The Water Room
Chapter 05 - The Water Room
Pier 47 smelled of river salt, old iron, and rot. Dominic handed the photograph to Marco. “Find who took it.” Anna looked toward the SUV, where Lily slept beneath two blankets and two guards. “Get the ledger,” Dominic said. “Then I burn every hand reaching for her.”
They entered through a side door and descended into the old customs tunnels beneath the warehouse. The brass key did not fit the first two locks. Marco cut one. Dominic shot the other. The third opened with the key Anna carried for half her life without knowing what door it wanted.
Below the grate was black water. Nico, one of Dominic’s men, descended with a rope and waterproof light. Minutes crawled. Then he called up, “Found something.” A metal box emerged, slick with river grime, Paul Carter’s initials scratched into the side.
Inside were three things: a black ledger wrapped in oilcloth, a stack of photographs, and a cassette tape labeled Salvatore. Dominic stared at his father’s name as though it were a loaded weapon.
Footsteps sounded above. Dominic pulled Anna into the shadows. Men descended the tunnel with flashlights. Carlo Moretti entered last, broader than Dominic, one scarred eye clouded white. “Dominic,” he called. “Bring me the woman and the child, and I will let you pretend this was a misunderstanding.”
Dominic remained hidden until Lily’s voice crackled through his earpiece from the SUV. “Mr. Marco? There’s a man outside the car. He says Mommy sent him.” Anna’s body went cold. Carlo smiled into the darkness.
“You always did use children as punctuation,” Dominic said, stepping into view. His gun was already drawn. Carlo’s men raised theirs, but Marco moved from the rear passage, and the tunnel erupted in short, controlled bursts of violence.
Marco’s voice came through Dominic’s earpiece. “We have Lily. Decoy outside the car. He’s down. Child safe.” Anna’s knees nearly failed. Dominic did not show relief. Relief told enemies where to aim.
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Carlo escaped through a service passage. But the tape remained. Back at the brownstone, Salvatore Moretti’s voice filled the parlor: “If you are hearing this, Carlo has moved again. He will start with the Carter girl because he believes honest people are easiest to frighten.”
Anna listened as Salvatore confessed that the fire at Pier 47 had been set by Carlo. Paul Carter had gone back into the burning warehouse to save Dominic, then died trying to retrieve the ledger. The tape ended with a sentence that made Dominic turn away from everyone: “Paul Carter died saving my son.”
