Chapter 5 - The Hostage Exchange
Samuel Walker looked older, battered, and utterly exhausted, but he was undeniably alive.
"Dad!" Grace screamed at the phone screen, tears streaming down her face.
Samuel weakly lifted his head, his eyes widening in panic as he recognized his daughter's voice.
"Grace, run!" Samuel rasped before a guard struck him across the face.
Don Rossi turned the camera back to his own twisted smile.
"I have kept your father alive in a cage for twelve years, hoping he would eventually break and tell me where the ledger was," Rossi gloated.
"Now I know his beautiful daughter has it."
Luca stepped in front of Grace, his expression hardening into pure stone.
"What is your price, Rossi?" Luca demanded.
"Bring the microfilm and the key to the abandoned shipping yards at midnight," Rossi ordered.
"Come alone with the girl, or I send Samuel back to you in pieces."
The video call abruptly ended, plunging the tunnel back into silence.
Grace fell to her knees in the dirt, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her father had endured a decade of torture just to keep her safe.
Luca knelt beside her, his large, warm hands gently pulling her face up to meet his gaze.
"I am not going to let him die, Grace," Luca promised fiercely.
"I owe him my life, and I swear on my family name that I will bring him back to you."
Grace looked into Luca's eyes and saw no lies, only a deeply rooted sense of honor.
"We have to give Rossi what he wants," Grace whispered.
"No," Luca replied, standing up and helping her to her feet.
"If we give him the ledger, he will kill all three of us the moment it touches his hands."
Luca led her deeper into the tunnel until they emerged in a deserted alleyway blocks away from the estate.
A sleek, unmarked black car was waiting for them in the shadows.
"We are going to play a very dangerous game, Grace," Luca warned as he opened the car door for her.
"We are going to give Rossi exactly what he asked for, but we are bringing hell with us."
They spent the next six hours preparing in a secure safehouse hidden in the Bronx.
Luca mobilized his most loyal men, setting up a brutal, coordinated ambush at the shipping yards.
At exactly midnight, Luca’s black car rolled slowly onto the deserted docks.
Thick fog rolled off the harbor, hiding the rusted shipping containers in an eerie mist.
Grace clutched Titan's leash tightly, her heart pounding like a war drum.
Don Rossi was waiting under a flickering street lamp, surrounded by twenty heavily armed men.
Two guards dragged Samuel Walker forward, forcing him to his knees on the wet concrete.
Luca stepped out of the car, holding the silver key and the microfilm high in the air.
"Let him go, Rossi," Luca shouted over the crashing waves.
Rossi laughed, stepping forward with his gun drawn.
"You really think you are in a position to negotiate, Luca?" Rossi mocked.
Suddenly, Samuel looked up, locking eyes with his daughter for the first time in twelve years.
And then, Samuel smiled a cold, terrifying smile that did not belong to a victim.
"You are right, Rossi," Samuel said, his voice suddenly strong and commanding.
May you like
"There will be no negotiations."
With lightning speed, Samuel grabbed the gun from the guard beside him and shot Don Rossi directly in the head.
