Chapter 6 - THE MONSTER WHO NEVER LEFT THE SHORE
I froze.
The flames from the burning barge out on the lake cast long, flickering shadows across the wet concrete of the pier.
Marcus Bellini walked slowly toward us. His tailored suit was dry. His silver hair was perfectly combed.
He looked exactly like a man who paid others to do his dirty work.
“I have to admit,” Marcus said, his voice smooth over the howling wind. “Luca surprised me. Jumping onto a rigged boat just to save a sister who was already doomed.”
He raised his gun, pointing it at me and Leo.
“But he always was too sentimental.”
I pulled Leo behind me, shielding his small body with my own.
“My mother is on that boat,” I spat, my hands gripping the heavy flashlight until my knuckles ached.
Marcus smiled coldly. “Yes. Along with my two best enforcers. I told them to take the women out to deep water and scuttle the barge. They didn’t know I rigged the engine to detonate.”
He chuckled. “Good help is so hard to find.”
He took another step closer.
“Now, give me the boy, Emma. He’s the only heir to the Moretti empire. With Luca and Isabella dead, I can use him to control the family assets.”
“You’re going to have to kill me first,” I said, my voice steady despite the absolute terror shredding my nerves.
“That was always the plan.”
Marcus raised the gun, aiming directly at my chest.
I braced myself.
Suddenly, a red blur slammed into Marcus from the side.
The gun went off, the bullet sparking against the concrete inches from my foot.
Marcus tumbled to the ground, shouting in surprise.
It was Vanessa.
She had crawled out of our SUV and followed us down the pier. Her ruined red silk gown clung to her like a second skin.
She was on top of her father, scratching and clawing at his face like a wild animal.
“You left me tied up!” Vanessa screamed, tears of rage pouring down her face. “You were going to let Luca kill me!”
“Get off me, you stupid girl!” Marcus roared, striking Vanessa hard across the jaw with the heavy butt of his pistol.
Vanessa collapsed onto the wet concrete, groaning.
Marcus staggered to his feet, wiping blood from his cheek.
He aimed the gun down at his own daughter.
“You were a disappointment from the day you were born,” Marcus sneered.
I didn’t think.
I threw the heavy steel flashlight as hard as I could.
It spun through the air and caught Marcus squarely in the temple.
Crack.
Marcus stumbled sideways, firing a wild shot into the dark, and fell off the edge of the pier.
Splash.
He hit the freezing, black water of Lake Michigan.
I ran to the edge. The water was churning, but I couldn’t see him. The current was too strong.
I fell to my knees, gasping for air.
I turned back to Leo. He was shaking, but unharmed.
Vanessa was sitting up, holding her bleeding jaw, staring at the water where her father had vanished.
Then, a sound cut through the wind.
A boat horn.
I looked out toward the lake.
The dredging barge was still burning, but a smaller shape was moving away from it.
A motorized Zodiac lifeboat.
It cut through the waves, heading straight for the pier.
As it got closer, I saw a large man sitting in the back, steering the outboard motor.
Luca.
My heart soared.
The small boat slammed against the pier.
Luca tied it off.
He reached into the boat and helped a shivering woman onto the dock.
Isabella.
“Mommy!” Leo screamed, running across the concrete.
Isabella dropped to her knees, catching her son and burying her face in his neck, sobbing uncontrollably.
Luca turned back to the boat.
He reached down and gently lifted a second woman out.
She was frail. Her gray hair was plastered to her face. She was wrapped in a heavy emergency blanket.
“Mom,” I choked out.
I ran to her, wrapping my arms around her. She felt so cold, so fragile, but she squeezed me back with a strength I hadn’t felt in years.
“Emma,” my mother whispered, resting her head against mine. “He found us. He saved us.”
I looked at Luca.
His face was streaked with soot and blood. His expensive coat was ruined.
He didn’t look like a feared mafia boss. He looked like a man who had just fought through hell for the people he cared about.
Luca stepped onto the pier.
He looked at me.
“You kept Leo safe,” Luca said softly.
“You kept my mother safe,” I replied.
He stepped closer. He reached out and gently brushed a wet strand of hair from my face.
His touch was warm against the freezing rain.
“It’s over,” Luca said.
But as he said the words, Vanessa slowly stood up from the wet concrete.
She wasn’t looking at us.
She was looking at her hands.
In her right hand, she held the original piano ledger. It had fallen out of Luca’s coat when he fought on the barge.
May you like
And in her left hand, she held the gun her father had dropped.
TITLE: THE LEDGER WRITTEN IN BLOOD
