Chapter 5 - THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN
“What did you give them?” I bellowed, lunging forward.
Rosa fired a warning shot into the floor. The suppressed pfft echoed off the vault walls.
“It’s a sedative,” Rosa cried, her hands shaking. “Mixed with a slow-acting toxin. Silvio gave it to me. He said it would make it look like they died of shock in their sleep.”
“You poisoned children!” Emily screamed, dropping to her knees to catch Valentina as the little girl collapsed.
“I have the antidote!” Rosa yelled, pulling a second vial from her pocket. The liquid inside was bright blue. “Silvio gave it to me just in case. Let me walk out of here, Dominic. Let me give Silvio you, and I’ll leave the antidote.”
Answer one: Rosa’s motive was grief, twisted by Silvio’s manipulation.
Open two: Did Silvio really give her an antidote, or was it a trick? And how long did my daughters have?
I looked at my three girls. They were lying on the cold vault floor. Emily was frantically checking their pulses.
“They’re fading, Dominic,” Emily choked out. “Their heart rates are dropping.”
I looked at Rosa. The woman who had cooked their meals, braided their hair, sung them to sleep.
“Drop the gun, Rosa,” I said, my voice dead.
“No.”
“You shoot me, you’re stuck in a vault with a dead man, three dying children, and Emily. You’ll never get out. Put the antidote on the table and walk out the door. I won’t stop you.”
Rosa hesitated. She looked at the girls, and a sob tore through her throat. The maternal instinct she had buried beneath ten years of vengeance finally cracked.
She placed the blue vial on the table.
She backed out of the vault and ran up the stairs.
I didn’t care about her. I grabbed the vial and dropped to my knees beside Emily.
“How do we administer it?” I panicked. “We don’t have syringes.”
“It’s oral,” Emily said, snatching the vial. “Hold Mia’s head up.”
I cradled my youngest daughter. She was so cold. Emily popped the cap off the vial and tipped a third of the blue liquid into Mia’s mouth, massaging her throat to force her to swallow.
She did the same for Valentina.
Then she moved to Lucia.
But as Emily tipped the vial into Lucia’s mouth, the glass slipped in her trembling hands.
Half of the remaining liquid spilled onto the floor.
“No!” I yelled, grabbing the vial.
There were only a few drops left. Not enough for a full dose.
Emily rubbed it onto Lucia’s gums, tears streaming down her face. “Please, please, please work.”
Within seconds, Mia gasped, her eyes fluttering open. Valentina coughed, color rushing back to her cheeks.
But Lucia remained still. Her breathing was horribly shallow.
“We need to get her to a hospital,” Emily said, scooping Lucia into her arms. “Now.”
“If we take her to a hospital, Silvio’s men will slaughter us in the emergency room,” I said, grabbing the flash drive and the financial documents. I stuffed them into my jacket.
“I know a place,” Emily said firmly. “My brother is a surgeon. He runs a private underground clinic in Queens. He treated Isabella once when she had a miscarriage and didn’t want you to know. He’ll save Lucia.”
I stared at her. A secret brother. A secret clinic. Emily was a lifeline I didn’t know I had.
We rushed out of the vault, carrying the girls.
The bank manager was nowhere to be seen.
As we burst out the service door into the alley, a black Lincoln Navigator skidded to a halt, blocking the exit.
Four men stepped out, armed with assault rifles.
And from the passenger side, Silvio stepped out.
He was wearing an immaculate charcoal suit. His silver hair was perfectly combed. He looked at me, then at the dying child in Emily’s arms.
“Dominic,” Silvio sighed, shaking his head. “You always did make things harder than they needed to be.”
I pulled my pistol, stepping in front of Emily and the girls.
“Let them go, Silvio,” I growled. “This is between you and me.”
“It’s business, Dominic,” Silvio said smoothly. “You became erratic after Isabella. You disrupted the supply lines. The cartel wanted you gone. I simply facilitated a management change. And unfortunately, loose ends are bad for business.”
He raised his hand, signaling his men to aim.
“Wait!” Emily screamed.
She stepped out from behind me.
“I have the flash drive,” Emily yelled, holding up a small black device. “I have all the proof of your embezzlement. I already sent copies to a dead man’s switch. If we die, it goes to the FBI, the IRS, and the Mendoza cartel. The Mendozas won’t like knowing you’ve been stealing from them, Silvio.”
Silvio froze. His men hesitated.
I looked at Emily in shock. I had the real flash drive in my pocket. She was bluffing with a piece of junk from her keychain.
“You’re bluffing, little maid,” Silvio sneered.
“Try me,” Emily said, her eyes blazing. “Let us walk to the car. Or your entire empire burns tonight.”
Silvio’s jaw clenched. He was a man of calculated risks. He couldn’t afford the exposure.
He slowly lowered his hand.
“Go,” Silvio hissed.
We moved toward Rosa’s Civic. I put the girls in the back, Emily jumped in the driver’s seat.
As I opened the passenger door, Silvio called out.
“Dominic!”
I looked back.
May you like
Silvio smiled, a cold, dead expression.
“I gave Rosa colored water. There was no antidote.”
