Chapter 7 - THE BOILER ROOM
Evelyn froze, her hand still reaching for the rusted key.
The click of a hammer being cocked echoed in the silent, freezing alley.
"Drop the gun, Enzo," Celeste commanded, stepping fully out of the shadows. She had traded her emerald gown for a sleek black coat, but her diamonds still caught the faint street-light. Behind her stood two massive men holding silenced weapons leveled at Lorenzo and Leo.
Lorenzo slowly raised his hands, letting his pistol clatter to the frozen asphalt. His eyes were locked on Celeste, radiating pure, concentrated hatred.
"You're a long way from the Gold Coast, Celeste," Lorenzo said, his voice a lethal whisper.
"I had to come see the rat trap for myself," she smiled coldly, keeping her gun pressed into Evelyn’s spine. "I assumed you were dead in that garage, Lorenzo. But Dominic called. Said a waitress played hero. So, I figured you'd come here for whatever Tom Carter left behind."
She grabbed a fistful of Evelyn’s coat, yanking her painfully backward. "Open the grate, sweetheart. Let's see what Daddy hid."
Evelyn’s hands shook as she took the key from the brick wall, unlocked the heavy iron padlock, and pulled the grate open.
"Inside. All of you," Celeste ordered.
They climbed through the low window, dropping into the stifling heat and oppressive darkness of the building's basement. The massive, ancient boiler hummed and rattled like a dying beast in the center of the room. The air smelled of sulfur, old dust, and rust.
Celeste’s men clicked on heavy flashlights, sweeping the cramped, low-ceilinged space.
"Where is it?" Celeste demanded, shoving Evelyn forward.
"I don't know," Evelyn lied, her eyes darting toward the tangle of pipes near the ceiling. "He just told me it was down here."
"Liar," Celeste snapped. She turned her gun away from Evelyn and pointed it directly at Leo’s chest. The little boy gasped, pressing himself against Lorenzo’s leg.
"I don't have time for games," Celeste said, her voice dropping its playful edge. "Give me the cipher notebook, Evelyn. Or I shoot the kid, then Lorenzo, and then we take this place apart brick by brick until we find it."
Lorenzo tensed, preparing to lunge, but a guard jammed a rifle barrel hard into his injured shoulder. Lorenzo dropped to one knee with a sharp grunt.
"Stop!" Evelyn screamed. "Stop, I'll get it!"
She stumbled toward the massive iron boiler.
Her mind raced. There was no notebook.
Her father had never left a cipher. She had made it up to convince Lorenzo to take her with him, hoping she could find something in her apartment to clear her father’s name.
But as she stared at the labyrinth of scalding pipes and rusted metal valves, a memory flashed in her mind.
She was twelve. The heat had been shut off. Her father had brought her down here to show her how to manually bleed the steam valve to force the heat up to their floor. "If you ever need pressure to build fast, Evie, you close this valve, and you wait for the whistle."
"Hurry up," Celeste barked.
Evelyn reached up into the gap between the brick wall and the main pressure pipe. She pretended to dig around in the dark.
Her fingers found the heavy brass wheel of the primary steam release valve.
She gripped it.
"It's stuck," Evelyn called out, her voice trembling—but this time, not from fear.
"Pull it out!" Celeste yelled, stepping closer, impatience getting the better of her.
Evelyn twisted the brass wheel hard to the right.
The boiler let out a deep, metallic groan.
"It's wedged behind the pipe," Evelyn panted, turning the wheel again. The pressure gauge needle on the side of the tank jumped violently into the red zone.
"Move," Celeste shoved Evelyn aside and leaned in, shining her phone flashlight into the dark gap. "Where?"
"Right there," Evelyn whispered.
Then, Evelyn reached out and yanked the emergency release lever.
A deafening, ear-shattering screech ripped through the basement.
A massive blast of scalding, pressurized white steam exploded from the pipe directly into Celeste’s face.
Celeste shrieked, dropping her gun as she clawed at her eyes, stumbling backward.
The basement was instantly plunged into a blinding, suffocating cloud of thick white steam. Visibility dropped to zero.
"Now!" Lorenzo roared.
Through the fog, Evelyn heard the sickening crunch of bone as Lorenzo drove his elbow into the face of the nearest guard. A gun went off wildly, the bullet ricocheting off the concrete walls with a terrifying ping.
Evelyn didn't hesitate. She grabbed Leo by the collar of his coat, dragging him behind the heavy iron legs of the boiler.
"Stay flat!" she ordered the boy.
Through the swirling steam, shadows violently clashed. Lorenzo, fighting with one good arm, moved like a demon in the fog. He disarmed the first guard, sweeping his legs out and kicking the man's temple into the brick wall.
The second guard panicked, firing blindly into the steam.
Evelyn saw the muzzle flashes lighting up the fog. She looked down and saw Celeste’s dropped pistol resting on the concrete just three feet away.
She crawled on her stomach, the steam burning her lungs. She grabbed the cold metal grip of the gun.
As she raised it, the steam shifted.
The second guard had Lorenzo pinned against the wall, a knife drawn and pressing toward Lorenzo’s throat.
Evelyn didn't think. She aimed and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot deafened her.
The guard screamed, clutching his leg, and collapsed. Lorenzo instantly delivered a brutal strike to the back of the man's neck, knocking him unconscious.
Silence fell over the boiler room, save for the hissing steam.
Evelyn stood up slowly, her hands shaking so violently she nearly dropped the gun. The steam was beginning to clear, venting out the open window.
Lorenzo stood amidst the unconscious bodies, breathing heavily. He looked at Evelyn, acknowledging what she had just done.
Then, a dark chuckle echoed from the corner.
Celeste was leaning against the far wall. Her face was red and blistered from the steam, her perfect hair a ruined, wet mess. She looked demonic.
But she wasn't defeated.
She was holding a small, black object in her hand.
It wasn't a gun.
It was a remote detonator.
"You think you're clever, waitressing trash?" Celeste spat, coughing violently. "Dominic wired this entire building with C4 while you were taking the scenic route on the train. I press this button, and your whole miserable life comes down on your head."
Her thumb hovered over the red trigger.
"And the best part?" Celeste smiled, blood on her teeth. "Your father did authorize the hit on Lorenzo’s sister. He begged me to let him do it. Said he'd do anything to clear his gambling debts. He sold you out, Lorenzo. He was weak. And so are you."
Evelyn’s heart shattered. The truth she had been fighting so hard to deny was staring her in the face.
But as Celeste laughed, Lorenzo didn't look angry. He didn't look defeated.
He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"You're right, Celeste," Lorenzo said calmly. "He was weak. But he wasn't stupid."
May you like
Lorenzo turned the phone screen toward her.
"He recorded the phone call."
