Chapter 6 - The Last Bargain
Dante wanted to go alone.
Ortiz refused.
“She is three years old.”
“I know.”
“If Voss sees police—”
“He already expects police.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know men like him.”
Ortiz stared at Dante.
“So do I.”
The address led to an abandoned construction site outside Austin.
One of Voss’s unfinished developments.
Dante looked at the plans.
Three entrances.
Two unfinished stairwells.
A service tunnel.
Police established a perimeter far enough away to remain unseen.
Dante wore a wire.
Evelyn stopped him before he left.
“You promised Leo.”
Dante looked at her.
“What?”
“That you wouldn't hurt Rebecca.”
“This isn't Rebecca.”
“You know what Michael meant.”
Do it legally.
Do it clean.
Dante nodded.
“I know.”
Leo sat in the back of an ambulance.
His face was pale.
“Bring her back.”
Dante crouched.
“I will.”
“Promise?”
Dante looked into his nephew’s eyes.
“Yes.”
He entered the building alone.
“Sophie!”
A light switched on upstairs.
Voss appeared behind a concrete railing.
He held Sophie.
She was crying.
But she appeared uninjured.
Dante's vision narrowed.
“Put her down.”
“The reports.”
Dante raised the case.
“Here.”
“Bring them upstairs.”
Dante climbed.
Every instinct told him to rush.
He didn't.
Sophie saw him.
“Uncle Dante!”
“I’m here.”
Voss tightened his grip.
“Quiet.”
Dante's expression changed.
“Don't speak to her like that.”
Voss laughed.
“You really became a babysitter.”
“Let her go.”
“First the reports.”
Dante placed the case on the floor.
Voss kicked it toward himself.
He opened it.
Copies.
His face changed.
“You think I'm stupid?”
“No.”
Dante looked directly at him.
“I think you're finished.”
Voss pulled a gun.
Sophie screamed.
Dante froze.
Outside, Ortiz heard everything through the wire.
“Caleb.”
“Where are the originals?”
“Police have them.”
Voss's face twisted.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“You came here knowing I could kill her?”
“No.”
Dante’s voice became quieter.
“I came here knowing you wouldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because she's the only leverage you have left.”
Voss pressed the gun closer.
“You're gambling.”
“I've gambled with worse odds.”
Sophie was sobbing.
Dante never looked away from her.
“Sophie.”
She looked at him.
“Remember the rabbit book?”
Her crying slowed slightly.
“You did the voices wrong.”
Despite everything, Dante almost smiled.
“I did.”
Voss looked between them.
“What are you doing?”
Dante ignored him.
“What did the rabbit do when he was scared?”
Sophie sniffled.
“He got small.”
“That's right.”
Dante watched her.
“Get small.”
Sophie suddenly dropped.
Voss instinctively reached for her.
Dante moved.
A police sniper did not fire.
The angle was unsafe.
Dante slammed Voss’s gun hand against the railing.
The weapon fell.
Voss struck him.
Dante hit back once.
Twice.
Then he stopped.
He could have continued.
Every part of him wanted to.
Michael was dead.
Leo's leg was broken.
Sophie had been kidnapped.
Dante wanted Caleb Voss to feel all of it.
Then he heard Michael’s voice in his head.
Be my brother.
Dante stepped backward.
Voss stared at him, shocked.
Police flooded the floor.
Ortiz forced Voss down and handcuffed him.
Dante did not watch.
He picked up Sophie.
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
“You came.”
“Always.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
Outside, Leo waited.
The moment Sophie saw him, she fought to get down.
Dante placed her carefully on the ground.
She ran.
Leo dropped one crutch and hugged her.
Both children cried.
Dante turned away.
Ortiz stood beside him.
“You could have killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
Dante watched Leo and Sophie.
“Because they were watching.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Good answer.”
The case against Voss grew rapidly.
Murder conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Fraud.
Bribery.
Money laundering.
Construction violations.
Witness intimidation.
Rebecca agreed to cooperate.
Her testimony connected Voss directly to the plan to sabotage Michael’s vehicle.
She admitted that she knew he wanted Michael frightened but claimed she had not known he intended to kill him.
Whether a jury believed her would be decided later.
For Dante, only one issue mattered now.
The children.
A permanent custody hearing approached.
And Dante had a problem.
His reputation.
Prosecutors had never convicted him of organized-crime offenses, but everyone in Austin knew the stories.
Hannah Cole sat across from him.
“If you want permanent guardianship, they're going to examine everything.”
“Let them.”
“Your businesses.”
“Fine.”
“Your associates.”
“Fine.”
“Your home.”
“Fine.”
“Your lifestyle.”
Dante hesitated.
Hannah noticed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The part you don't want to change.”
Dante looked toward the garden.
Leo was learning to walk without crutches.
Sophie followed him carrying a toy medical kit.
Every thirty seconds, she ordered him to stop so she could “check his bones.”
Dante smiled despite himself.
“What do I have to change?”
Hannah answered.
“Anything that could bring danger through that gate again.”
That night, Dante sat alone in his office.
Marco entered.
“You called?”
Dante slid documents across the desk.
Marco read them.
His eyebrows rose.
“You're selling?”
“Everything that isn't legitimate.”
“That's most of the old network.”
“I know.”
“You spent fifteen years building it.”
“I know.”
Marco stared at him.
“For custody?”
Dante looked toward the ceiling.
Upstairs, two children were sleeping.
“No.”
Marco waited.
“For them.”
There was a difference.
Over the next month, Dante dismantled relationships that had defined his adult life.
Some men called him weak.
Some called him foolish.
Some assumed it was temporary.
Dante did not care.
He consolidated his legitimate businesses.
Real estate.
Logistics.
Restaurants.
Security consulting.
For the first time, he discovered how much money could be made without looking over his shoulder.
Then came the custody hearing.
Rebecca appeared by video from detention.
Dante expected opposition.
Instead she asked to speak.
The judge allowed it.
Rebecca looked at Dante through the screen.
Then at Leo and Sophie.
“I failed my children.”
Leo squeezed Dante's hand.
Rebecca continued.
“I was scared. I was selfish. And I hurt them when I should have protected them.”
She cried.
This time Dante believed the tears.
“I don't deserve their forgiveness.”
She looked toward Dante.
“But their uncle protected them when I didn't.”
Dante was stunned.
Rebecca inhaled.
“I support his petition.”
The judge recessed.
Dante took the children into the hallway.
Sophie wanted crackers.
Leo wanted to know what the judge would decide.
“I don't know.”
“What if she says no?”
“We figure something out.”
“Together?”
“Together.”
The courtroom door opened.
A clerk stepped into the hallway.
“Mr. Moretti?”
May you like
Dante stood.
“The judge has reached a decision.”
