Chapter 9 - Pier Forty-Eight
Midnight rain turned the Chicago River black.
Pier Forty-Eight sat behind abandoned warehouses and rusted fencing near the old industrial channel.
Gabriel arrived with Chloe.
Only Chloe.
At least that was what Dominic was supposed to believe.
Beatrice remained two blocks away in a surveillance vehicle.
She hated that arrangement.
Gabriel had promised to listen to her from now on.
Apparently listening did not always mean agreeing.
Sofia was with Beatrice.
Federal agents waited beyond the perimeter.
Gabriel’s men were farther out.
Dominic had placed cameras around the warehouse.
Any visible approach would risk Rosa.
Chloe wore a hidden transmitter.
Gabriel hated that too.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
She whispered.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re planning to put me in a suitcase and ship me to Canada.”
“I considered it.”
“I hate cold weather.”
“You live in Chicago.”
“Exactly.”
Even under the circumstances Gabriel almost smiled.
Then the warehouse door opened.
Dominic appeared.
“Inside.”
Gabriel and Chloe entered.
Rosa sat near the center of the building.
Alive.
Terrified.
Two men guarded her.
Dominic wore the same blue sapphire ring.
Chloe suddenly understood why Beatrice had noticed it so clearly.
It looked absurdly bright beneath industrial lights.
Dominic smiled at her.
“The waitress.”
“Former waitress.”
Chloe said.
“I’m between career opportunities.”
Gabriel whispered.
“Chloe.”
“What?”
“Nervous humor.”
She remembered Marco’s warning from the first night.
“Apparently.”
Dominic laughed.
“That’s what I like about you.”
Gabriel’s expression became dangerous.
Dominic noticed.
“Oh, relax.”
“She’s not my type.”
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“He really doesn’t know when to stop talking.”
Gabriel almost nodded.
Dominic extended a hand.
“Documents.”
Gabriel held up a folder.
“Rosa first.”
“No.”
“Then no deal.”
Dominic sighed.
“You were easier before the waitress.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Chloe said.
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
He pointed toward her.
“You know what Leo’s problem was?”
Chloe’s stomach tightened.
Gabriel stepped slightly in front of her.
Dominic continued.
“He thought being clever made him safe.”
“Don’t.”
Gabriel said.
Chloe touched Gabriel’s arm.
“Let him.”
Dominic walked closer.
“Your brother filmed everything.”
“He hid backups.”
“He even threatened to publish the files if we came after him.”
Chloe’s eyes burned.
Dominic smiled.
“But he made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He called someone he trusted.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Chloe froze.
Dominic continued.
“He told Margaret he was afraid.”
“She begged him to come home.”
“He refused.”
“She tried to protect both of you.”
Chloe felt dizzy.
“Did my mother know who he was?”
“Yes.”
“Isabella’s son?”
“Yes.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
Her mother had died eighteen months after Leo.
Cancer.
She had carried that secret until the end.
Dominic leaned closer.
“Leo’s last words were not dramatic.”
“He didn’t beg.”
“He didn’t cry.”
Chloe whispered.
“What did he say?”
Dominic smiled.
“He signed.”
Her breath stopped.
“You weren’t there.”
“No.”
“Victor was.”
“He told me.”
“What did Leo sign?”
Dominic looked pleased to possess the answer.
Then his hands moved badly.
Clumsy.
Incorrect.
But Chloe recognized the shape.
Tell Chloe.
Her heart shattered.
Dominic made the second sign.
Not accident.
The third.
Love you.
Chloe closed her eyes.
Gabriel caught her elbow.
For a moment the warehouse disappeared.
Leo was nineteen again.
Grinning over cereal.
Complaining about textbooks.
Signing jokes across the dinner table.
Tell Chloe.
Not accident.
Love you.
She opened her eyes.
Dominic was still smiling.
Chloe hit him.
Hard.
Her palm cracked across his face.
Gabriel blinked.
Dominic stumbled.
