Chapter 5 - THE PRECINCT
“No!” I grabbed Gabriel’s arm before he could fire.
The movement wrenched my broken ribs, sending a fresh wave of agony through my chest, but I held on tight.
“Don’t shoot her,” I pleaded. “If you shoot her, Mitchell knows we’re coming. He’ll hide Leo. Please, Gabriel.”
Gabriel stared at the old woman on the porch. For a long, tense second, his finger lingered on the trigger.
Then, slowly, he lowered the weapon.
Clara Gable turned and went back inside, locking the door behind her.
“He took him to the 14th Precinct,” Gabriel said, turning back toward the SUV. “It’s a fortress. Mitchell’s captain is on the payroll of a rival family. If we walk in there, they’ll shoot us on sight and claim we were resisting arrest.”
“I don’t care,” I said, following him. “I’m not leaving my son in a police station with the man who beats me.”
We climbed back into the SUV.
“Drive,” Gabriel told his man. “Downtown. The 14th.”
As the car accelerated, I pulled the heavy gold watch out of my pocket. In the glow of the streetlights flashing by, the diamonds sparkled mockingly.
“Mitchell slipped this into my coat when I collapsed,” I said, my voice shaking. “He framed me. Alderman Brooks is going to report it stolen. Mitchell will arrest me, and I’ll go to prison.”
Gabriel took the watch from my hand. He inspected it for a moment, then let out a low, dark chuckle.
“Mitchell is an idiot,” Gabriel said.
“What?”
“Alderman Brooks isn’t going to report this stolen, Harper.” Gabriel tossed the watch onto the leather seat. “Because Alderman Brooks bought that watch with bribe money he took from me three days ago. If he reports it stolen, he has to explain to the IRS how he afforded a sixty-thousand-dollar timepiece on a public servant’s salary.”
I stared at him.
“Mitchell tried to frame you with a piece of dirty leverage,” Gabriel explained. “Which means Mitchell doesn’t know I own the Alderman. He’s flying blind.”
Hope, tiny and fragile, bloomed in my chest.
“Can you use the Alderman to get Leo out?” I asked.
Gabriel pulled out his phone. “I can do better than that.”
He dialed a number and put it on speaker.
It rang twice before a groggy, terrified voice answered.
“R-Rossi? It’s 2:00 AM.”
It was Alderman Brooks.
“Raymond,” Gabriel’s voice was smooth, pleasant, and absolutely terrifying. “I need a favor. You’re going to walk into the 14th Precinct in exactly ten minutes.”
“The 14th? Why? Gabriel, I’m in bed—”
“You’re going to tell Captain Miller that you demand a personal tour of the holding cells. You’re going to cause a massive scene. You’re going to threaten to cut their city funding if they don’t comply.”
“They’ll think I’m drunk!”
“I don’t care what they think, Raymond,” Gabriel said softly. “If you don’t do this, the photos of you and the underage girl in Vegas go to the Tribune at 6:00 AM. Do we understand each other?”
Dead silence on the other end.
Then, a trembling sigh. “Ten minutes.”
Gabriel hung up.
“The Alderman will draw the captain and the desk sergeants to the basement,” Gabriel looked at me. “Mitchell will be distracted. That gives us exactly three minutes to get in through the back fire escape, find your son in the upstairs offices, and get out.”
“You’re coming in with me?” I asked, shocked.
“Mitchell killed my sister, Harper. I am not letting him take someone else I care about.”
The words hung in the air. Someone else I care about.
The SUV pulled into an alleyway two blocks from the police station. The massive brick building loomed in the darkness.
“Stay close,” Gabriel handed me a heavy black flashlight. “If anything goes wrong, you run. You don’t look back for me.”
We slipped through the alley, dodging dumpsters and broken glass. We reached the rusted iron fire escape at the back of the precinct.
My ribs screamed with every step as we climbed to the second floor.
Gabriel picked the lock on the heavy metal door in seconds.
We stepped into a dark, carpeted hallway. It smelled like stale coffee and ozone.
“Detective bullpen is down the hall,” Gabriel whispered, moving silently ahead of me.
We crept past empty cubicles. Downstairs, I could hear a muffled shouting match. Alderman Brooks was putting on the performance of his life.
Suddenly, I heard a sound that made my blood freeze.
A small, quiet sniffle.
It was coming from a frosted glass office at the end of the hall. The door read: Det. Mitchell Vance.
I ran.
“Harper, wait!” Gabriel hissed.
I didn’t care. I threw the door open.
Leo was sitting on a cold metal chair, clutching his knees to his chest. His little face was streaked with tears.
“Mommy!” Leo cried, jumping off the chair.
I fell to my knees, catching him in my arms. I buried my face in his messy hair, breathing in the scent of his baby shampoo.
“I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you,” I sobbed.
“I dropped my train,” Leo cried into my shoulder.
“I know, sweetie. Mommy found it.”
“How touching.”
The voice came from behind the office door.
I spun around.
Mitchell stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the office. He was holding his service weapon.
But he wasn’t pointing it at me.
He was pointing it directly at Gabriel, who had just stepped into the doorway.
“I knew you’d come for her, Rossi,” Mitchell smiled, a sick, twisted grin. “You always did have a soft spot for the weak ones. Just like your sister.”
Gabriel didn’t raise his gun. He stood perfectly still.
“Put the gun down, Mitchell,” Gabriel said coldly.
“Or what?” Mitchell sneered. “You’ll kill me? We’re in a police station, Gabriel. If you shoot me, my boys downstairs will tear you to pieces. But if I shoot you... I get a medal for taking down the head of the Rossi family in self-defense.”
Mitchell pulled the hammer back.
“Say hi to your sister for me.”
May you like
Before Mitchell could pull the trigger, Gabriel looked at me.
And he winked.
