Chapter 5 - The Trap Beneath Marino Auto
Gabriel caught Frankie at the elevator.
“You're not going alone.”
“My garage.”
“My problem.”
“My brother.”
Gabriel stepped inside beside her.
“Our problem.”
Frankie looked at him.
There wasn't time to argue.
For once.
---
When they reached Marino Auto, the building appeared empty.
Frankie entered through the side door.
Gabriel followed with Marco and two security men.
“Where?” Gabriel asked.
“Bay three.”
Frankie crossed toward the hydraulic lift.
Her father had installed a narrow service compartment beneath the floor decades earlier.
She removed a steel plate.
Empty.
“No.”
Gabriel crouched.
“Someone already opened it.”
Frankie saw fresh scratches around the lock.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“Frankie?”
She spun.
Leo emerged from the storage room.
“Leo!”
She ran to him.
He looked exhausted but was standing.
Frankie grabbed his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Mostly.”
She hugged him hard.
Then immediately shoved him backward.
“You absolute idiot.”
“I know.”
“You borrowed eighty thousand dollars?”
“I know.”
“You told me three hundred!”
“They told me—”
“I know!”
Leo looked past her.
His face went pale.
“Costa.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Leo.”
Frankie turned.
“Who brought you here?”
“Victor.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know. He left me with two guys. They kept asking where Dad stored original property documents.”
Gabriel looked around.
“Why release you?”
“They didn't. I got out through the parts entrance.”
Frankie exhaled.
Then Leo said something that changed everything.
“They weren't looking for the deed.”
Frankie frowned.
“What?”
“They wanted Dad's ledger.”
Gabriel looked at him sharply.
“What ledger?”
Leo swallowed.
“Dad kept records.”
“Of what?”
“Cars.”
Frankie stared.
“What cars?”
“Years ago, Dad realized some vehicles coming through here belonged to companies connected to Victor. Same cars would show up before warehouse thefts, union payoffs, zoning meetings.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
Leo continued.
“Dad wrote down plates, dates, names.”
Frankie whispered, “Where?”
Leo looked at her.
“You know that Sicilian cookbook Grandma gave him?”
Frankie blinked.
“You're kidding.”
“No.”
She ran into the office.
The battered cookbook had sat untouched on the highest shelf for years.
Frankie opened it.
The center had been hollowed out.
Inside was a black notebook.
Gabriel stood behind her.
Frankie opened the first page.
Dates.
License plates.
Payments.
Names.
Then Gabriel pointed at one entry.
Victor Salerno.
Beside his name were records spanning nearly a decade.
Frankie looked at Gabriel.
“This destroys him.”
“It destroys more than him.”
“Good.”
Gabriel's phone rang.
Marco answered.
His expression changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Victor's gone.”
Gabriel stared at Frankie.
“No,” Frankie said.
Gabriel understood immediately.
“He's not running.”
Frankie closed the notebook.
“He's coming here.”
A vehicle stopped outside.
Then another.
Gabriel calmly removed his suit jacket.
“Take Leo into the office.”
Frankie didn't move.
“Frankie.”
She looked at him.
“You are not telling me to hide in my own garage.”
“This isn't about pride.”
“Exactly.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Then, unexpectedly, he nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
Frankie picked up her wrench.
“No promises.”
Despite everything, Gabriel smiled.
“Soulless dead octopus.”
Frankie glanced at him.
“You remembered.”
May you like
“Every word.”
---
