Chapter 5 - Rosa's Real Inheritance
Laney reached for the phone.
"Let me talk to her."
Gil ignored her.
"Midnight. Pier nineteen."
Enzo's voice stayed level.
"If she's hurt—"
"Your threats are getting repetitive."
The line disconnected.
Laney was already moving.
"We're going."
"No."
She turned.
"Excuse me?"
"You're staying here."
"That's my sister."
"And that's exactly why you're not thinking clearly."
Laney slapped him.
Micah froze.
Enzo didn't move.
Her hand trembled.
"You don't get to lock me in a room because you're scared."
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"And I'm trying to keep Juny alive."
Enzo stared at her.
Laney's eyes filled.
"Don't become the kind of man your mother warned you about."
That landed.
Enzo exhaled.
"Fine."
They made a plan.
The original amendment stayed protected.
Micah created a convincing copy.
Enzo contacted two men he trusted outside the family.
Laney insisted on coming.
At 11:58, they reached Pier Nineteen.
Gil stood beneath a warehouse light.
Juny sat in a chair nearby.
Her hands weren't tied.
That was somehow more insulting.
Gil apparently considered blindness sufficient restraint.
Juny heard footsteps.
"Laney?"
"I'm here."
"I'm fine."
Gil smiled.
"Touching."
Enzo held up the envelope.
"Let her go."
"First the amendment."
"You know what it says."
"I know what Rosa wanted it to say."
Enzo studied him.
"What happened to her?"
Gil's smile faded.
"Careful."
"You sabotaged her car?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Laney noticed.
So did Enzo.
"Then who did?"
Gil's eyes shifted.
There.
A fraction.
Toward the warehouse office.
Enzo understood.
They weren't alone.
Gunfire shattered the light.
Everything happened at once.
Enzo pulled Laney behind a concrete barrier.
Micah moved toward Juny.
Gil shouted something.
Another shot struck metal.
Laney crawled toward her sister.
"Juny!"
"I hear you!"
"Stay down!"
"I'm blind, not stupid!"
Even then, Laney almost laughed.
Micah reached Juny.
Enzo's men entered from the far side.
The ambush collapsed quickly.
Gil tried to run.
Enzo caught him.
He slammed him against a shipping container.
"Who killed my mother?"
Gil laughed breathlessly.
"You still think this is about me."
"Name."
"Your father."
Enzo stopped.
Laney stared.
Enzo's father, Dominic Castellan, had died six years earlier.
Gil smiled.
"Rosa was going to dismantle everything. The waterfront operation. The laundering. The political payments. She wanted legitimacy."
Enzo's face emptied.
"Dominic couldn't allow it."
"And you helped."
"I handled the aftermath."
Gil's expression became bitter.
"Your father ordered the car sabotaged. I cleaned the records. Then I realized Rosa's trust could make me very rich."
Enzo tightened his grip.
Laney touched his arm.
"Enzo."
Gil smirked.
"Go ahead."
He wanted Enzo to kill him.
No trial.
No testimony.
No recovery of stolen money.
No names.
Just another Castellan solving pain with violence.
Enzo released him.
Gil looked surprised.
"My mother said not to confuse fear with respect."
Police sirens approached.
Gil's expression finally cracked.
"You called cops?"
"Not exactly."
Federal investigators stepped from vehicles behind them.
For weeks, Micah had quietly delivered financial evidence to authorities.
Gil had just confessed while wearing a microphone.
Laney stared at Enzo.
"You planned that?"
"Most of it."
"Most?"
"I didn't plan getting shot at."
Juny raised a hand.
"Could someone please mention where everybody is? This scene is visually confusing."
Laney ran to her.
She wrapped both arms around Juny.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For bringing you into this."
Juny held her face.
"You didn't."
Then Juny smiled.
"Also, your scary boyfriend sounds nicer than I expected."
"He's not my boyfriend."
From several feet away, Enzo said:
"That's disappointing."
Laney stared at him.
Juny laughed.
But the victory wasn't complete.
Gil had revealed one more thing.
Rosa's trust had been drained heavily.
Recovering it could take years.
And the restaurant Enzo owned had originally belonged to Rosa's community program.
Legally, under the amendment, Enzo might not own it at all.
Laney looked at him.
"What happens now?"
May you like
Enzo stared toward the river.
"Now we find out what my mother actually wanted."
