Chapter 17 - THE FIRST STEP
Vincent attempted to escape across the rail yard.
Gabriel tackled one gunman.
Federal agents entered from both sides.
Luca remained behind a concrete barrier.
His wheelchair was thirty yards away.
A bullet struck the ground near his hand.
Vincent reached an idling truck.
Marisol shouted for him to stop.
He fired toward her.
Luca saw a second gunman aiming from behind a freight car.
Marisol could not see him.
Luca tried to shout.
The rail engines drowned his voice.
He gripped the barrier and pulled himself upright.
His legs trembled.
Pain tore through his hips.
He took one step.
Then another.
The second gunman turned toward him.
Luca fell against a steel post.
The movement caught Marisol’s attention.
She saw the weapon and fired first.
The gunman dropped.
Vincent’s truck crashed through the yard gate.
Police vehicles pursued him.
He was arrested near the river twenty minutes later.
Luca remained on the ground beside the post.
Gabriel reached him.
“You walked.”
“I fell.”
“You walked before you fell.”
At the hospital, Maya ran into Luca’s room.
Elena followed more slowly.
Maya climbed onto the bed and touched his face.
“I escaped.”
“I know.”
“I used Tommy’s signal.”
“I know.”
“Anthony helped me.”
“We will protect him.”
She looked at Luca’s legs.
“Did you stand?”
“Yes.”
“How many steps?”
“Two.”
Maya held up two fingers.
“That’s twice as many as one.”
Elena laughed despite the tears in her eyes.
Luca looked at them.
For most of his life, victory had meant defeating someone.
Now victory was a child returning safely.
A woman choosing to remain in the room.
Two steps across dirty ground.
The empire he once defended seemed very small beside those things.
Vincent agreed to cooperate after learning Salvatore had hidden money from him.
His testimony dismantled the remaining criminal network.
Victor Lane’s records led investigators to Samuel Reyes’s grave.
Tommy and Aunt Grace held a private funeral.
Luca stood during part of the service using metal braces and two canes.
He could manage only thirty seconds.
Tommy noticed.
“My dad would’ve liked that,” he said.
“What?”
“That you kept trying.”
Luca looked at Samuel’s coffin.
“Your father gave me the truth.”
“I owe him more than standing.”
Luca created a trust for Tommy’s education using money recovered from Salvatore.
Tommy initially refused.
“Rich men help until they get bored.”
Luca nodded.
May you like
“Then make me sign something that prevents boredom.”
Tommy did.
