Chapter 5 - The Price on Riley Hayes
Dominic wanted Riley nowhere near the Castelli house.
Riley ignored him.
His mother, Elena Castelli, was seventy-one and had nothing to do with the ledger.
That made her useful leverage.
They entered through a service tunnel Daniel Castelli had built during the violent years of Dominic’s childhood.
Riley looked at him in the darkness.
“You grew up with escape tunnels?”
“You grew up knowing how to dislocate a man’s shoulder.”
“My childhood sounds healthier.”
For the first time, Dominic laughed.
It lasted less than a second.
But Riley heard it.
They reached the basement.
No guards.
Too easy.
Dominic knew it too.
Upstairs, they found Elena sitting calmly at the dining table.
Alone.
“Dominic.”
He rushed toward her.
She raised a hand.
“Don’t.”
A wire ran beneath her chair.
Bomb.
Dominic froze.
Riley examined it.
Her father had taught her machinery.
Not explosives.
But she understood pressure.
“Don’t move.”
Elena looked at Riley.
“So you’re Ethan’s girl.”
Riley stared.
“You knew him?”
“Very well.”
Dominic turned.
“Mother.”
Elena’s eyes filled with old regret.
“Your father and Ethan were trying to dismantle Harbor.”
“What is Harbor?”
“A network.”
“For what?”
“People.”
Silence.
Not drugs.
Not money.
People.
Victor had used shipping routes to move undocumented workers, exploited laborers, and vulnerable young women through businesses controlled by Daniel Castelli.
When Daniel discovered it, he wanted out.
Ethan kept records.
Victor killed them both.
Dominic looked physically ill.
His empire had been built partly on foundations he had never understood.
Elena whispered, “Your father was trying to destroy it.”
A timer beneath the chair illuminated.
02:00.
Riley’s heart slammed.
Dominic called Marco.
No answer.
01:31.
Riley studied the mechanism.
One wire ran to the chair.
Another to the door.
“Dominic.”
He looked.
“The door.”
If they opened it, the device triggered.
They needed another exit.
Riley saw the old dumbwaiter shaft.
Too narrow for Dominic.
Large enough for Elena.
They lifted her without releasing pressure from the seat, substituting a heavy marble centerpiece.
The timer continued.
00:38.
Riley pushed Elena into the shaft.
Dominic followed as far as he could.
“Go!”
“What about you?”
“GO!”
He refused.
Riley stared at him.
“You want to protect me? Start by not getting us both killed.”
Something passed through his eyes.
He went.
Riley ran toward the basement stairs.
00:09.
She jumped behind the stone foundation.
The blast tore through the dining room.
Dominic found her beneath dust and shattered plaster.
Alive.
He pulled her against him.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Riley realized his hands were trembling.
Dominic Castelli was afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Tony.
ONE MILLION DOLLARS FOR RILEY HAYES.
Another arrived.
DEAD ONLY.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Then a third message appeared.
May you like
Someone had accepted the contract.
The name on the screen was Marco Bellini...
