Chapter 16 - CLARA HEARD EVERYTHING
For a second, I considered letting Clara's call go unanswered.
Not because I did not want to hear her.
Because Carlo wanted the call.
Anything he wanted immediately became suspect.
Then I realized Clara might understand that better than I did.
I answered.
Before putting her on speaker, I said quietly, "He is listening."
"I assumed."
Her voice was steady.
"Amelia?"
"Alive."
"Can she hear me?"
"Yes."
"Good."
There was a pause.
"Amelia, remember Prague."
Amelia's eyes changed.
Carlo looked between us.
"What does that mean?"
Amelia shrugged despite the gun.
"Bad vacation."
I knew immediately it was a code.
Carlo did not.
Good.
Later I learned Prague referred to a medical conference where Amelia and Clara had practiced an emergency plan after a hotel fire.
It meant delay, distract, wait for rescue.
Clara was coordinating without giving Carlo anything useful.
"Enough games," he said.
Clara ignored him.
"Dominic, where are you standing?"
I looked around.
"Living room."
"Windows behind Carlo?"
"Yes."
"Do not move toward them."
I understood she had contact with Rachel's team and knew their approach route.
Carlo heard only concern.
"How touching," he said.
"She still worries about you."
Clara's voice turned cold.
"I worry about everyone in a room with you."
Amelia almost smiled.
Carlo stepped closer to the phone.
"You think this is a victory?"
"No."
"Good."
"I think it is evidence."
He frowned.
Clara continued.
"You talk too much when you believe you are in control."
Carlo looked at me.
Then at the ceiling.
He finally understood the possibility of a wire.
He grabbed my shirt and searched me.
No physical wire.
Rachel had placed a miniature transmitter inside a button.
Carlo found nothing.
His confidence returned.
"You are bluffing."
Clara said, "Maybe."
The word sounded perfect coming from her.
I almost smiled.
She had heard me use it earlier.
Now she weaponized uncertainty against him.
Carlo's attention moved fully to the phone.
That gave Mateo time to work through the wall.
A soft scraping came from the kitchen.
Amelia coughed loudly to cover it.
Carlo looked at her.
"You sick?"
"Allergic to kidnappers."
He almost struck her again.
I took one step.
He pointed the gun at me.
"Stay."
I stopped.
Clara said my name.
"Dominic."
"I am here."
"Remember the hospital."
That sentence brought everything back.
Clara on the gurney.
Her blood on my hands.
The paramedic telling me to let go or she could die.
Release control to keep her alive.
Maybe Clara meant nothing more than that.
Maybe she meant exactly that.
Either way, it worked.
I did not lunge.
I did not react.
I waited.
Carlo mistook restraint for surrender.
That was his final mistake in the apartment.
I did not answer immediately.
Carlo tilted the gun toward Amelia.
"Pick up."
I answered.
"Clara."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Put me on speaker."
My stomach tightened.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough."
Carlo's eyes narrowed.
I put the phone on the table.
"Hello, Clara," he said.
"Carlo."
No fear.
No tremble.
He hated that.
"Your husband has a decision to make."
"No, he does not."
Carlo laughed.
"You always did think you were smarter than the room."
"Usually because you kept inviting stupid men into it."
Amelia made a sound that might have been a laugh.
Carlo's face hardened.
"Careful."
"You have been saying that to people for thirty years."
Clara's voice remained steady.
"It stopped working tonight."
I looked toward the kitchen vent.
No movement.
Mateo was waiting.
Carlo tapped the evidence box.
"Tell Dominic to destroy the copies."
"No."
"Then Amelia dies."
"No, she does not."
Carlo smiled coldly.
"You sound confident."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because you need her alive."
A flicker crossed his face.
Clara continued.
"You did not bring Dominic here to trade evidence for Amelia."
"Then why did I?"
"Because you cannot find the original declaration."
My heartbeat changed.
