Chapter 6 - The SafehouseThe shooting started before Cora understood what was happening.
Dante grabbed her wrist.
"Basement."
"What?"
"Now."
They ran.
Bullets tore through the walls behind them.
Cora stumbled down the stairs.
Dante slammed the basement door.
He leaned against it.
Blood soaked his shoulder.
"You're bleeding."
"I've noticed."
"Sit down."
"We don't have time."
"You'll pass out."
"I've passed out before."
"Not helpful."
Despite everything, he smiled.
It lasted less than a second.
Dante opened a hidden panel behind a shelf.
A tunnel appeared.
Cora stared.
"Your family had a tunnel?"
"Apparently."
They entered.
The door closed behind them.
For several minutes, they walked through darkness.
Cora carried the ledger.
Dante carried his gun.
Neither spoke.
Finally, the tunnel opened into a small concrete room.
Emergency lights flickered on.
A medical kit sat on a steel table.
Cora looked around.
"What is this?"
"One of my father's old safehouses."
Dante removed his jacket.
Cora saw the blood.
"Take off your shirt."
His eyebrow lifted.
"Excuse me?"
"You have a bullet in your shoulder."
"I'll handle it."
"No."
"Cora."
"Sit."
He looked at her.
Something almost amused appeared in his eyes.
"You enjoy giving me orders."
"I enjoyed feeding you more."
He sat.
Cora cleaned the wound.
The bullet had passed through.
She wrapped his shoulder.
Her fingers trembled.
"You're shaking."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"You've been shot twice in forty-eight hours."
"Technically once."
"You were shot before I met you."
"Still counts."
She tied the bandage.
Dante watched her.
"Why did you help me?"
She shrugged.
"You were bleeding."
"Most people would have called the police."
"Most people weren't carrying their last meal."
He looked away.
Cora studied him.
"Why are you protecting me?"
"Because I owe you."
"You can't repay a meal with a penthouse."
"I wasn't talking about money."
Silence.
Then Dante's phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His expression darkened.
"Who?"
"Victor."
Cora stepped closer.
"What does he want?"
Dante read the message.
"Me."
Another message arrived.
Then another.
Dante looked at her.
"He's offering a trade."
"For what?"
"For the ledger."
Cora's stomach dropped.
Dante showed her the screen.
Bring the girl. Come alone.
Cora looked up.
"He wants me."
Dante said nothing.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"You do."
His silence answered her.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Dante stood.
"Your father didn't just keep my father's books."
"What did he do?"
"He discovered who was stealing from us."
"Victor?"
Dante shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Dante looked toward the tunnel.
"My father."
Cora stared.
"Your father?"
"He was laundering money through legitimate businesses. Your father found out."
"And?"
"He threatened to expose him."
"That's why he was killed."
Dante nodded.
Cora felt sick.
"So Victor didn't kill my father?"
"He helped cover it up."
"Who ordered it?"
Dante's voice lowered.
"My father."
She looked at him.
"What happened to him?"
"Dead."
"How?"
"Victor killed him."
Cora took a step back.
"So you want revenge."
"I want the truth."
"Same thing?"
"No."
His eyes met hers.
"Revenge ends when someone dies."
"What does truth do?"
"It changes everything."
The lights suddenly went out.
Cora froze.
Dante raised his gun.
A woman's voice echoed through the room.
"Cora."
She recognized it immediately.
Her mother's voice.
Again.
But this time it wasn't a recording.
It was coming from the tunnel.
Cora's blood ran cold.
Dante grabbed her hand.
"Stay behind me."
The voice came again.
"Cora, baby."
She whispered.
"Mom?"
A figure stepped into the emergency light.
A woman.
Older.
Pale.
Alive.
Cora stopped breathing.
The woman looked at her.
Then at Dante.
And said,
"You have no idea what your father did to my daughter."
Cora's knees nearly gave out.
Because the woman wasn't a stranger.
May you like
She was her mother.
And the last time Cora had seen her was at her funeral.
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