Chương 6 - The Stolen Ledger
I backed away from the desk, clutching the photograph of my dying mother in my trembling hand.
Dante slowly pulled a fresh black shirt over his bandaged shoulder.
He did not look apologetic.
He looked completely calculated.
"I told you your father approached me before he died," Dante said quietly.
"He offered me the master ledger in exchange for absolute protection for you and your mother."
"I agreed to the terms."
"But your father was a paranoid man, Clare."
"He hid the ledger somewhere in the city and refused to give me the location until I paid his debts."
Tears streamed hot and fast down my cheeks.
"So you just watched my mother die of cancer while you waited for him to talk?" I screamed.
"Your father was killed by the Morettis before he could give me the location," Dante corrected harshly.
"I kept an eye on you because I knew the Morettis would eventually figure out who you were."
He stepped closer, his imposing height casting a dark shadow over me.
"I need you to think, Clare."
"Did your father give you anything before he disappeared?"
"A key? A safe deposit box number? A riddle?"
I shook my head frantically.
"He gave me nothing."
"He just walked out the door and never came back."
"Think!" Dante roared, slamming his good hand onto the metal desk.
The sudden violence made me jump backward.
My mind raced back to my childhood, searching for any hidden meaning in my father's drunken ramblings.
I remembered the last time I saw him.
I was eight years old, sitting on the floor while he packed a duffel bag.
He had handed me a small, rusted music box.
"Keep the song in your head, little bird," my father had slurred.
"When the wolves come, the numbers will keep you safe."
I gasped as the memory suddenly clicked into sharp focus.
"The music box," I whispered.
Dante's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"What music box?"
"He gave me a music box before he left, but it was broken."
"It only played three notes, over and over again."
"But there were numbers engraved on the bottom of it."
Dante grabbed my shoulders, his grip tight but not painful.
"What were the numbers, Clare?"
"Seven, four, two, nine," I recited from memory.
Dante released me, a triumphant smile spreading across his face.
"Those are not just numbers," Dante said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
"That is the vault code for the old abandoned Union Bank in Queens."
"Your father used to use it as a dead drop."
Dante looked at me, his eyes burning with an intense, terrifying fire.
"We are going to get my ledger, and then I am going to end the Moretti family forever."
May you like
He grabbed his pistol and headed for the door.
I had no choice but to follow him into the dark.
