Chapter 5 - Warehouse Seventeen
Mateo watched the video again.
His uncle stood beside Charles.
That could mean betrayal.
Or captivity.
The image revealed too little.
Harper studied Vittorio’s posture.
“Pause.”
Mateo did.
“Look at his hands.”
Vittorio’s wrists were positioned strangely behind him.
“He’s restrained,” Harper said.
Mateo enlarged the image.
She was right.
Charles had both men.
They arrived near Warehouse Seventeen forty minutes later.
Mateo entered through the tunnel with two trusted guards.
Harper and Evelyn remained in a surveillance van.
At least, that was the plan.
Then the video feed disappeared.
Harper waited thirty seconds.
One minute.
Two.
Nothing.
“I’m going in.”
Evelyn grabbed her arm.
“Harper.”
“Mateo has no communication.”
“You’re eight months pregnant.”
“So everyone keeps reminding me.”
Harper took a second radio and entered the tunnel.
The warehouse smelled of rust and oil.
She moved carefully.
Voices echoed ahead.
Charles.
Mateo.
Harper approached a metal staircase.
Below, Liam and Vittorio were tied to chairs.
Mateo stood opposite Charles.
Several armed men surrounded them.
“You should have stayed gone,” Charles told Mateo.
“You should have retired.”
Charles smiled.
“I built what you inherited.”
“You stole what my father built.”
“Your father was sentimental.”
“And you killed him.”
Charles’s smile disappeared.
Harper quietly activated the recorder on her phone.
Charles stepped closer.
“Salvatore forced my hand.”
There.
An admission.
Not enough.
Mateo understood what Harper would want.
He kept Charles talking.
“And Harper?”
“An accountant who became inconvenient.”
“You framed her.”
“Simon did.”
“On your orders.”
Charles smiled.
“Of course.”
Another admission.
Harper’s heart pounded.
“And the men in the records room?”
“They were supposed to solve the problem.”
Mateo’s hands curled into fists.
“You ordered her killed.”
“Yes.”
Charles shrugged.
“She was never supposed to escape.”
Harper had enough.
She transmitted the recording automatically to three encrypted servers.
Then her phone vibrated.
The tiny sound seemed enormous.
One of Charles’s men looked upward.
“Someone’s here.”
Harper ran.
Footsteps followed.
She reached the tunnel entrance.
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
Harper screamed.
Then the man behind her dropped.
Evelyn stood there holding a metal pipe.
“Move!”
They ran.
Inside the warehouse, chaos erupted.
Mateo disarmed one guard.
Liam kicked another despite his restraints.
Vittorio threw himself sideways, knocking his chair into a gunman.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Harper had transmitted the recording to a federal contact listed in Evelyn’s files.
Charles heard the sirens.
His face changed.
He ran.
Mateo followed.
They emerged into the loading yard.
Charles climbed into a sedan.
Mateo reached it before the door closed.
They struggled.
Charles pulled a gun.
Harper appeared at the warehouse entrance.
“Mateo!”
Charles turned toward her.
The gun followed.
Mateo saw it.
He slammed Charles’s wrist against the car.
The weapon fell.
Liam, newly freed, tackled Charles.
Within seconds, Charles was on the ground.
Sirens surrounded them.
Federal vehicles flooded the yard.
Harper finally breathed.
Mateo came toward her.
His face was furious.
“You came inside.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
“I specifically told you—”
Harper suddenly doubled over.
Mateo’s anger vanished.
“Harper?”
She gripped his arm.
A warm sensation spread down her legs.
She looked down.
“Oh.”
Mateo looked too.
His face went white.
“What?”
“My water broke.”
Mateo Falcone, a man who had just faced armed killers without hesitation, panicked completely.
“Now?”
Harper almost laughed.
“Apparently the baby didn’t consult your schedule.”
He lifted her into his arms.
“Hospital.”
“Mateo, put me down.”
“No.”
“I can walk.”
“No.”
“Mateo.”
“No.”
Harper gave up.
Federal agents stared as one of Chicago’s most feared men carried a pregnant woman through a crime scene while demanding somebody find the fastest route to a hospital.
The contractions began in the car.
Mateo held her hand.
She nearly broke his fingers.
“Jesus, Harper.”
“You did this.”
His eyes widened.
Liam, driving, laughed.
“Not one word,” Mateo warned.
They reached the hospital.
Harper was rushed upstairs.
Mateo followed until a nurse stopped him.
“Family?”
Mateo looked at Harper.
The question hung between them.
Harper answered.
“He’s the father.”
Mateo’s expression softened.
The nurse waved him through.
Hours passed.
Labor intensified.
Evelyn arrived.
Then Vittorio.
Liam remained outside.
Mateo never left Harper.
At one point, exhausted and frightened, she looked at him.
“I’m scared.”
He kissed her forehead.
“So am I.”
“You don’t look scared.”
“I’ve spent my life learning not to.”
Another contraction came.
Harper screamed.
Mateo held her hand.
“I’m here.”
And he stayed.
At 4:17 a.m., their daughter was born.
Seven pounds, three ounces.
Dark hair.
Healthy lungs.
Mateo cried before Harper did.
The nurse placed the baby against Harper’s chest.
Mateo stared at his daughter as though he had discovered something sacred.
“Do you want to hold her?”
He hesitated.
Harper smiled weakly.
“You’re terrified.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She guided the baby into his arms.
Mateo looked down.
His daughter opened her eyes.
Something inside him broke open.
“Hello,” he whispered.
Harper watched tears move down his face.
“What do we call her?”
Mateo looked at Harper.
“You choose.”
Harper thought about everything they had survived.
“Grace.”
Mateo smiled.
“Grace Falcone?”
Harper raised an eyebrow.
“We’re negotiating surnames already?”
He laughed quietly.
For several minutes, the world became small.
Harper.
Mateo.
Grace.
Then someone knocked.
Liam entered.
His expression told Harper immediately that something was wrong.
Mateo handed Grace carefully back to Harper.
“What happened?”
“Charles is in custody.”
“That sounds good.”
“It is.”
“But?”
Liam held up an evidence bag.
Inside was a second silver drive.
“We found this sewn inside Charles Vane’s jacket.”
Harper stared.
Another F-17 marking.
“What’s on it?”
“We don’t know.”
Mateo took it.
Liam hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Charles said the drive proves Simon wasn’t the only person inside your organization working for him.”
Mateo’s face hardened.
“Who?”
May you like
Liam looked toward Harper.
“He gave us a name.”
