Chapter 9 - The Locket
Sadi stared at the dying mercenary in absolute horror.
"Why me?" she whispered, her voice trembling in the smoky room.
"Because the boss knows where your father hid the ledger," the man choked out with his final breath.
Dante walked over and pulled Sadi away from the dead body.
He looked at her intensely, his gray eyes searching her terrified face.
"What did your father give you right before he died, Sadi?" Dante asked urgently.
Sadi’s mind raced through the traumatic memories of her father’s final days in the hospital.
She instinctively reached a trembling hand up to her neck.
Her fingers brushed against the cheap, silver heart-shaped locket she had worn every day for three years.
"He gave me this," she whispered, pulling the necklace out from under her shirt.
Dante carefully took the locket in his hands and popped the clasp open.
Behind the tiny photograph of her parents was a hidden compartment containing a microscopic digital memory card.
The master financial ledger had been resting against her heart the entire time.
"This is enough evidence to put the entire Falcone family in federal prison for life," Dante said, a victorious smile crossing his face.
"We need to leave right now and get this to my contact at the FBI."
They rushed toward the ruined doorway of the bunker, ready to finally end the nightmare.
A harsh, familiar voice suddenly echoed from the staircase leading down to the safehouse.
"I am afraid I cannot let you do that, Dante," the voice called out.
Rosa stepped into the dim light of the bunker, her face bruised and bleeding from the car collision.
She was holding Sadi's personal cell phone in one hand and a loaded pistol in the other.
"The Falcone family pays far too well for me to let you ruin them," the housekeeper sneered.
May you like
She raised the weapon and pointed it directly at Sadi's chest.
"Hand over the locket, you stupid girl, or you will die down here just like your pathetic father."
