Chapter 7 - The Corrupt Captain and the Choice
The deafening blast of the shotgun echoed through the cavernous subway station like a cannon firing.
The heavy buckshot tore into the two tactical soldiers closest to Dominic, throwing them backward onto the rusted tracks. Adrian didn't hesitate; despite his severe injuries, he racked the shotgun with one hand against his hip and fired again, dropping a third mercenary before the man could even raise his rifle.
The sudden, brutal ambush shattered Dominic's control of the platform.
Dominic rolled off Ethan, abandoning the knife attack as he scrambled to his feet, grabbing his silver cane. The sole surviving tactical soldier laid down a frantic barrage of suppressive fire toward the tunnel entrance, forcing Adrian to dive behind a thick, concrete pillar.
“Get up, Ethan!” Catherine shouted over the gunfire, grabbing the terrified teenager by the collar of his vest and hauling him behind the rusted shell of an old ticketing booth where Sofia and Leo were hiding.
“He’s alive,” Sofia sobbed, peering around the edge of the booth toward the pillar where her brother was pinned down. “Mom, Adrian is alive.”
“He won't be for long if we stay here,” Catherine said grimly. She checked her pistol again. Three rounds. Against a tactical mercenary with an assault rifle, it was a suicide mission.
“Dominic!” Adrian’s voice echoed from behind the concrete pillar, rough and wet with blood. “You should have stayed in Sicily, old man! You think you can waltz in here and take what I built?”
“You built nothing, you illegitimate brat!” Dominic spat, taking cover behind a structural beam across the platform. “You played house while Raymond pulled the strings! I am the only true Moretti left!”
Before the firefight could resume, the heavy steel doors at the top of the exit stairwell burst open with a violent crash.
Dozens of heavy boots thundered down the concrete steps.
“NYPD! Drop your weapons! Everyone down on the ground!”
The platform was instantly flooded with uniformed police officers, heavily armed SWAT members, and blinding tactical flashlights.
The remaining mercenary immediately dropped his rifle and raised his hands, kicking the weapon away. Dominic straightened his suit, leaning calmly on his cane as if he were merely a bystander waiting for a train.
Catherine let out a long, shuddering breath of relief. They were safe. The police had arrived.
She stepped out from behind the ticketing booth, keeping her hands clearly visible, still holding the silver rosary. Sofia followed closely, clutching Leo, while Ethan retrieved his mother’s ledger from the floor.
“Officers,” Catherine called out clearly. “I am Catherine Moretti. That man,” she pointed at Dominic, “orchestrated an armed assault on my restaurant and attempted to murder my family.”
A tall, broad-shouldered man in a tailored detective’s suit pushed his way through the line of uniformed officers. He had a thick mustache and cold, dead eyes.
Captain Harris. The head of the organized crime task force.
Catherine knew Harris intimately. She had been paying him twenty thousand dollars a month for the last decade to ensure her illegal shipments through the docks were ignored.
Harris walked down the final few steps onto the platform. He didn't look at Catherine. He walked straight over to Dominic and offered a respectful, deferential nod.
“Is the package secure, Mr. Moretti?” Captain Harris asked Dominic.
Catherine’s blood turned to ice.
Dominic smiled warmly, patting the corrupt captain on the shoulder. “Almost, Captain. The woman has the USB drive. And the boy has the ledger.”
Harris turned his cold gaze toward Catherine. He snapped his fingers, and half a dozen SWAT officers raised their rifles, aiming them directly at Catherine, Sofia, and Ethan.
“Catherine Moretti,” Captain Harris announced loudly, his voice echoing for the benefit of the honest cops standing behind him who didn't know the truth. “You are under arrest for the murder of your husband, Anthony Moretti, and the orchestration of the terror attack at your restaurant tonight.”
“You’re lying!” Sofia screamed, shielding Leo. “He’s working for Dominic! They’re trying to steal our money!”
