Chapter 8 - REGINA'S TRADE
Regina called twelve minutes later.
Michael put the phone on speaker.
Zach was crying in the background.
“Dad!”
Michael closed his eyes for half a second.
When he opened them, he was ice.
“Let me speak to him.”
“He's fine.”
“If you touch him—”
“Save the threats, Michael.”
I'd never heard Regina sound so confident.
She believed she finally had power.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Silence.
Then:
“You.”
Michael shook his head immediately.
“No.”
Regina laughed.
“Aurora comes with the necklace and unlocks Daniel's account.”
“You don't even have the necklace.”
“You do.”
True.
Lorenzo had brought it.
Michael moved away from the phone.
“You're not going.”
“She's holding Zach.”
“No.”
“He saved me.”
“He is six.”
“And he's there because of me.”
“He's there because Regina is a criminal.”
I stepped closer.
“If we do nothing—”
“We're not doing nothing.”
His anger cracked.
For the first time, I heard fear underneath.
“He's my son.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand what that means.”
My own anger rose.
“You think I don't understand losing family?”
He stopped.
Immediately regretted it.
I lowered my voice.
“I'm not asking you to hand me over. I'm asking you to use me.”
Michael hated the idea.
That was obvious.
But we built a plan.
I would arrive with a duplicate necklace.
Michael's men would track me through a transmitter sewn into my coat.
Police were notified anonymously because Michael didn't trust the local officers connected to Carlo's old network.
My father insisted on helping identify the account procedure.
The exchange location was an abandoned ferry terminal.
Regina stood inside with Zach.
One man held him.
Zach's face was wet with tears.
But when he saw me, he straightened.
“Aurora!”
Regina slapped a hand over his mouth.
Something inside me turned cold.
“Don't touch him.”
She smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You told my father I was dead.”
“And he believed me.”
“You kept him imprisoned.”
“I kept him useful.”
I wanted to hit her.
Instead, I held up the necklace.
“Let Zach go.”
“After you unlock the account.”
A laptop sat on a folding table.
I entered the first answer.
My mother's middle name.
Second.
The street where I learned to ride a bicycle.
Third.
Dad's nickname for me.
The screen changed.
ACCOUNT VALUE:
$27,842,911.
Regina's eyes lit up.
Then another line appeared.
SECOND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Regina stared.
“What?”
I looked at her.
“My father changed it.”
“What second authorization?”
A voice came from behind her.
“Mine.”
Dad stepped from the shadows.
Regina went white.
That was the distraction Michael needed.
His men moved.
Fast.
The man holding Zach released him when Michael slammed into him.
Another attacker charged; Michael drove him backward into a table.
The man rose and came again.
Michael stopped him a second time with one sharp strike to the chest that sent him crashing onto empty crates.
Zach ran into his father's arms.
Regina grabbed the laptop.
I caught her wrist.
She struck me across the face.
Michael turned.
“Aurora!”
Regina yanked free and ran toward the rear exit.
Police were already there.
She stopped.
Trapped.
For the first time in my life, Regina looked afraid of someone other than herself.
Then the laptop beeped.
Dad stared at the screen.
“No.”
“What?”
“The money moved.”
Michael looked over.
The account balance was zero.
Someone had transferred all $27 million during the chaos.
Regina stared too.
“That wasn't me.”
For once, I believed her.
Michael's security chief traced the destination.
The transfer had been authorized seconds before we entered the terminal.
By someone holding Carlo Moretti's original master credentials.
May you like
Only one living person was supposed to have those.
Lorenzo Moretti.
