Chapter 25 - The Underworld Catacombs
At midnight, Pier 4 was shrouded in a dense, freezing mist rising off Lake Michigan. The abandoned municipal pump house groaned under the weight of howling autumn winds. Inside the damp subterranean chamber, water dripped rhythmically from rusted iron pipes into concrete drainage pits. Julian Vance waited in the shadows alongside four heavily armed mercenaries, his face twisted in smug arrogance.
Luca stepped through the rusted bulkhead door completely alone, his black overcoat unbuttoned to show he carried no concealed firearms. In his right hand, he carried a heavy, weathered metal lockbox stamped with the crest of the Chicago Department of Water and Sewers. Julian stepped forward, his revolver aimed directly at Luca’s chest. “The great Luca Moretti, reduced to running errands in the sewer for an ER nurse. Give me the key and the server credentials, or your little girl pays the price.”
Luca calmly rested the lockbox on an iron valve casing. “There are no offshore accounts here, Julian. Your brother ruined his own career through gambling debts, and you chased a phantom down into the mud. What’s inside that box is nothing more than municipal iron.” Julian sneered, snatching the container and prying the latch open. The moment the seal broke, an automated distress beacon flared with an ear-splitting electronic tone, triggering industrial high-pressure water valves overhead and dousing the chamber in a blinding torrent of cold river water. Simultaneously, high-intensity federal floodlights exploded to life from the gantry above.
