Chapter 10 - THE SAFEHOUSE RECKONING
The safehouse was an isolated stone cabin surrounded by dense pine trees.
The rain had turned to heavy mist.
Dante killed the engine and stepped out into the mud.
I followed him, holding the ledger tightly.
"Are we safe here?" I asked.
"For a few hours," Dante said, unlocking the heavy oak door.
Inside, the cabin was rustic, warm, and filled with old memories.
Photographs lined the stone fireplace.
I saw a picture of a younger Salvatore holding a baby girl.
My mother.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
"She died when you were three," Dante said softly, walking up behind me.
"Moretti's men?"
"Moretti's men," Dante confirmed.
"That's why Pietro took you. To hide you in plain sight."
I traced the edge of the photograph.
"And now they found us because of me."
"No," Dante said firmly.
"They found us because my father died. The protection ended."
"So what do we do now?"
"We finish it."
Dante walked over to a metal crate and opened it.
He pulled out two assault rifles and extra magazines.
He tossed one to me.
"Can you handle a rifle?"
"My grandfather taught me everything."
A sudden crunch of gravel echoed outside.
Headlights cut through the cabin windows.
They had found us.
"Take positions!" Dante barked.
The front door exploded inward in a shower of splintered wood.
Smoke and gunfire filled the room.
I dropped behind the heavy oak dining table.
I raised my rifle.
A masked man stepped through the doorway.
I squeezed the trigger.
He dropped instantly.
"Moretti's clean-up crew!" Dante shouted, firing rapid rounds toward the entrance.
The gunfight was deafening.
Bullets chewed through the wooden walls.
Glass shattered from the windows.
We were outnumbered three to one.
"Dante, there's too many!" I yelled.
"Hold your ground!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from outside the doorway.
"Well, well, well," a cold voice sneered.
Vincent Moretti stepped into the smoke-filled doorway.
May you like
He held a silver-plated pistol aimed right at Dante.
"Drop your weapons, Gallo. Or the girl dies."
