THE KEY TO THE SYNDICATE

We were trapped in a steel coffin.

Vincent didn't panic. He slowly pushed me and Lily behind him, shielding us with his body. He held the gold pocket watch in his left hand, his weapon in his right.

“You’re out of your jurisdiction, Maroni,” Vincent called out. His voice was steady, echoing off the tunnel walls.

“Jurisdiction died tonight, boy,” Don Maroni spat. The older man leaned on a silver cane, his face twisted in a cruel smile. “My daughter called me before you threw her in your little bunker. She told me the charity case had the key. I knew you’d come for the ledger. Now, hand it over, and I might make your deaths quick.”

Vincent looked back at me. His dark eyes were intense, searching my face.

“Do you trust me?” he whispered.

“I just found out my entire life is a lie,” I whispered back, tears stinging my eyes. “But yes. I trust you.”

Vincent gave a single, firm nod.

He looked down at Lily. He took the heavy iron bracelet he had put in my pocket earlier—the one I threw at Celeste—and slipped it over Lily’s small wrist. It was far too big, but he clasped it tight.

“Keep this safe for me, little bird,” Vincent told her.

Then, Vincent stood up to his full height. He kicked open the rusted doors of the subway car and stepped out onto the tracks, his hands raised in mock surrender.

“You want the ledger, Maroni?” Vincent shouted. He held the heavy leather book out in one hand. “Come get it.”

Maroni chuckled. He gestured for two of his armed thugs to approach.

The men walked down the tracks, their guns aimed at Vincent’s chest.

I held my breath, clutching Lily in the dark corner of the train car.

As the men reached Vincent, he didn't hand them the book. Instead, he tossed the ledger high into the air.

The thugs instinctively looked up.

It was a fatal mistake.

In a blur of motion, Vincent drew a second weapon from the small of his back. Two suppressed shots coughed in the dark. Both thugs dropped before the ledger hit the ground.

Chaos erupted.

Maroni screamed an order. Machine gun fire lit up the tunnel like a strobe light. Bullets tore through the metal of the subway car, shattering the ancient glass.

I threw myself over Lily, screaming as sparks rained down on us.

Vincent dove behind a steel support pillar. He was outgunned ten to one.

“Flush him out!” Maroni roared.

Footsteps pounded against the gravel as men advanced.

I looked at the floor. The heavy ledger lay in the dirt, just out of Vincent’s reach.

If they got that book, they would kill us all. My father had died for it. Vincent was about to die for it.

I couldn't let it happen.

“Stay here,” I ordered Lily.

“Mommy, no!” she cried.

I crawled on my stomach, glass biting into my knees. The deafening roar of gunfire filled the air. I reached the edge of the open door, stretching my arm out toward the ledger.

A bullet sparked inches from my hand. I flinched, crying out.

“Get back!” Vincent roared from his cover.

But I grabbed the book. I pulled it into my chest and scrambled back into the car.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over me.

Don Maroni himself stood in the doorway of the train car, a heavy revolver aimed directly at my face.

“You steal from me once,” Maroni hissed, “I kill your father. You steal from me twice…” He cocked the hammer.

A gunshot rang out.

But it didn't come from Maroni.

Maroni’s eyes went wide. He gasped, dropping his gun, and fell forward into the dirt.