Chapter 9 - THE BIRTHDAY TRAP
Saturday arrived beneath cold rain.
My forty-ninth birthday.
I had never cared much about birthdays.
After Michael died, I cared even less.
But that year, three hundred guests arrived at the Moretti Grand Hotel believing they were attending the most extravagant birthday dinner in Manhattan.
Crystal chandeliers.
Black-tie orchestra.
Champagne towers.
Politicians.
Developers.
Lawyers.
Celebrities who would deny knowing me if a camera appeared.
And cameras definitely appeared.
Perfect.
Aldo wanted a public spectacle.
I gave him one.
What he didn’t know was that half the hotel staff had been replaced by federal agents.
The ballroom had surveillance in every corner.
Sarah Cole ran command from two floors above.
Victor sat in protective custody.
Gabriel stayed with Elena at an undisclosed medical facility.
Bruno?
Bruno refused to stay with Elena.
That bothered me.
He had been glued to her since the funeral.
But that morning, when Tony tried to take him back to the hospital, Bruno planted himself beside me.
Wouldn’t move.
“You want to come?”
His tail moved once.
“Fine.”
Sarah hated the idea.
“He is not federal personnel.”
“Tell him.”
She looked at Bruno.
Bruno looked at her.
She sighed.
“I’m surrounded by lunatics.”
At 8:40 p.m., I entered the ballroom.
Applause.
I hated every second.
Tony walked beside me.
Bruno slightly behind.
Guests moved away from the dog instinctively.
Good.
At 9:00, I gave a speech.
Short.
“Thank you for coming. Eat. Drink. Pretend we all like each other.”
Laughter.
Exactly what people expected from me.
At 9:12, Sarah spoke through the hidden earpiece.
“Movement.”
“Where?”
“Service entrance.”
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Aldo?”
“Not visible.”
At 9:18, the ballroom lights flickered.
Bruno stood.
At 9:19, my attorney of twenty years walked into the ballroom.
Victor.
Guests murmured.
Victor was supposed to be hidden.
But this was part of the plan.
He carried a briefcase.
Inside were copies of evidence.
Enough to look real.
At 9:20, I approached him publicly.
“What are you doing here?”
Victor played terrified beautifully.
Maybe because he was terrified.
“Aldo wants a trade.”
People nearby went quiet.
Cameras caught it.
Victor handed me the briefcase.
“Aldo says take this to the roof.”
“Why?”
“He has Emily.”
His granddaughter.
Sarah whispered in my ear.
“Roof team sees nobody.”
Exactly.
Aldo expected us to focus upward.
Which meant he was below.
“Basement,” I said.
Sarah paused.
“What?”
“He hates heights.”
“How do you know?”
“I grew up with him.”
Bruno suddenly pulled toward the kitchen.
Hard.
There.
“Follow the dog,” I said.
Sarah swore.
Tony and I moved through the kitchen.
Guests thought it was part of some emergency.
Federal agents quietly sealed exits.
Bruno ran toward the freight elevator.
Basement.
The doors opened.
Dark corridor.
Boiler rooms.
Laundry.
Storage.
Bruno sniffed.
Then turned left.
We heard a child crying.
Tony looked at me.
“Emily.”
We followed the sound.
Aldo stood at the far end of the corridor.
One hand held Emily’s shoulder.
The other held a gun.
Two men beside him.
And Marco.
I stopped.
Marco stood behind Aldo.
No cuffs.
No agents.
Alive.
Free.
My stomach dropped.
Aldo smiled.
“Surprised?”
Tony whispered, “Marco?”
Marco looked at me.
Nothing in his face.
Aldo laughed.
“You really thought he turned?”
Marco had betrayed me again.
Of course.
Maybe men never changed.
Maybe guilt was just another costume.
“Where’s Elena?” Aldo asked.
“Safe.”
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
“We never had an agreement.”
He pushed the gun against Emily’s shoulder.
She cried harder.
“Careful.”
“You care about children now?”
“Yes.”
“How touching.”
I held up the briefcase.
“Evidence.”
“Open it.”
I did.
Documents.
Drives.
Ledgers.
Aldo’s eyes brightened.
“Slide it.”
I placed it on the floor.
Kicked it halfway.
“Release the girl.”
“First Elena.”
“Not happening.”
His expression darkened.
“You disappoint me.”
“Michael said the same thing about your cooking.”
Aldo’s face twisted.
Good.
Anger.
