Chapter 6 - The Broken Rosary
“You always did love a grand entrance, Margaret,” Anthony’s voice boomed through a megaphone, echoing across the rainy shipyard.
Margaret didn't flinch. She kept her hands visible, walking slowly toward the center of the pier. The red laser sights of half a dozen snipers danced across her black coat.
“Where is my grandson, Anthony?” Margaret demanded.
Anthony chuckled, a wet, rattling sound that betrayed his failing lungs. He raised the tarnished silver rosary into the floodlights.
“Do you remember this, Margaret?” Anthony called out. “I gave this to you on the day Grace was born. I told you it would protect our family.”
With a flick of his thumb, Anthony pressed the heavy silver cross.
It wasn't a prayer bead. It was a detonator.
A massive explosion ripped through a stack of shipping containers fifty yards to Margaret's left. The shockwave threw her to the wet asphalt, raining twisted metal and burning debris into the dark river.
“The entire pier is wired to this rosary!” Anthony shouted, his voice cracking with manic delight. “Every bead is a frequency. Every bead is a bomb. And the cross triggers the warehouse where your precious little Leo is currently tied to a chair.”
Margaret staggered to her feet, her ears ringing violently.
From her hidden position behind a rusted truck, Vanessa watched her father with absolute disgust. She turned to Marco.
“The snipers are on a closed-loop radio frequency,” Vanessa whispered. “I know the bypass codes. I used to install them for him.”
Marco handed her a tactical tablet. Vanessa’s fingers flew across the screen.
Back in the open, Margaret wiped blood from her cheek. She needed to buy time.
“You’re a coward, Anthony!” Margaret yelled, taking another step forward. “You built an empire, and now you want to burn it because you’re too weak to watch someone else rule it!”
Anthony’s smile vanished. His frail body shook with rage.
“I built this family!” Anthony roared, abandoning the megaphone. “I gave you everything! And you were going to hand it to a board of directors! You were going to take the Moretti name legitimate!”
Margaret froze.
“That’s why you faked your death,” Margaret realized, the final puzzle piece snapping into place. “Eleven years ago, I drafted the papers to dissolve the illegal operations. You didn’t fake your death to hide from the feds. You faked it to stop me from destroying your criminal legacy.”
“And it worked,” Anthony sneered. “Until Daniel got greedy. But now, it all ends.”
His thumb moved to press the cross.
“Target acquired,” Vanessa whispered into Marco’s radio.
Before Anthony could press the detonator, a synchronized volley of suppressed sniper fire echoed across the pier. But the shots didn't come from Anthony’s men.
They came from Marco’s team.
The floodlights on the cranes shattered, plunging the pier into absolute darkness.
“Move!” Margaret screamed.
Chaos erupted. Gunfire traded heavily in the dark. Margaret drew her pistol and sprinted directly toward the warehouse where Anthony had been standing.
Inside the warehouse, the air was thick with the smell of gasoline.
Margaret clicked on her tactical flashlight.
Standing in the center of the room, surrounded by barrels of fuel, was little Leo. He was tied to a wooden chair, crying silently, a gag over his mouth.
“Leo!” Grace screamed, running into the warehouse behind her mother.
Grace dropped to her knees, frantically untying the ropes binding her son. Leo clung to her, burying his face in her neck.
Margaret stood guard, scanning the shadows.
Suddenly, a heavy blow struck Margaret across the jaw. She hit the ground hard, her gun sliding across the concrete.
Anthony stood over her, breathing heavily, gripping a heavy metal pipe. The rosary detonator was still clutched tightly in his left hand.
“Say goodbye, Margaret,” Anthony wheezed, raising his thumb toward the cross.
May you like
But before he could press it, a small, silver object flew through the air, striking Anthony squarely in the face.
It was a heavy, silver lighter.