Chloe shook out her hand.
“That hurt more than expected.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“You stupid—”
Gabriel stepped between them.
“Finish that sentence.”
Dominic did not.
He motioned toward Rosa.
One guard pressed a gun closer to her.
“Documents.”
Gabriel raised the folder.
Dominic took it.
He opened it.
Empty pages.
His face darkened.
“What is this?”
“Recycling.”
Chloe said.
Dominic looked toward the cameras.
Then back at Gabriel.
“You brought police.”
“No.”
“Then where are the papers?”
Gabriel glanced at Chloe.
She raised her hands.
Beatrice.
Dominic stared.
“What?”
Chloe kept signing.
Now.
From the surveillance vehicle, Beatrice saw the signal through a camera hidden in Chloe’s coat button.
She pressed a switch.
Every exterior warehouse light went dark.
Dominic spun.
“What did she do?”
Gabriel smiled.
“My mother is helping.”
The interior lights died.
Darkness swallowed the warehouse.
Rosa dropped sideways exactly as Beatrice had instructed her before the operation.
Gabriel moved toward Dominic.
Chloe crawled toward Rosa.
Gunfire erupted near the loading dock.
Not from Gabriel’s people.
Dominic’s own guards were firing blindly.
Federal agents entered from the rear.
Chloe reached Rosa.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“Stay low.”
Rosa grabbed her hand.
A flashlight flashed.
Dominic saw them.
He lunged.
Gabriel intercepted him.
Both men hit the concrete.
Chloe pulled Rosa behind a forklift.
She looked toward the surveillance camera.
Her hands moved.
Rosa safe.
Beatrice saw.
Then Chloe signed.
Gabriel left.
Beatrice relayed the message to the tactical team.
Within seconds agents moved toward the west side.
Dominic struck Gabriel with a metal bar.
Gabriel staggered.
Dominic ran toward Chloe.
She backed against a shipping container.
“Give me the list.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Beatrice told you.”
“No.”
He grabbed Chloe’s coat.
“She trusts you.”
“More than she trusts you.”
Dominic raised the bar.
Gabriel hit him from behind.
The weapon fell.
They fought beside the container.
Chloe saw Dominic reach toward his ankle.
Gun.
Gabriel did not.
Chloe shouted.
“Gabriel!”
He turned.
Too late.
Dominic fired.
Gabriel fell.
Chloe screamed.
Rosa pulled her back.
Dominic raised the gun again.
Then a spotlight flooded the warehouse.
Dominic froze.
Beatrice stood in the loading entrance.
Sofia beside her.
Federal agents surrounded them.
Beatrice held a small black book over her head.
The list.
Dominic stared.
“You brought it?”
Beatrice signed.
Yes.
Chloe translated from across the warehouse.
Dominic smiled.
“Give it to me.”
Beatrice shook her head.
She opened the book.
Then tore out one page.
Dominic screamed.
“Stop!”
Beatrice tore another.
“What is she doing?”
Chloe laughed through tears.
“She’s destroying your leverage.”
Dominic pointed the gun toward Beatrice.
Gabriel moved from the floor.
Blood darkened his shoulder, but he was conscious.
He tackled Dominic’s legs.
Agents rushed forward.
Dominic hit the concrete.
The gun skidded away.
Within seconds he was restrained.
It was over.
Chloe ran to Gabriel.
He looked at his shoulder.
“Apparently you were right.”
“About what?”
“Breaking bones should wait until after dinner.”
She laughed and cried at the same time.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yes.”
Beatrice reached them.
Gabriel looked at her.
Then at the black book.
“You really tore up the list?”
Beatrice smiled.
She opened it.
Blank pages.
Gabriel stared.
Chloe began laughing harder.
Sofia shook her head.
“The real list?”
Beatrice signed.
Safe.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Ma.”
Beatrice bent down.
Her hands moved.
You should listen to your mother.
May you like
Gabriel laughed despite the pain.
This time he did not need Chloe to translate.