Carlo's expression confirmed she was right.
"The box you stole from the vault did not contain it."
Carlo said nothing.
"Harold never put the original in the bank."
Clara sounded almost bored.
"He gave it to Amelia."
Every eye in the room moved toward her.
Amelia's face stayed perfectly blank.
Carlo raised the gun.
"Where is it?"
Amelia smiled through a split lip.
"You should have asked before hitting me."
He stood.
That was Mateo's opening.
The kitchen panel exploded outward.
Mateo came through low.
Carlo fired.
The bullet hit the wall.
I hit Carlo from the side.
We crashed into the table.
The evidence box fell open.
Papers scattered.
Amelia kicked the gun away.
Mateo tackled Carlo's second weapon from his ankle holster.
For ten seconds, the apartment became pure chaos.
Then I had Carlo on the floor.
My forearm pressed across his throat.
His face reddened.
He smiled anyway.
"Do it."
I tightened my grip.
"Dominic."
Clara's voice came from the phone.
I froze.
Carlo whispered, "He killed your father."
I knew what he was doing.
He wanted me to murder him.
Not because he wanted to die.
Because a dead Carlo could never testify.
A dead Carlo could become a martyr to every man still loyal to him.
A dead Carlo could leave me carrying the same violence forward.
I released his throat.
He coughed.
"Coward."
I stood.
"No."
Mateo zip-tied his wrists.
"Just finished taking lessons from better people."
Carlo glared at me.
"You think prosecutors will save you?"
"I am not asking them to save me."
The words surprised even me.
He laughed.
"You have no idea what you are saying."
"I know exactly what I am saying."
Rachel's agents rushed through the door.
They took Carlo into custody.
He shouted my name once as they dragged him toward the hall.
I did not turn.
Amelia leaned against the kitchen counter while a medic checked her face.
"The declaration?" I asked.
She looked at me.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Nice try."
I almost smiled.
Clara was still on speaker.
"Dominic."
I picked up the phone.
"I am here."
"Is Amelia all right?"
"She is glaring at everyone, so yes."
Amelia gave me an obscene gesture.
"Definitely fine."
Clara exhaled.
For the first time all night, I heard relief in her voice.
"Come back."
Two words.
I closed my eyes.
"I will."
The call ended.
I thought the worst was over.
Then Rachel approached me.
"We need to talk."
"About Carlo?"
"About you."
I looked at her.
"What about me?"
"The evidence Clara gave us does not only implicate Carlo."
Of course it did not.
I had run the Valente syndicate for nearly two decades.
I had authorized threats.
Bribes.
Illegal deals.
I had spent years assuming consequences were for other men.
Rachel held my gaze.
"If you cooperate fully, I can discuss terms with the U.S. Attorney."
"And if I do not?"
"Then tonight ends with two Valentes in custody."
Mateo went still.
Amelia looked toward me.
I thought of Clara.
The old me would have called lawyers.
Judges.
Politicians.
I would have burned favors until the problem disappeared.
Then I remembered what Carlo said about my father.
He wanted out.
He wanted to dismantle the machine before it destroyed us.
Maybe I had inherited more from him than anger.
"What happens to my people?"
Rachel's expression did not change.
"Depends what they did."
"My legitimate businesses?"
"That will be sorted out."
"Clara?"
"She is a witness and victim."
I nodded slowly.
"Then I cooperate."
Mateo stared at me.
"Dominic."
I looked at him.
"My father tried to end this seventeen years ago."
I glanced toward Carlo being pushed into the elevator.
"I think it is time someone finished it."
Rachel took out handcuffs.
I stared at them.
"Seriously?"
"Procedure."
I held out my hands.
Then another agent ran into the apartment.
"Kim."
Rachel turned.
"What?"
"Moretti hit the transport convoy."
My stomach dropped.
"Which transport?"
The agent looked at me.
May you like
"Serena Hayes and her mother."
