Chapter 14 - Pier Nine
Fog covered the Delaware River.
Aldo stood aboard a black yacht beside Luca.
The nanny held Nico near the railing.
The baby was crying again.
Luca had activated another ultrasonic device beneath the blanket.
Matteo, Elena and Liana stepped onto the pier.
Elena carried the copied ledger.
Matteo carried no visible weapon.
Aldo smiled when he saw them.
“At last.”
Nico heard Elena’s voice.
His crying stopped.
He twisted in the nanny’s arms and reached toward the pier.
“Mama.”
Elena’s composure fractured.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
Aldo took the baby himself.
“Bring me the ledger.”
Elena stepped onto the boarding ramp.
Matteo caught her arm.
Aldo raised a weapon near Nico.
“Let her come.”
Elena walked forward.
Each step carried her closer to the child she had been forced to abandon.
Liana remained beside Matteo.
Beneath the pier, Rachel’s team moved through the maintenance tunnel.
Dante climbed onto the yacht from the stern.
Luca watched Elena approach.
“Open the bag.”
She obeyed.
He examined the ledger.
“It’s a copy.”
Aldo’s smile disappeared.
“You never had the original,” Elena said.
“I gave it to federal investigators before the crash.”
“That is impossible.”
“Your entire organization has been living on borrowed time.”
Aldo pointed his weapon at Elena.
Matteo stepped between them.
“Give me my son.”
“You were always ungrateful,” Aldo said.
“I raised you.”
“You murdered my father.”
“I made you powerful.”
“You made me useful to you.”
Nico began crying at the sharpness in their voices.
Liana slowly moved along the edge of the dock.
Aldo noticed.
“The maid stays where I can see her.”
“My name is Liana Graves.”
“You are a replaceable copy.”
Elena looked directly at him.
“That was your greatest mistake.”
“You believed people were interchangeable.”
“You believed a stolen child could become someone else because you changed a name on a page.”
“You believed a mother’s grief would erase her.”
Liana reached the yacht’s second ramp.
Aldo turned his weapon toward her.
May you like
At that moment, Dante cut the yacht’s power.
Darkness fell across Pier Nine.
