Chapter 5 - the vault on fifth avenue
At nine o'clock that morning, two sleek black armored SUVs pulled up to the granite steps of the First National Bank on Fifth Avenue in downtown Chicago.
Dante stepped out first, wearing his dark wool overcoat, his sharp eyes sweeping the street. He turned and helped Giulia and Mia down from the vehicle, flanked by four broad-shouldered security enforcers.
They walked through the grand bronze doors into the subterranean safety deposit vault beneath the bank lobby.
The bank manager bowed respectfully, guiding Dante to Vault 412. Dante inserted the antique iron key he had recovered from Chiara's music box, turning it simultaneously with the manager's master key.
CLACK.
The heavy steel box slid out smoothly from the granite wall.
Dante carried the metal box into a private viewing room, setting it down on the mahogany table. Inside lay three black leather-bound ledgers, a sealed glass bottle containing a clear liquid sample, and a handwritten letter addressed to Dante in Chiara's delicate script.
Dante opened the letter, reading the final lines aloud in a quiet, trembling voice:
"Dante... the clear liquid in this bottle is the compound Valentina's private doctor was slipping into my daily tea. It is a slow-acting nerve toxin that mimics heart failure. I hid this sample so that when I am gone, you will know the truth."
Giulia gasped, tears filling her soft brown eyes as she covered her mouth. "She was being poisoned..."
Dante's jaw set like iron. His dark eyes burned with an icy, terrifying fury. Thirty-six months of grief, confusion, and guilt dissolved into a single, lethal mandate for justice.
Suddenly, the glass door of the private viewing room was kicked open!
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Standing in the doorway was Victor Vance—a ruthless fifty-year-old corporate raider and head of the Sterling Logistics syndicate—flanked by three armed mercenaries holding silenced pistols!
Vance smiled wickedly, adjusting his dark trench coat. "You always were too smart for your own good, Dante. Hand over the box and the bottle."
