Chapter 5 - A Trap Built from Broken Glass
The abandoned hotel stood beside the river like a rotting monument.
Its windows were boarded.
Its ballroom had once hosted weddings and political dinners. Now dust covered the floor, and rain leaked through the ceiling.
Dominic wore a recording device beneath his shirt.
“You promised protection,” he whispered.
Sarah adjusted his collar.
“I promised a chance.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Vincent wore a dark suit without a tie.
Paul waited in a van two blocks away with federal agents.
Marcus monitored the cameras Sarah had hidden inside the ballroom.
Sarah wore black trousers and a fitted jacket. A thin communication wire ran beneath her hair.
Vincent watched her check the exits.
“You look more comfortable here than carrying plates.”
“I was terrible at carrying plates.”
“You dropped one fork.”
“I dropped six.”
Vincent raised an eyebrow.
“Some were intentional.”
“Why?”
“To make people underestimate me.”
“It worked.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You made me cry.”
“You were acting.”
“Not entirely.”
Vincent’s expression tightened.
“I was cruel.”
“You were.”
“I apologize.”
She studied him.
“You don’t do that often, do you?”
“No.”
“It needs practice.”
Dominic muttered, “Are you two finished?”
Headlights appeared outside.
Three black vehicles entered the hotel courtyard.
Anthony Bellini arrived with eight armed men.
Roman Keller walked behind him.
Roman wore no tactical vest this time.
Only a dark shirt, black gloves, and a calm expression.
He saw Sarah immediately.
“I hoped you would come.”
Sarah stepped beside Vincent.
“I knew you would.”
Bellini smiled at Vincent.
“Old friend.”
“You sent a large man through my restaurant doors,” Vincent replied. “That is not how friends make appointments.”
Bellini opened his arms.
“You stopped returning calls.”
Dominic walked toward him.
“It’s done. He’ll surrender the ports.”
Bellini looked at Vincent.
“Is that true?”
Vincent nodded.
“The ports, the warehouses, and three clubs.”
Bellini smiled.
“In exchange?”
“My daughter remains untouched. My men keep their lives.”
Bellini laughed.
“You’re asking for mercy.”
“I’m offering profit.”
Bellini approached.
“You had your time, Vincent. Thirty years at the top. But men like us do not retire. We are removed.”
Vincent looked at Dominic.
“You hear that?”
Dominic’s face changed.
Bellini followed Vincent’s gaze.
“What?”
Sarah saw his suspicion.
“Dominic,” Bellini said slowly, “open your shirt.”
Dominic stepped backward.
Roman moved first.
He grabbed Dominic and tore open his shirt.
The wire blinked beneath the fabric.
Bellini’s smile disappeared.
“You brought the government here?”
Dominic panicked.
“They forced me!”
Bellini pulled a gun.
Sarah kicked a broken chair into his knees.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Vincent shoved Dominic behind a pillar.
Bellini’s men reached for their weapons.
The ballroom lights went out.
Sarah had planned for that moment.
She seized Vincent’s arm.
“Left side!”
They moved behind the stage as gunfire erupted.
Federal agents were still too far away.
Roman appeared through the darkness.
He struck Vincent across the chest and sent him into a wall.
Sarah intercepted the next blow.
Roman grabbed her wrist.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
“You should have stayed retired.”
He twisted her arm.
She drove her forehead into his nose.
Roman released her.
Vincent reached for Bellini’s fallen gun.
Sarah kicked it away.
“No executions!”
“He is shooting at us!”
“Then try not to stand still.”
Vincent almost laughed despite the danger.
Across the ballroom, Bellini shouted, “Kill Caruso!”
Roman advanced on Sarah.
“You know what happened in Prague,” he said.
“Dominic told me what you know.”
“He didn’t tell you everything.”
Sarah circled him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Elias Novak survived the first ambush.”
She froze.
Roman struck her in the ribs.
Sarah hit the floor.
Vincent charged Roman, but the larger man threw him aside.
Roman looked down at Sarah.
“Novak was alive when your unit evacuated.”
“You’re lying.”
“He was moved to another location. Your own superiors decided he was more useful as a dead martyr than a living witness.”
Sarah struggled to stand.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because the same people who betrayed him hired me to kill Caruso.”
Vincent wiped blood from his mouth.
“Bellini?”
Roman shook his head.
“Bellini is a buyer. Not the architect.”
A gunshot cracked.
Roman staggered.
Bellini had fired into his shoulder.
“Stop talking!” Bellini shouted.
Roman turned slowly.
Bellini aimed again.
“You were paid to kill Caruso.”
“You were paid to deliver the ports,” Roman said. “You never asked why.”
Bellini fired.
Sarah tackled Roman behind a pillar.
The bullet struck the wall.
Roman stared at her.
“You saved me.”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
Sirens approached outside.
Bellini’s men began to retreat.
Vincent blocked Bellini near the ballroom entrance.
Bellini raised his weapon.
Vincent was faster.
He picked up a piece of broken wood and knocked the gun away.
Bellini fell.
Vincent stood over him.
“You killed my men. You turned my oldest friend against me. You threatened my daughter.”
Bellini spat blood.
“Do it.”
Vincent looked at the pistol on the floor.
Sarah watched from across the room.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Vincent stepped away.
“No.”
Bellini stared at him.
Vincent said, “You don’t get a quick death. You get a courtroom.”
Federal agents stormed through the doors.
Bellini was handcuffed.
Dominic surrendered.
Roman sat against a pillar, bleeding from the shoulder.
An agent raised his rifle toward him.
Sarah moved between them.
“He has information.”
The agent shouted, “Move!”
“He knows who organized the Prague betrayal.”
Roman looked up at her.
May you like
“You still believe in justice?”
“No,” Sarah said. “But I believe in answers.”
