Chapter 9 - betrayal in the dark
The elevator doors opened onto the cold, concrete floor of the subterranean vault level.
Gabriel stepped out into the dim blue night-lights, guiding Hannah and Grace into the central vault room. The space was enclosed by six-inch-thick steel walls, filled with safety deposit boxes, antique family weapons, and luxury asset crates.
Gabriel set Grace down inside a padded leather cradle kept in the corner for emergency lockdowns. He turned to Hannah, taking her hands in his.
"You stay inside this vault," Gabriel commanded gently. "I'm locking the steel door from the outside."
"No, Gabriel!" Hannah pleaded, clutching his forearms. "Stay here with us! The vault is safe!"
"Vincent is inside my home," Gabriel said, his gray-blue eyes filled with fierce resolve. "He murdered my brother, and he came for my niece. If I don't finish this tonight, we will be running for the rest of our lives."
He leaned down, pressing his lips gently against her forehead, then looked at Grace, gently touching the baby's soft cheek.
"Protect her," Gabriel whispered.
He stepped outside the heavy vault door, set the master biometric lock, and watched as the two-ton steel door swung shut with a heavy pneumatic hiss.
Gabriel turned around, raising his heavy custom pistol, and walked down the long, concrete corridor toward the service stairs.
As he reached the foot of the staircase, a shadow stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
Marco stood there, holding a tactical shotgun, his face pale under the fluorescent lights.
"Marco," Gabriel said, stopping five feet away. "Is the perimeter team ready?"
Marco didn't raise his shotgun, but he didn't lower it either. His eyes darted to the side as two more figures stepped out of the shadows behind him.
It was Vincent Romano, holding a bloody bandage against his silver hair, flanked by his lead mercenary.
Gabriel froze, his eyes narrowing into dark slits as he looked at his chief security officer.
"Marco," Gabriel said softly. "Not you."
Marco swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly. "I'm sorry, Don Gabriel. Vincent offered me three million dollars from the Cayman account. I have a family in Florida..."
"You sold your Don for three million dollars?" Gabriel asked, his voice dropping to a deadly, calm register.
"He sold you because you got soft over a maid and a bastard child!" Vincent sneered, stepping past Marco with a heavy revolver in his hand. "Open the vault door, Gabriel. Give me the thumbprint scan, or Marco puts a slug through your knee."
Gabriel looked at Marco, then looked at Vincent. His expression remained completely unreadable, terrifyingly composed.
"You made a mistake, Vincent," Gabriel said softly.
Vincent chuckled bitterly. "What mistake?"
"You forgot that I built the subterranean security grid myself," Gabriel said.
Gabriel pressed his thumb against the luxury wristwatch on his left wrist.
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Instantly, the concrete floor beneath Marco and the lead mercenary collapsed downward into an eight-foot drainage pit! The two men crashed hard into the iron grating below, dropping their weapons with loud metallic clatters.
Before Vincent could raise his revolver, Gabriel lunged forward like a panther.
