Chapter 7 - THE RED TOKEN
I stared at the drawing in my hand, then at the little boy.
"A nice lady in the kitchen?" I asked softly.
Leo nodded, pointing toward the large stone building that housed the cafeteria. "She's very old. She makes me soup when I'm sad. She told me to draw this so I wouldn't forget."
I looked at Luca. The realization hit us both at the same time.
Mrs. Carter.
"Emma," Luca said, his voice tight. "When did Mrs. Carter say she first met Antonio after he ran away?"
"Ten years ago," I answered. "She said he came into her cafeteria."
I turned to Antonio. The massive, scarred man was staring at the drawing of the red lunch token.
"You knew her," I said to Antonio. "You went to Mrs. Carter when you escaped Victor ten years ago. You gave her the pocket watch. But then... you came back to Victor. Why?"
Antonio's gun finally lowered completely. The cold, dead look in his eyes shattered, replaced by a profound, agonizing grief.
"Because Victor caught me," Antonio whispered. "He dragged me back. But before he did, Mrs. Carter hid me in the school pantry. She gave me a bowl of soup. She told me... she told me my little brother used to sit in that exact same pantry when he was hungry."
Antonio looked at Luca. Tears spilled over his scarred cheeks.
"She told me my brother was a good man. That he never stopped looking for me," Antonio choked out. "That's how I knew Victor lied. That's why I volunteered to guard the boy when Victor brought him here six years ago. I couldn't save myself... but I swore to God I would keep my nephew safe until you found him."
Luca let out a broken sob. He crossed the snow-covered distance in three massive strides and threw his arms around his older brother.
Antonio dropped the gun into the snow and hugged his brother back, thirty years of stolen time collapsing into a single, desperate embrace.
I wiped tears from my own eyes and knelt down in front of little Leo.
"Leo," I said gently. "Do you know who that man is?"
Leo looked at Luca, clutching his red crayon. "Is he Uncle Luca?"
Luca pulled back from his brother, wiping his face. He knelt down in the snow, right in front of the little boy. He reached into his coat and pulled out the original, worn red plastic token Mrs. Carter had brought to the dinner party.
"No, Leo," Luca said, his voice trembling with an ocean of love. "I'm your father. And I'm taking you home."
Leo looked at the token, then at Luca. He didn't hesitate. He threw his tiny arms around Luca's neck.
We didn't wait to check him out formally. Antonio grabbed a heavy duffel bag from the guard shack, and we walked out the front gates as a family.
But as we approached the black SUV on the tarmac, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was a text from the head of Luca's security back in Chicago.
Boss. Problem. Victor Bellini just breached the mansion with twenty armed men. He found Vanessa in the basement. They have Mrs. Carter.
I stopped walking. "Luca."
He saw my face and took the phone from my hand. He read the text. The warm, loving father vanished. The mafia boss returned, colder and more lethal than ever before.
"Antonio," Luca said, handing the phone to his brother. "Victor has Mrs. Carter."
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Antonio read the screen. A dark, terrifying smirk spread across his scarred face. "Victor shouldn't have done that."
"Load up," Luca ordered. "We're going to end the Bellini family tonight."
