
I waited for the gunshot.
BANG.
But I didn’t feel anything.
I opened my eyes.
The guard standing in front of me was lying face down in the mud, a massive hole in his chest.
The second guard panicked, spinning around to fire into the darkness.
BANG.
He dropped instantly.
Vanessa and I screamed, pressing ourselves against the cold metal container.
From the shadows, a figure emerged.
He was wearing a dark, soaked driving coat.
May you like
He was limping heavily, clutching his side, holding a smoking revolver in his shaking hand.
It was Sal.
