Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO CHOOSECelia refused to choose.
“Turn the plane toward Cleveland,” she told the pilot.
“We’re almost halfway to Chicago.”
“My mother was attacked west of Cleveland.”
“And the child needs the antitoxin in Chicago.”
“Vincent has a helicopter. He can bring the antidote to us.”
The pilot shook his head.
“We have orders.”
“From Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Celia held out her phone.
“Then call him.”
The pilot tried.
No connection.
Chicago’s communication shutdown was disrupting private networks along with public systems. Vincent had built a wall around Simon and accidentally placed himself behind it.
Celia moved into the cockpit.
“Tell me where the nearest safe landing field is.”
The pilot stared at her.
“You are not authorized to redirect this aircraft.”
Celia pointed toward Leo.
“Neither was the person who poisoned him.”
The copilot checked a navigation display.
“There’s a regional airport eighteen minutes south of Margaret’s last signal. We could land, but we may not get permission to take off again.”
“Do it.”
The pilot looked back at the medical cabin.
Then he altered course.
As the jet descended, Celia called Evelyn repeatedly. Every attempt failed.
She searched for emergency reports near the last known location. A collision had been reported on the interstate, but no official details were available.
Simon called.
“You disappoint me,” he said.
Celia gripped the phone.
“You’re tracking the plane.”
“I track everything that matters.”
“Then you know we’re not coming directly to Chicago.”
“I know you are wasting Leo’s final minutes.”
“My mother has the key you want. If she dies, you get nothing.”
Simon’s silence told Celia she had finally found leverage.
“Call off your men,” she said.
“You assume they are mine.”
“Who else wants the key?”
“Ask Vincent.”
The call ended.
The jet landed hard at a small airport surrounded by dark farmland. No terminal staff waited. Only two maintenance workers watched from a distant hangar.
Celia climbed out while the medical team prepared Leo for ground transport.
A black pickup truck raced toward the runway.
The guards raised their weapons.
The truck stopped several yards away, and Tommy Bellucci stepped out.
Blood had soaked through the bandage on his shoulder.
“Where’s Vincent?” Celia asked.
“On his way to Chicago.”
“My mother was attacked.”
“We know.”
“Is she alive?”
Tommy’s expression softened.
“We found the vehicle. Evelyn killed two attackers and got your mother into the woods. A recovery team is searching.”
“Who attacked them?”
“The license plates belonged to Romano Security.”
Celia stared at him.
“Your own people?”
“Someone issued valid orders using Vincent’s authorization codes.”
“Simon?”
“Maybe.”
“You don’t believe that.”
Tommy looked toward the plane.
“Boss has enemies who have been waiting years for the family to split.”
Leo was transferred into the pickup’s covered rear compartment. Tommy had brought additional medical equipment and two armed vehicles.
“We’ll head toward your mother’s last location,” he said. “Vincent is trying to reach Sterling.”
Celia climbed into the truck.
“Tell me about my father.”
Tommy started the engine.
“I didn’t know him.”
“But you knew Anthony Romano.”
“Yes.”
“Did Anthony kill Daniel Jace?”
Tommy’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Anthony ordered many things. He rarely wrote them down.”
“The ledger says ‘silenced.’”
“That could mean money, threats or murder.”
“My father died beneath a steel beam.”
Tommy did not reply.
The convoy left the airport.
Rain had turned to sleet, coating the rural roads. Celia sat beside Leo in the rear compartment, monitoring his breathing.
Tommy spoke through the open partition.
“Daniel Jace worked on the renovation of an old transit tunnel beneath Chicago. Anthony financed the project through shell companies.”
“What was inside the tunnel?”
“A wartime vault.”
“What kind of vault?”
“No one outside the old family council knew.”
“And now Simon wants it.”
“Whatever Daniel found there frightened Anthony enough to seal the tunnel permanently.”
Leo’s eyes opened.
“Celia?”
“I’m here.”
“I can feel my feet.”
She touched his ankle.
“Can you move your toes?”
One toe twitched.
Celia laughed with relief.
“That’s wonderful.”
His breathing remained assisted, but the temporary medication was still holding.
