I waited until the sound completely faded before I stood and moved to the food tray. The water was room temperature. The bowl contained some kind of stew, thick and unidentifiable. I ate it anyway. I'd need the calories.
Then I returned to my position against the wall and waited.
I'd failed to confront Lorenzo on my own terms. Got caught before I even got close.
But I knew where he was now. I'd counted guard rotations, memorized the sounds of this place, understood his security. The burner phone was still hidden in my jacket—they'd been sloppy in their search, too confident.
When I got out of here, I'd have everything Dante needed to finish this.
Not a victory. But not a total failure either.
The footsteps eventually came back. Multiple sets this time. The guard wasn't alone anymore.
The door slot opened.
A hand held a phone toward the opening, screen glowing.
"Your husband sent a message," the guard said. His voice was rough, tobacco-scarred. "Said if we hurt you, he'd burn this entire city down. Said he'd find us. Said he'd make it slow."
I didn't move. I let him talk.
"Then he said something else." The guard leaned closer to the slot, and I could see his eye through the opening. "He said you'd probably already figured out how to escape. Said you were dangerous enough that we should consider letting you go before you decided we were threats that needed eliminating."
My chest went tight.
"Question is," the guard continued, "is he right?"
I moved into the light where he could see me through the slot. I made sure he could see the raw places on my wrists where the zip ties had cut. I made sure he could see my eyes—calm, calculating, and absolutely certain.
"He's right," I said softly.
The guard was quiet for a long moment.
Then he reached for the lock.
CHAPTER 21
Dante
The coordinates Julietta sent narrowed it down: Section Seven of the Red Hook warehouse district. I'd known the general area—had tracked her GPS to Brooklyn waterfront, had my men sweeping the zone. But this gave me the exact building. The specific location where Lorenzo thought he had her trapped.
I'd spent six hours analyzing them. Six hours positioning my forces, calculating approach vectors, identifying every possible trap Lorenzo could have set. Six hours pretending I had a choice in this.
I didn't.
The moment she'd sent that message—Don't accept his terms. I have his location. Meet me at coordinates I'm sending now. Come alone—the decision had been made.
She wasn't asking for rescue. She was telling me where the war would happen.
And I was walking straight into it.
The phone in my other hand was already ringing. Vince picked up on the first ring.
"I need everyone," I said. "Every soldier. Every asset. Now."
"Dante, what—" Vince started.
"The Altieri compound. Red Hook warehouses. She's there." I was already moving, already heading toward the garage. "Full tactical response. I don't care if we have to level the entire district."
