Chapter 11 - The Boathouse
Rain began at eleven thirty.
By midnight, the Rinaldi estate had disappeared behind sheets of water.
The old boathouse sat beyond the eastern gardens beside a narrow inlet.
Dean chose it because the security cameras had been disconnected months earlier.
He believed no one knew.
Luca knew.
Luca had not answered Massimo because he had been tracking the vehicle used to move Nina across the estate.
The child had never left the property.
Dean could not risk the gates.
That was his mistake.
Massimo approached the boathouse in the wheelchair.
The cane was hidden beneath the blanket across his knees.
A red ledger sat in his lap.
Carla remained with Luca fifty yards away.
She hated the plan.
Massimo hated it too.
But Dean expected desperation.
So Massimo gave him desperation.
The boathouse door opened.
Dean stood inside.
Nina sat on a chair behind him.
She was frightened but unharmed.
The moment she saw Massimo, her eyes widened.
“Uncle!”
Dean looked down at her.
“Quiet.”
Massimo’s hands tightened.
“Let her go.”
“Ledger first.”
Massimo rolled inside.
Rain hammered the roof.
Dean closed the door.
“Put it on the table.”
Massimo did.
Dean grabbed it.
Opened several pages.
Relief appeared on his face.
For the first time in days.
“You always kept records.”
Massimo said.
“Your father taught me.”
“My father taught you loyalty.”
Dean’s smile disappeared.
“Your father taught me that men like me build empires for men like you.”
There it was.
Twelve years of resentment.
Dean stepped closer.
“I took the risks.”
“I knew the ports.”
“I knew the crews.”
“I knew who was stealing.”
“I knew who was talking.”
“And every room I entered, they called me your right hand.”
“Never Dean.”
“Massimo’s man.”
“Massimo’s shadow.”
Massimo watched him.
“So you sold me.”
“I liberated myself.”
“You arranged Brooklyn Avenue.”
Dean’s jaw tightened.
“Camille arranged Brooklyn Avenue.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
Dean walked toward the window.
“She came to me with the money.”
“I gave her the route.”
“I thought you were supposed to die.”
“Then you survived.”
Massimo looked toward Nina.
“And you became a hero.”
Dean smiled.
“That part was mine.”
“You had yourself shot.”
“Two clean wounds.”
“Painful.”
“But survivable.”
“The whole city thought I took bullets for you.”
Dean laughed bitterly.
“For once, I wasn’t your shadow.”
Massimo stared at the man he had once called brother.
“What about the medication?”
“That was Camille.”
“Hale?”
“Camille.”
“The trust?”
“Camille.”
“And my death after the wedding?”
Dean smiled.
“That part we agreed on.”
Nina began crying quietly.
Dean looked at her.
Massimo’s voice became lethal.
“Don’t look at her.”
Dean looked back at him.
“You care about the maid’s kid?”
“Yes.”
“That’s new.”
“Maybe getting shot improved me.”
Dean laughed.
Then opened the ledger again.
“You’re still missing something.”
“What?”
“Camille is leaving tonight.”
Massimo’s eyes narrowed.
“She knows the plan is collapsing.”
“How?”
“Because she found Hale.”
Dean shrugged.
“She knows somebody moved him.”
“So she’s taking what she can and disappearing.”
Massimo stared.
“Where?”
Dean smiled.
“Why would I tell you?”
“Because she intends to blame you.”
That landed.
Dean’s expression changed.
Massimo continued.
“The Ashwood accounts show your payments.”
“The burner phone is yours.”
“The route came from you.”
“Hale was paid by you after the ambush.”
“If Camille disappears, who does every piece of evidence point toward?”
Dean looked down at the ledger.
For the first time, fear appeared.
Massimo pressed.
“She made you the villain before you ever became her partner.”
Dean’s breathing slowed.
Massimo knew that sign.
Fear.
Then Dean pulled a gun.
Nina screamed.
Massimo did not move.
Dean aimed at him.
“You think you’re smarter than me.”
“No.”
Massimo’s voice remained calm.
“I know Camille thinks she is.”
Dean hesitated.
Outside, thunder cracked.
Massimo moved.
He threw the blanket aside.
Placed both feet on the floor.
And stood.
Dean’s gun lowered an inch.
His face emptied.
Massimo straightened with the cane.
Nina stopped crying.
Dean stared as though he were looking at a ghost.
“No.”
Massimo took one step.
Dean backed away.
“No.”
Another step.
Dean’s face turned white.
“You can walk.”
Massimo looked directly into his eyes.
“You should have checked the feet.”
The side door exploded open.
Luca entered with two loyal guards.
Carla rushed toward Nina.
Dean spun.
Massimo struck Dean’s wrist with the cane.
The gun hit the floor.
Luca kicked it away.
Carla grabbed Nina and pulled her into her arms.
Dean staggered backward.
He looked at Massimo.
Then at the open water door behind him.
Before Luca could reach him, Dean threw himself into the storm-dark inlet.
The current swallowed him.
Guards ran outside.
Lights swept across the water.
Nothing.
Massimo stood beside the doorway, gripping the cane.
Nina clung to Carla.
Then she looked at Massimo.
“You walked.”
Massimo managed a tired smile.
“You were right.”
But Luca returned moments later.
His expression erased the victory.
“What?”
Massimo asked.
Luca held out his phone.
A security image showed a black car leaving the west gate during the blackout.
Camille was inside.
She had Nathan beside her.
And three locked cases in the trunk.
Samuel Greer immediately identified what they probably contained.
Trust documents.
Account keys.
And enough financial records to destroy the Rinaldi family from the inside.
Dean had escaped into the water.
Camille had escaped through the gate.
The wedding was two days away.
May you like
And Massimo’s enemies were no longer hiding inside his house.
They were moving against him from outside it.
