Chapter 3 - The Tears of a Child
The kitchen of Romano’s was vast, smelling of roasted rosemary, garlic, and fresh bread. Luisa, the elderly head chef who had known Vincent since he was a boy, had wrapped Sophia in a large, oversized white chef's apron. The little girl sat on a stainless-steel counter, her small legs swinging, sipping hot chocolate from a ceramic mug while Marco stood guard by the pantry.
Vincent walked in, his heavy footsteps slowing as he approached her. He looked completely out of place in the warm, domestic setting—a giant in a tailored black suit surrounded by copper pots and pans.
"Is the chocolate good?" Vincent asked, sitting on a high stool near her.
Sophia nodded, wiping a mustache of chocolate foam from her upper lip. "It’s warm. Thank you, Mr. Vincent."
"You can call me Vincent, kiddo," he said softly. He looked down at the pink backpack sitting on the counter between them. "Sophia, the men who were chasing you... they work for a very bad company. The documents your mama gave you are very important. They can help me make sure those men never hurt anyone else again. But I need you to tell me about the digital recorder."
Sophia reached out, her small hand touching the strap of the backpack. "Mama told me that Daddy was working for the blond man. She said Daddy was taking money to let bad things happen at the shipping docks. One night, Daddy came home with a tiny black box. He was shouting at Mama, saying they were rich now. But Mama looked scared. She hid the box inside my teddy bear."
"Where is the bear now, Sophia?" Vincent asked, his heart heavy.
"It’s at our apartment," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears again. "Under my bed. I couldn't reach it before the men came. I only grabbed the backpack."
Vincent looked at Marco, who gave a grim nod. The apartment would be crawling with Horizon's men by now. But that digital recorder was the key. Without the encryption password or the digital key stored on that recorder, the ledger in the backpack was just useless code.
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"We’re going to get your bear, Sophia," Vincent promised, his voice firm and unyielding. "I give you my word."
