Chapter 15 - THE WAREHOUSE
Vittorio did not go alone.
He also did not tell Salvatore that.
Detective Brooks wired the perimeter while Ruiz stayed two blocks back.
Vittorio carried a duplicate ledger.
The real one was already in evidence.
Inside the warehouse, Caleb sat tied to a chair but unhurt.
Salvatore stood behind him with a handgun lowered at his side.
"You brought the book?"
Vittorio held it up.
"Let him go."
Salvatore smiled.
"Your father would be ashamed of you."
"My father is dead. I'm trying not to repeat him."
That answer irritated Salvatore.
Good.
"You could have ruled this city," his uncle said. "Instead you let a housekeeper and a child turn you soft."
Vittorio looked at Caleb.
"Is that what you think this is?"
"Mercy is weakness."
"No. Fear is expensive. Eventually everyone you scare starts keeping evidence."
Salvatore's smile vanished.
Emma's video.
Clara's recorder.
Elena's letter.
Caleb's dispatch logs.
Every frightened person had kept one piece.
Vittorio placed the fake ledger on the floor.
"Tell me why Elena had to die."
Salvatore's jaw tightened.
"She didn't have to. She chose not to listen."
The words were enough.
A microphone inside Vittorio's jacket transmitted everything.
Salvatore kept talking.
He admitted ordering Marcus to stop Elena from reaching the prosecutor.
He admitted building the plan around Lucy's ninth birthday.
Then he noticed the tiny wire near Vittorio's collar.
His face changed.
"You recorded me."
"Yes."
Salvatore raised the gun.
Caleb threw his chair sideways into Salvatore's knees.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Police rushed in.
Vittorio pulled Caleb behind a steel column.
Salvatore was tackled before he could fire again.
As Brooks cuffed him, he looked at Vittorio with pure hatred.
"You think this ends with me?"
Vittorio answered, "No."
May you like
Then he looked at the officers carrying out boxes of files.
"It ends with everything you built."
