Chapter 3 - What Diesel Remembered
Sofia's backpack contained nothing mysterious.
At least not at first glance.
Two pencils.
A purple notebook.
A half-eaten granola bar.
A stuffed rabbit.
A water bottle.
And an old brass key.
Vincent held it up.
"Where did you get this?"
Sofia looked confused.
"Grandpa gave it to me."
Every head turned toward Arturo.
"I did not."
"Yes, you did."
"When?"
"At Christmas."
Arturo frowned.
Then his expression changed.
"Your music box."
Sofia nodded.
Elena stared at her father.
"What music box?"
"The wooden one Gabriel left."
Vincent crouched beside Diesel.
The bulldog sniffed the key.
Immediately, his body became alert.
"He recognizes it."
Arturo whispered, "Gabriel kept keys like that at the old house."
"What old house?"
"A property outside the city."
Vincent stood.
"We're going."
Elena shook her head.
"No. Sofia isn't going anywhere."
"Neither are you."
"Excuse me?"
"If somebody followed you here, you're staying where my security can protect you."
"I don't need—"
A sharp crack interrupted her.
Glass shattered.
Vincent moved before anyone understood what had happened.
He pulled Elena and Sofia to the floor.
Diesel threw himself across Sofia.
Guards rushed into the room.
A bullet had struck the kitchen window.
The peaceful afternoon was over.
Vincent's voice changed completely.
"Lock the estate."
Within minutes, steel gates closed.
Security teams spread across the grounds.
Sofia remained beneath Diesel.
The bulldog had positioned his enormous body over her without being commanded.
Vincent noticed.
So did Elena.
For the first time, she touched Diesel.
Her trembling fingers rested against his shoulder.
"Thank you."
Diesel looked at her.
Then back at Sofia.
Vincent made the decision.
They would leave through the underground garage.
The old property was the only lead.
Arturo knew the location.
Vincent trusted very few people, so only Marco came with them.
Diesel refused to stay behind.
The drive took forty minutes.
Sofia sat between Elena and Arturo.
Diesel lay at their feet.
Vincent watched them through the mirror.
A dangerous dog.
A frightened mother.
An old man carrying seven years of guilt.
And a little girl who somehow sat at the center of everything.
The abandoned property stood beyond an overgrown road.
The house had deteriorated badly.
Windows were boarded.
The porch sagged.
But Diesel recognized it.
The moment the vehicle stopped, he began whining.
Vincent attached the leash.
Diesel pulled toward the house.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Sofia stayed close to her mother.
Diesel led them through the kitchen.
Down a corridor.
Then stopped before a basement door.
The brass key fit.
Vincent opened it.
Cold air rose from below.
They descended.
Diesel went directly toward the far wall.
He scratched.
Marco examined the bricks.
"There's something behind here."
They removed several loose bricks.
Behind them was a metal box.
Elena stared.
Vincent opened it.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
A flash drive.
And a letter.
Elena recognized the handwriting.
Gabriel.
Her hands shook as she unfolded it.
The letter wasn't addressed to Elena.
It was addressed to Sofia.
My little star,
If you're old enough to read this, then I wasn't able to come home.
Elena began crying.
Sofia reached for her hand.
Gabriel explained that he had discovered dangerous information.
He wrote that he had tried to protect his family.
He wrote about Diesel.
Dee knows you. He loved you from the first day you pulled his ears and laughed when he licked your face.
Sofia smiled through tears.
Then came the final paragraph.
The documents in this box are not everything.
The real ledger is somewhere safer.
If Arturo kept his promise, Sofia still has the only object that can open it.
Elena stopped.
Vincent looked toward Arturo.
"What object?"
Arturo whispered:
"The music box."
Elena's eyes narrowed.
"Where is it?"
"Your house."
Then footsteps sounded upstairs.
Marco raised his weapon.
Vincent killed the basement light.
Diesel growled.
Someone had followed them.
Vincent motioned for everyone to stay behind him.
A floorboard creaked.
Then another.
Diesel's growl deepened.
Sofia touched his back.
"Quiet, Dee."
Instantly, the dog became silent.
Vincent looked at her in astonishment.
Three armed men descended.
What followed lasted seconds.
Marco tackled the first.
Vincent struck the second.
Diesel launched himself toward the third—not biting, but slamming his full weight into the man's chest and knocking him down.
They escaped through an old cellar exit.
Back in the vehicle, Vincent looked at the recovered documents.
There was enough evidence to expose powerful people.
But apparently the most important evidence remained hidden.
At Elena's house.
Inside Sofia's music box.
Elena looked toward Vincent.
"Someone knows."
"Yes."
"They'll go to my house."
"Yes."
"My neighbors—"
"I'll handle it."
She studied him.
For years, Elena had remembered Vincent Romano as a dangerous man.
Now he had thrown himself between a bullet and her daughter.
Nothing felt simple anymore.
Vincent called his security team.
Then Marco interrupted.
"Boss."
"What?"
Marco had been examining one of Gabriel's photographs.
He handed it forward.
Vincent looked.
The photograph showed Gabriel.
Arturo.
And another man.
Vincent recognized him immediately.
His own uncle, Dominic Romano.
Vincent stared at Arturo.
"You said Gabriel worked for another organization."
"He did."
"Then why is my uncle in this photograph?"
Arturo closed his eyes.
Because the secret they had uncovered wasn't outside Vincent's family.
May you like
It had been sitting at his dinner table for years.
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