Chapter 3 - The Interrogation
The sub-basement of the estate smelled of damp concrete, iron, and rust.
Maya had insisted on accompanying Lorenzo downstairs despite his warnings that syndicate justice was not meant for civilian eyes. But Maya wasn't just a compassionate nurse; she was the daughter of a decorated Boston homicide detective. She understood that monsters only respected force.
Dr. Vance was bound to a heavy iron chair beneath a bright overhead bulb. His nose was broken, his designer clothes torn, his frame trembling uncontrollably.
Sofia was confined in a bulletproof glass cell across the hallway, her hands bloody from pounding against the reinforced pane, her voice raspy from hours of screaming.
Lorenzo walked into the room, standing over Vance like a shadow of death. Maya stood near the wall, her arms folded across her chest.
"Repeat what you told Marco, Vance," Lorenzo commanded softly.
Vance sobbed, wiping blood from his mouth against his shoulder. "I... I had no choice! I swear to God, Mr. Bolaro! Sofia came to me six months ago! She possessed video evidence of me... of me illegally supplying controlled narcotics to prominent political figures! She threatened to submit it to the Federal Medical Board and the DEA!"
"And what was your compensation?" Lorenzo asked.
"Two million dollars," Vance wept. "She paid me to falsify Nico’s lab work, to diagnose him with infantile Alexander Disease—a rare, fatal neurological condition. She said... she said the child wouldn't suffer! She said she just needed him to pass away slowly so it appeared entirely natural!"
"Who manufactured the modified bottle caps?" Maya stepped into the light, her voice cold.
Vance looked at Maya with wide, desperate eyes. "It wasn't Sofia’s design! She doesn't possess the engineering resources to manufacture military-grade micro-dispensers! She was working in tandem with someone inside your organization!"
Lorenzo reached down, grabbing Vance by the throat and lifting the full weight of the man off the chair. "Give me a name!"
"Dante!" Vance choked out, gasping for air. "Dante Valenti!"
A heavy, suffocating shock fell over the basement.
Dante Valenti was Lorenzo’s Underboss—his childhood friend, his second-in-command, the man who managed half of Chicago’s security details and sat at Lorenzo’s family table every Sunday.
"Dante?" Lorenzo repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"Yes!" Vance cried out as Lorenzo released him, sending the doctor crashing back onto the metal chair. "Dante allied with Don Silvio Marcone from Detroit six months ago! Marcone promised Dante absolute control over the Chicago territory if you were broken! Dante knew that if you lost your son after losing your wife, you would lose your mind and step down... or take your own life!"
"And Sofia?" Maya asked.
"Sofia was Dante’s instrument!" Vance admitted frantically. "Dante promised Sofia that once you were forced out of the syndicate, Dante would arrange a union between you two to merge the families! She was so obsessed with Lorenzo that she agreed to eliminate the child!"
In the cell across the hall, Sofia’s shouting stopped completely. She pressed her forehead against the thick glass, her eyes hollow as she realized her co-conspirator had confessed and her grand illusion was shattered.
Lorenzo turned to Marco. "Dante is currently overseeing the night customs shipments at the river warehouse?"
"Yes, Boss," Marco replied, pulling a heavy tactical shotgun from the wall rack. "Should I take thirty men and execute him?"
"No," Lorenzo said, pulling a custom gold-inlaid pistol from his holster and checking the magazine. "Dante was my brother. He deserves to look into my eyes when I rip his empire away."
Lorenzo looked at Maya. His cold expression softened slightly. "Marco will leave twenty men here. You and Nico will be transferred to my private panic vault on the third floor. It features four-inch titanium doors and a separate environmental filtration system."
"Lorenzo," Maya said, stepping forward and laying her hand on his forearm. "Dante knows you’re suspicious. If he realizes Vance and Sofia have gone dark, he won't sit at the warehouse. He’ll strike this compound before you arrive."
May you like
Lorenzo looked down at her small hand resting against his arm. The warmth of her touch sent a surge of quiet strength through him.
"Then let him try," Lorenzo growled, placing his hand over hers. "This house has been bleeding from the inside for eight months. Tonight, we end it."
