Chapter 10 - THE TRAP AT PIER NINE
Dante sent no one inside.
He called federal contacts through counsel.
Then port security.
Bomb squad.
Police.
That decision caused three of his captains to question him.
Not openly.
Khloe noticed.
Criminal organizations apparently had opinions about de-escalation.
One man named Russo said:
“Marco would’ve gone.”
Dante looked at him.
“Marco is dead.”
Silence.
Then:
“I’m trying not to imitate him.”
That was new.
The warehouse contained no Elias.
Only explosives.
A chair.
Blood.
Enough to suggest Elias had been there.
Then investigators found a camera.
Live feed routed offshore.
Salvatore had wanted to watch Dante die.
Instead, he watched police dismantle the trap.
That probably made him furious.
Good.
Then Elias called.
Not Salvatore.
Elias.
Dante answered.
“Where are you?”
“Moving.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Who has you?”
“No one now.”
“What happened?”
Elias had been taken by Salvatore’s men two days earlier.
Escaped during transfer.
“How?”
“Driver underestimated an old waiter.”
Dante almost smiled.
Then Elias said:
“Jared helped.”
Khloe looked up.
“What?”
Elias continued:
“Jared opened the van.”
Why?
Because Salvatore planned to kill him too.
Loose end.
Jared had finally understood loyalty to Salvatore bought nothing.
“Where is Jared?” Khloe asked.
Elias heard her.
“Khloe?”
“Yes.”
Pause.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I used your identity.”
There.
Elias had created K.B. Maritime.
“Why?”
“To follow Salvatore’s money.”
“Without telling me?”
“I couldn’t.”
“You could have chosen literally anyone else.”
“I needed a clean identity connected to Jared.”
That made her angrier.
“So I was useful.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
At least honest.
Dante took the phone.
“You owe her more than sorry.”
“I know.”
Then Elias said:
“I have the master ledger.”
Dante froze.
“Marco’s copy?”
“No.”
“Salvatore’s.”
Everything.
Victim routes.
Payoffs.
Partners.
Old murders.
Corporate fronts.
Enough to dismantle the network.
“Where?”
Elias gave an address.
Dante said:
“No.”
Everyone stared.
Elias went silent.
Dante continued:
“You bring it to counsel. Not me.”
Khloe watched him.
That was a bigger change than any gunfight would have been.
Elias agreed.
Then:
“Jared wants to speak to Khloe.”
“No,” Dante said immediately.
Khloe glared.
He stopped.
“Your choice.”
Better.
She took the phone.
Jared’s voice came weakly.
“Khloe.”
She said nothing.
“I’m sorry.”
Still nothing.
“I never meant—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“You don’t get to tell me what you meant.”
Silence.
“You hit me.”
“Yes.”
“You followed me.”
“Yes.”
“You used my identity.”
“Yes.”
“You let people put me in danger.”
“Yes.”
He sounded broken.
Good.
Then:
“I can give you something.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“It’s about your mother.”
Khloe froze.
“My mother is dead.”
“I know.”
Dante looked at her.
Jared continued:
“She wasn’t random.”
Khloe’s chest tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
“Salvatore knew her.”
No.
Her mother had worked as a hospital billing clerk.
Nothing to do with ports.
“What?”
Jared swallowed.
“Your mother treated Pietro after his first assassination attempt.”
Khloe stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“She didn’t treat him medically.”
“Then what?”
“She hid him.”
Everything stopped.
May you like
Before dying, Khloe’s mother had apparently helped Pietro Varga disappear.
And Salvatore had never forgotten the Bennett name.
