Chapter 9 - The Siege of East Market
Piper felt as if all the oxygen had been vacuumed from the room. ""No. That's impossible. Josie is my best friend! We grew up together!""
""People do strange things when they are promised financial freedom, Miss Monroe,"" Luca said, handing a tablet to Dante.
The security footage was unmistakable. Josie, wearing her heavy parka, had walked out the side service door of the club with the leather-bound ledger tucked under her arm, stepping into a black sedan driven by Vance’s remaining enforcers.
""They're heading to the river warehouse on 4th Street,"" Dante said, his voice dropping into that chilling, lethal cadence. ""They need to destroy the shipping manifests before the federal warrants are executed at dawn.""
Piper felt a sickening tear in her chest. Josie had been by her side through Walter’s illness, through the bankruptcy, through every miserable catering shift. Had it all been an act?
""Take me with you,"" Piper said, her voice shaking with righteous fury.
""No,"" Dante refused instantly. ""It's too dangerous. Vance is cornered, and cornered wolves bite indiscriminately.""
""Josie did this because of me!"" Piper cried, stepping directly into his path. ""She knew where the safe was because I pointed it out while we were waiting! I have to look her in the eye and find out the truth. And you need me—I know the layout of that warehouse better than anyone. Monroe Florals leased that exact building for fifteen years!""
Dante stared into her fierce, unyielding green eyes. He knew he couldn't stop her even if he locked her in a room; she would climb out the window.
""Suit up,"" Dante commanded.
Twenty minutes later, a tactical convoy of four black Suburbans surrounded the rusted corrugated-iron warehouse on the edge of the Ohio River. Rain lashed against the metal roof like shrapnel.
Dante’s men breached the side doors with hydraulic rams, flooding the interior with flashlights and laser sights.
Inside, the warehouse was a graveyard of wooden crates and rusted forklift machinery. In the center, under a single hanging work light, stood Marcus Vance, his arm in a sling, surrounded by six armed mercenaries. Beside them stood Josie, clutching the ledger to her chest, her face pale and streaked with tears.
""Drop the weapons, Moretti!"" Vance roared, pulling a revolver with his left hand and pressing it against Josie’s temple. ""One step closer and your little informant gets her brains blown out!""
Piper stepped out from behind Dante’s tactical shield. ""Josie... why?""
Josie sobbed, her knees trembling violently. ""Piper... I'm so sorry! They took my mother! Vance’s men grabbed my mom from her house in Indiana yesterday morning! They said if I didn't bring the book, they'd kill her! I didn't have a choice!""
Piper’s breath hitched. Betrayal turned instantly back into protective fury. She looked at Dante.
Dante gave a microscopic nod.
""Vance,"" Dante called out, his voice echoing through the steel rafters. ""Your mother-in-law and sister are already in federal custody. The Indiana state troopers raided your safehouse forty minutes ago. Josie’s mother is safe in a Louisville hospital right now.""
Vance’s eyes widened with manic terror. ""You're lying!""
""Call the safehouse,"" Dante challenged, his voice dripping with icy calm. ""See who answers.""
Vance hesitated, his gun hand trembling.
That split-second hesitation was all Dante needed.
Dante fired from the hip. The shot struck Vance’s wrist, sending the gun spinning across the concrete floor.
""Down!"" Piper screamed.
Josie dropped to the floor instantly. Gunfire erupted across the warehouse as Dante’s men swept forward with lethal precision, systematically eliminating the mercenaries before they could raise their rifles.
Vance scrambled backward toward the open loading dock over the icy, swirling waters of the Ohio River.
Dante pursued him like an avenging demon. He caught Vance by the collar just before he reached the edge, slamming him into the rusted iron railing with enough force to rattle the entire pier.
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""This is for my father,"" Dante whispered into Vance’s ear.
Dante struck him with a brutal, crushing blow to the jaw, knocking Vance unconscious. Dante tossed him onto the wet concrete like a bag of trash, just as the wailing sirens of federal law enforcement and Louisville Metro Police flooded the perimeter with brilliant red and blue lights.
