Chapter 5 - Unit 214
Frank moved fast.
He drove his elbow into Nico’s chest and shoved him into the doorframe.
A glass bowl hit the floor.
Mom pulled me backward.
By the time Nico recovered, Frank was running toward the service corridor.
“Stay here,” Luca said.
I heard a door slam.
Then tires on gravel.
Nico returned two minutes later, breathing hard.
“He took the east service exit. Disabled the gate camera first.”
Luca’s expression stayed still.
“Call the police. Give them the plate.”
Michael stared at him.
“You’re calling the police?”
“For a man threatening employees and running from questioning? Yes.”
Whatever else Luca Moretti was, he sounded tired of people assuming he would handle everything in the dark.
Vanessa had been moved to the breakfast room with a guard outside. Through the doorway, I could hear her demanding a lawyer.
“Get her one,” Luca said.
Then he looked at Michael.
“Your daughter?”
“My sister has her. They’re leaving the house.”
“Call them. Tell them to go to a police station.”
Michael obeyed.
An hour later, Nico drove Luca and me to a storage facility beside the expressway.
My mother stayed with Dr. Shaw.
I should have stayed, too.
But the key had belonged to my father.
Nobody was opening that door without me.
Unit 214 smelled like cardboard, dust, and old rubber.
Inside stood a metal workbench, three stacked tires, and a red toolbox I recognized immediately.
My father’s initials were scratched beneath the handle.
D.M.
I touched them with my thumb.
“He told me he sold this.”
Luca waited behind me.
Inside the toolbox lay an envelope addressed to Michael Dawson.
Under it was an external hard drive and a folded repair order.
Vehicle: black armored sedan.
Customer: L. Moretti.
My father’s handwriting crossed the bottom.
DO NOT RELEASE. BRAKE LINE DAMAGE. POSSIBLE DELIBERATE CUT.
I read it twice.
Then I read the release signature.
Frank Rinaldi.
Luca reached for the workbench to steady himself.
Behind us, Nico’s phone buzzed.
He listened.
“What do you mean, the power’s out?”
The fluorescent lights snapped off.
The roll-up door began sliding down.
Nico lunged for it.
May you like
Outside, a metal latch slammed shut.
Then gasoline seeped beneath the door.