Make him emotional.
He stepped forward.
“You know nothing about Michael.”
“I know he was better than you.”
“He was stupid.”
“He caught you.”
“He died.”
“Because you were afraid.”
Aldo raised the gun toward me.
Tony tensed.
“No,” I whispered.
Aldo continued.
“I built this family while your father drank and gambled.”
“You stole from it.”
“I strengthened it.”
“You extorted people twice.”
“I created revenue.”
“You murdered Michael.”
“I removed a threat.”
“You tried to bury Elena alive.”
“She was nobody.”
That sentence echoed.
Emily cried.
Marco looked at her.
Then at Aldo.
Something changed in his face.
Aldo kept talking.
“That is your weakness, Luca. You started believing everybody matters.”
I looked at him.
“Maybe they do.”
He laughed.
“You sound ridiculous.”
“Probably.”
My eyes moved toward Marco.
Then back.
“But here’s the difference between us.”
“What?”
“When you look at a child, you see leverage.”
I glanced at Emily.
“When I look at one, I see the bill coming due.”
Aldo frowned.
Then Bruno growled.
Not at Aldo.
At the ceiling.
Aldo looked up instinctively.
That was the moment.
Marco moved.
He grabbed Emily and threw her behind him.
Aldo fired.
The shot hit Marco.
Federal agents burst through two doors.
Tony pulled me behind a concrete wall.
Bruno launched toward one of Aldo’s men, knocking him down.
Commands.
Shouting.
More gunshots.
Then silence.
Aldo was gone.
A service door stood open behind him.
Marco lay on the floor.
Emily screamed.
I reached him first.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Stay awake.”
Marco laughed weakly.
“You always say that like it’s an order.”
“What the hell were you doing with Aldo?”
“Federal idea.”
I looked at Sarah as she ran in.
She nodded.
“Undercover cooperation.”
“You could have told me.”
“No,” Marco whispered. “Your face had to be real.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead I pressed my hand against his wound.
“You idiot.”
“Probably.”
Emily crawled toward us.
Marco looked at her.
“She okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
His eyes began closing.
“Marco.”
“I did one thing right.”
“You’ll do another. Stay awake.”
He smiled faintly.
“Boss?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
Then his eyes closed.
Paramedics took over.
Sarah looked at the open service door.
“Aldo escaped into the tunnels.”
“What tunnels?”
“Old hotel utility connections.”
I knew them.
My grandfather built the hotel.
There were passages connecting older buildings on the block.
Aldo knew them too.
Bruno ran toward the open door.
“Bruno!”
He disappeared.
I followed.
Sarah shouted behind me.
“Luca!”
I didn’t stop.
The tunnel smelled like dust and wet concrete.
Bruno’s nails scraped ahead.
We reached stairs.
Then an alley.
Rain.
Aldo was running toward a parked sedan.
Bruno closed the distance.
Aldo turned.
Raised the gun.
“NO!”
The shot cracked.
Bruno stumbled.
Everything inside me went white.
I ran.
Aldo fired again.
Missed.
Bruno hit the pavement.
I reached him.
Blood on his shoulder.
Breathing.
Alive.
Aldo’s sedan roared away.
Tony arrived behind me.
“He’s breathing.”
“Get a veterinarian.”
“We need to chase Aldo.”
“No.”
Tony stared.
“Boss?”
I put my jacket beneath Bruno’s head.
“He saved Elena.”
Rain ran down my face.
“He saved Emily.”
Another breath.
Weak.
“He’s not dying alone in an alley while I chase another man.”
Bruno opened his eyes.
Looked at me.
His tail tapped the pavement once.
That almost destroyed me.
Sarah reached us.
“Aldo’s vehicle is being tracked.”
I looked up.
“How?”
She smiled tightly.
“The briefcase.”
Tracker.
For once, I loved federal agents.
“Where is he going?”
Her phone updated.
Then she frowned.
“New Jersey.”
My heart stopped.
The old family house.
Michael.
Aldo was going back to where everything started.
I touched Bruno’s head.
“Take care of him.”
Tony nodded.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
Sarah stood.
“So am I.”
Rain fell harder.
Behind us, paramedics carried Marco away.
Veterinary emergency staff rushed toward Bruno.
Emily was safe upstairs with Victor.
Elena was safe.
For the first time, Aldo had no child left to hide behind.
May you like
Only ghosts.
And I knew exactly which ghost was waiting for him.
