Chapter 7 - THE DEEP FREEZER
The barrel of the gun never wavered. Dr. Evans, a man I had seen on the news donating millions to pediatric hospitals, looked as comfortable holding a weapon as a scalpel.
"Hands where I can see them, Alessio," Dr. Evans said, his voice maddeningly calm. "And you, Miss Bennett. Get in the car."
Alessio stepped slightly in front of me, shielding my body with his. "You're out of your depth, Richard. Elena is using you just like she's using Marcus."
"Elena pays significantly better than your family ever did," the doctor replied smoothly. "Now, get in. She’s tired of waiting."
I looked around the empty street. There was no one to help us. Slowly, Alessio raised his hands, signaling for me to do the same. We slid into the plush leather seats of the town car. The doors locked instantly with a heavy thud.
The driver, a thick-necked man in a dark suit, pulled away from the curb, heading toward Pier 9.
My mind raced. We were trapped. Elena had Sofia, and now she had us. But she didn't have the ledger.
"Where is she?" Alessio asked, his voice low, vibrating with a lethal promise.
"At the pier, waiting for you to sign over the ports," Dr. Evans said from the front seat, looking at us in the rearview mirror. "Though I suspect she plans to kill you both the moment the ink is dry. Marcus might be squeamish about killing family, but Elena has no such moral failings."
"I know," Alessio replied smoothly, a terrifying calm washing over him. He leaned back against the leather seat, crossing his legs as if he were heading to a board meeting, not his execution. "Which is why it’s a shame you won’t live to see the money she promised you."
Dr. Evans chuckled. "Nice try, Alessio."
"Think about it, Richard," Alessio’s voice was hypnotic, planting seeds of doubt. "She killed Arthur Bennett because he knew too much. She tried to kill me tonight. You are the only living person outside her circle who knows she faked my death. Do you honestly believe a woman who kidnaps a six-year-old child is going to leave a loose end like you breathing?"
The doctor’s eyes flickered in the mirror. Just a fraction of a second, but it was enough. The seed was planted.
"Shut up," the driver grunted, turning the steering wheel sharply.
As the car banked into a dark industrial zone, I felt Alessio’s hand slip into mine. His thumb traced a pattern against my palm.
Tap. Tap-tap. Tap.
He was communicating. Telling me to get ready.
"We need to stop at Rosie's Diner on 4th Street," I suddenly blurted out, my voice loud and desperate.
Dr. Evans laughed. "I'm afraid you're skipping your last meal, Miss Bennett."
"You want the ledger!" I shouted, leaning forward against the glass partition. "Elena doesn't have it! I know where it is! If you take us to her without it, she's going to execute you for being useless!"
The driver slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a halt in the middle of a deserted intersection. Dr. Evans turned around, pointing the gun at my face.
"What did you say?" he hissed.
"It's in the deep freezer at Rosie's Diner," I lied, keeping my eyes wide and terrified. "My dad hid it there. I can get it. If you bring it to Elena, you prove your worth. You secure your payout."
Greed and fear warred in the doctor's eyes. He looked at the driver. "Turn around. 4th Street."
Ten minutes later, we pulled into the alley behind the neon-lit, 24-hour diner where I spent my days scrubbing grease off griddles. The alley was dark, smelling of stale fries and rain.
"Get out," Dr. Evans ordered, following us into the damp air, his gun leveled at Alessio’s back. "If you try anything, the girl dies first."
I walked toward the heavy steel door of the walk-in freezer located on the loading dock. My hands trembled as I punched the code into the keypad: 34-12-88.
The heavy door groaned open, unleashing a cloud of freezing white vapor into the warm summer night.
"Go in," the doctor ordered.
I stepped into the freezing darkness, Alessio right behind me, and the doctor trailing behind him. Sides of beef hung from steel hooks, casting long, grotesque shadows.
"Where is it?" Dr. Evans demanded, his teeth chattering slightly in the sub-zero temperature.
"Back here," I pointed to the very rear of the freezer, behind a stack of frozen produce boxes.
The doctor pushed past Alessio, stepping deeper into the freezing fog to look behind the boxes.
It was the moment Alessio had been waiting for.
With blinding speed, Alessio lunged, not at the gun, but at a massive, frozen side of beef hanging from the ceiling track. He shoved the two-hundred-pound slab of frozen meat squarely into Dr. Evans.
The doctor shrieked as the massive weight crushed him against the steel wall. The gun clattered to the ice-covered floor.
Alessio didn't hesitate. He grabbed my hand, yanked me out of the freezer, and slammed the heavy steel door shut, throwing the external deadbolt lock.
Muffled shouting and banging echoed from inside the thick steel box.
"He'll freeze to death in an hour," Alessio said breathlessly, picking up the fallen gun. He looked at me, his eyes blazing with adrenaline. "You lied. The ledger isn't in there."
"No," I gasped, pointing to a small, loose brick near the foundation of the loading dock. "It's under there. My dad buried it the night before he died."
Alessio knelt down, prying the loose brick away. Beneath it was a heavy, waterproof metal lockbox. He pulled it out and cracked it open.
Inside sat a thick, leather-bound notebook filled with my father's meticulous handwriting. The proof of Elena and Marcus's crimes.
We had it. We finally had the weapon to take them down.
Suddenly, a slow, mocking clap echoed from the entrance of the dark alley.
We froze.
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Stepping out of the shadows, surrounded by five heavily armed men, was Elena. She was wearing a perfectly tailored white trench coat, a vicious smile playing on her red lips.
And standing next to her, with a gun pressed to his head, was Dante.