“Quiet,” Harris snapped. He walked closer, holding out his hand. “Give me the rosary, Catherine. And the ledger. Do it quietly, or my men will perceive a threat and open fire. It would be a tragedy if your daughter and grandson were caught in a police shootout.”
Catherine stood frozen. She looked at the dozen rifles pointed at her family. She looked at Dominic’s smug, victorious smile. She had spent thirty years controlling the board, always three steps ahead, but Dominic had completely outmaneuvered her. He had bought the very police force she relied on.
She looked down at the silver rosary in her hand. Four billion dollars. The key to the empire.
She looked back up at Harris.
“If I give this to you,” Catherine said, her voice eerily calm, “you let my daughter, my grandson, and the boy walk away. Free and clear. They get full immunity. You can have me, and you can have the money, but they leave this station alive.”
Sofia gasped. “Mom, no! They’ll kill you in custody!”
“It’s a deal, Catherine,” Dominic answered for the captain, stepping forward. “You have my word. As a Moretti.”
Catherine slowly raised her hand, offering the silver rosary to Captain Harris.
Harris smirked, reaching out to take it.
BANG.
The deafening crack of a single gunshot shattered the tense silence.
Captain Harris’s eyes went wide. He looked down at his chest, where a dark red stain was rapidly blooming on his white dress shirt. He staggered backward, collapsing onto the concrete platform, dead before he hit the ground.
Total chaos erupted.
The SWAT officers scrambled, sweeping their rifles toward the source of the gunfire.
Adrian stepped out from behind the concrete pillar, his pistol raised, smoke curling from the barrel.
He didn't have cover anymore. He stood in the open, fully exposed to the police line.
“Nobody arrests my mother,” Adrian rasped, blood pouring from his mouth.
“Fire!” a SWAT lieutenant screamed.
A barrage of gunfire erupted from the police line. Dozens of bullets tore into Adrian’s body. He jerked violently, the impact throwing him backward against the rusted ticketing booth. He slid down the glass, his pistol slipping from his fingers, leaving a thick smear of crimson on the glass.
“ADRIAN!” Catherine screamed, a raw, primal wail of pure agony, lunging forward.
“Hold your fire! Hold fire!” the SWAT lieutenant yelled, realizing the threat was neutralized.
Dominic took advantage of the confusion. With Harris dead and the honest cops distracted, Dominic lunged forward, grabbing the silver rosary from Catherine’s open hand.
“I win, Catherine,” Dominic hissed, turning to run toward the dark tunnel.
But as Dominic turned, Ethan stuck his foot out.
Dominic tripped over the teenager's leg, stumbling forward. The silver rosary flew from his grasp, sliding across the filthy concrete platform—stopping directly in front of the bleeding, dying Adrian.
Adrian looked at the silver rosary. He looked up at Dominic, who was scrambling to his feet to retrieve it.
Then, Adrian looked at Sofia, who was weeping uncontrollably, holding Leo.
With the last ounce of strength in his broken body, Adrian reached into his blood-soaked jacket pocket. He didn't grab the rosary.
He pulled out a crumpled, brightly colored piece of paper. A child's drawing of a yellow sun and a blue house.
Adrian weakly held the drawing out toward Sofia.
“I’m sorry, little sister,” Adrian whispered, a single tear cutting through the blood on his cheek. “I always... wanted to be... a real Moretti.”
His hand dropped to the floor. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
Adrian was dead.
Sofia let out a heartbroken sob, rushing forward to grab the drawing from her brother’s lifeless hand.
As she pulled the paper open, something heavy and metallic fell out of the folds, clinking onto the concrete.
It wasn't a USB drive.
It was an antique, heavy brass key with the number 404 engraved on it.
May you like
And as the SWAT officers swarmed Dominic, tackling the exiled boss to the ground, Catherine stared at the brass key, her heart stopping completely.
She knew exactly what that key opened.
