Chapter 24
Enzo gasped for air, his heels dangling inches above the red-stained concrete, his face pale and contorted with agony. The arrogance that had fueled his five-year crusade dissolved completely under the cold void of Ryan’s stare.
"Who pulled the trigger on Maria?" Ryan demanded, his gun barrel pressed hard into the soft hollow beneath Enzo’s jaw.
"It was Marcus!" Enzo wheezed, blood flecking his lips. "I swear on my mother’s soul! I only funded the operation! Marcus found her in upstate New York. He resented you for turning legit, for marrying Emily, for having Lily. He said you were growing weak! He wanted a war between you and me so he could take over the commission!"
"And Sarah?" Ryan’s grip tightened, the steel beam groaning under the pressure. "Why put her in the wall?"
"Marcus's idea... all Marcus," Enzo sobbed, the terror breaking his voice. "He said killing the kid was too merciful. He wanted you to live in luxury while your own blood starved two inches from your bed. He wanted to break your mind before he put a bullet in your head."
"Where are her things?" Ryan asked, his knuckles white. "What did Marcus take from that house?"
"The floor safe... behind the desk in the dockmaster's office," Enzo pleaded, tears cutting trails through the soot on his cheeks. "Everything Maria had left. The papers, the letters. It's all there. Just let me walk, Ryan. Exile me. I'll never return to the States."
Ryan looked at the man who had ordered his child branded like cattle. "You should have stayed in the grave five years ago, Enzo."
A single, suppressed shot echoed through the warehouse. Ryan let the body drop to the concrete, turning his back without another glance.
Victor stepped into the dockmaster’s office, using a hydraulic pry bar to rip open the small floor safe. He emerged moments later carrying a battered oak box tied with a frayed leather cord. He handed it to Ryan with solemn reverence.
Ryan’s hands, steady throughout the firefight, trembled slightly as he lifted the lid. Inside lay a worn silver bracelet bearing Sarah’s birthdate, a small stack of photographs, and a sealed parchment envelope addressed to him in Maria’s unmistakable cursive script.
He unfolded the letter, reading under the harsh beam of his tactical flashlight:
Ryan,
May you like
If this reaches you, it means the shadows caught up to me. I took Sarah eight years ago because I wanted to save her from the violence that defined your life. But every day she grew, I saw your heart in her—your courage, your fierce loyalty. I showed her your picture every night. I told her that her daddy was the strongest man in the world, and that if anything ever happened to me, you would move mountains to keep her safe. Do not let vengeance consume you, my love. Be the father she deserves.
Ryan pressed the paper to his chest, closing his eyes as a single, searing tear tracked down his weathered cheek. The debt was settled in Chicago. But the reckoning was far from over.
