Chapter 7 - THE VAULT
The Porsche’s tires screeched as I pulled up to the rear alley of First Chicago Bank.
The building was a monolithic structure of stone and steel, dark and imposing in the midnight rain.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly they ached.
"They have Luca," I whispered, the reality crashing down on me.
Leo touched my arm. "Emma, we can't just walk in there. It's a hostage situation. We need to call the police."
"Arthur owns half the police force in this district," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt. "If we call them, they’ll hand us right over to him. We have to do this ourselves."
I reached under the seat and pulled out the gun I had taken from the man in the kitchen. It felt alien and heavy in my hand.
Answer one: Vanessa’s trap had worked perfectly, using Paul as bait to capture Luca.
Open two: How did Arthur plan to get into a locked bank vault at midnight without setting off the alarms?
We stepped out into the alley.
A side door propped open with a brick confirmed my worst fear. They were already inside.
"Stay behind me," I whispered to Leo.
We crept through the dark corridors, guided only by the emergency exit lights. The air smelled of floor wax and old paper.
We reached the subterranean level. The massive circular steel door of the main vault was wide open.
Inside, the harsh fluorescent lights were blazing.
I peered around the corner.
Arthur Bellini stood in the center of the vault. Two of his armed guards were holding Luca on his knees.
Luca’s face was bruised, blood trickling from a cut above his eye. But his expression was defiant.
Vanessa stood beside her father, her arms crossed, looking deeply uncomfortable but complicit.
And in the corner, tied to a chair, was Paul the gardener. He looked exhausted, but alive.
"The alarms are disabled," Arthur was saying, looking at his gold watch. "The manager was very cooperative once I mentioned his gambling debts. Now, Luca. The key."
"I told you," Luca spat. "I left it at the house."
Arthur sighed. "Vanessa, check his pockets."
Vanessa hesitated, then knelt beside Luca. She reached into his tailored jacket.
Her hand emerged holding the tarnished silver key.
"He lied, Daddy," Vanessa said softly.
Arthur smiled. "Of course he did. He has his mother’s stubbornness."
Arthur took the key and walked toward a wall of safety deposit boxes. He found box number 414.
He inserted the key. It turned with a heavy click.
Arthur pulled out the long metal drawer and set it on a viewing table.
He opened the lid.
Inside was a stack of aged, yellowing documents.
Arthur picked them up, flipping through the pages.
"Here we are," Arthur murmured, his eyes gleaming with triumph. "The original birth certificate. The DNA tests. The private investigator’s logs. Everything Elena gathered to prove I stole the heir."
He pulled a silver lighter from his pocket.
"Once this burns, the true heir ceases to exist legally. And the Moretti empire remains exactly as we planned."
He flicked the lighter. A small flame danced in the cold vault.
"Stop!"
I stepped around the corner, aiming the heavy pistol directly at Arthur’s chest.
Leo stepped out beside me.
Arthur paused, the flame inches from the paper. He looked at me, amused.
"Ah, the waitress," Arthur sneered. "And the lost prince."
Luca’s eyes widened when he saw Leo. Even bruised and bleeding, the resemblance between the two men was undeniable. The same jawline. The same dark, intense eyes.
"Emma, put the gun down," Luca ordered, his voice strained. "They’ll kill you."
"Let them go, Arthur," I said, my hands shaking. "All of them. Or I shoot."
Arthur laughed. "You don't have the nerve, little girl."
He lowered the flame toward the paper.
I didn't think. I squeezed the trigger.
Click.
Nothing happened.
The safety was on. I didn't know how to turn it off.
Arthur’s men immediately raised their weapons, aiming them at me and Leo.
"A valiant effort," Arthur mocked. He held the flame to the corner of the documents. The paper caught, curling and turning black.
Vanessa watched the paper burn.
Suddenly, she looked at Luca. Then at me.
Then at her father.
Vanessa moved faster than I thought possible.
She reached out and slapped the burning documents out of Arthur’s hand.
They hit the floor. She stomped on the flames with the heel of her designer shoe, extinguishing the fire instantly.
Arthur spun around, furious. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm done, Dad," Vanessa cried, tears streaming down her face. "You said nobody was going to get hurt! You said we were just protecting the company. But you kidnapped an old man, you beat Luca, and now you want to murder his brother?"
A massive reversal. The villain’s daughter finally drew a line.
"Step away from those papers, Vanessa," Arthur growled, raising his hand to strike her.
Before he could, the silence of the vault was shattered by the deafening wail of police sirens outside. Dozens of them.
Red and blue lights strobed through the narrow high windows of the bank.
Arthur froze. "What is that?"
Luca smiled, a bloody, victorious grin.
"I told you I owned the bank, Arthur," Luca said. "Which means I know that opening Box 414 without entering the dual-authorization code at the manager's desk triggers a silent alarm directly to the FBI."
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Arthur dropped the lighter. The color drained from his face.
"They aren't local cops, Arthur," Luca said. "They're federal agents. And they're here for you."