A radio crackled.
“Vehicle ahead,” one guard reported. “Possible survivor.”
Headlights illuminated a woman standing in the middle of the road.
Margaret Jace wore no coat.
Her hospital gown was torn and dirty, and blood covered one side of her face.
“Mom!”
Celia shoved open the door before the truck fully stopped.
She ran through the sleet.
Margaret collapsed into her arms.
“They took Evelyn,” she gasped.
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Men in uniforms.”
“Do you still have the key?”
Margaret touched her neck.
The necklace was gone.
Celia’s stomach dropped.
“They took it?”
“No.” Margaret reached into her torn sleeve. “Evelyn told me to hide it.”
She placed the tiny key in Celia’s palm.
Gunfire erupted from the tree line.
Tommy pulled both women behind the truck.
The guards returned fire.
“Inside!” Tommy shouted.
Celia shielded her mother as bullets struck the vehicle.
A black SUV burst from a side road, cutting off their retreat. Armed men stepped out wearing federal tactical gear.
One raised a badge.
“FBI! Drop your weapons!”
Tommy did not lower his gun.
“Real federal agents don’t approach from the dark with covered plates.”
The supposed agent fired first.
Chaos exploded.
Celia dragged Margaret toward the truck’s rear door. Leo lay inside, connected to the breathing machine.
A bullet struck the medical battery pack.
Sparks flashed.
The ventilator shut down.
“No!”
Celia climbed inside and disconnected the damaged machine. She grabbed the manual breathing bag.
Margaret crawled in beside her.
“Is that Vincent’s son?”
“Yes.”
Margaret stared at Leo’s face.
“He looks like Elena.”
“You knew her well?”
“She was my best friend.”
Celia squeezed the breathing bag rhythmically.
“Then help me keep her son alive.”
Outside, Tommy shouted orders.
The truck lurched forward, smashing through the roadblock. Gunfire shattered the rear window.
Margaret pressed herself against Leo’s stretcher.
“What does Simon want from the vault?” Celia asked.
Her mother looked at the key in Celia’s hand.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Not only murders.”
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Anthony Romano built his empire by blackmailing powerful men. Judges, senators, police commissioners, union leaders. Daniel found the original recordings.”
“All inside the vault?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because Elena promised to expose them. Two days later, she died in a car bombing.”
Celia glanced at Leo.
“They told Vincent it was a rival family.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Who ordered it?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with fear.
“Someone Vincent still trusts.”
The truck turned sharply.
Tommy called through the partition.
“We have another problem. Chicago police found Sterling’s laboratory.”
“That sounds good,” Celia said.
“It would be.”
Tommy handed her a phone displaying a live news report.
The laboratory was burning.
Fire poured from every window.
Emergency crews surrounded the building.
Dr. Sterling and the antitoxin were still inside.
Margaret stared at the screen.
“Simon is destroying the evidence.”
“No,” Celia said.
She recognized the building from the video Simon had sent.
One detail was wrong.
The windows in the broadcast were rectangular.
The laboratory holding Dr. Sterling had arched windows.
“This isn’t the same building.”
Tommy looked closer.
“He staged the fire.”
“To make Vincent think Sterling is dead.”
Celia called Vincent again.
This time, he answered.
His voice was broken by static.
“Celia?”
“The fire is fake. Simon is moving the doctor.”
“Where?”
Celia remembered Leo’s delirious words.
The man with the silver cane said they were going to see the trains.
“Union Station,” she said. “The vault is beneath Union Station.”
A burst of interference swallowed Vincent’s reply.
Then another voice entered the call.
Simon.
“Very clever,” he said.
Celia looked around the truck.
“How are you on this line?”
“Because Tommy Bellucci’s phone belongs to me.”
Everyone turned toward Tommy.
He stared at the device in Celia’s hand.
A red light began flashing beneath the casing.
“Throw it!” Tommy shouted.
Celia hurled the phone through the broken window.
The explosion lifted the rear of the truck off the road.
Metal screamed.
May you like
The vehicle overturned.
As Celia fell, she saw the tiny vault key leave her hand and disappear into the darkness.
Related Stories
