Chapter 525: The Man Who Knew Their Fathers
Chapter 525: The Man Who Knew Their Fathers
Chapter 525: The Man Who Knew Their Fathers
The first boat appeared behind them like a black shadow against the rain.
Dante kept both hands on the wheel, pushing the motorboat harder than it was meant to go. Water hammered his face. Isabella gripped the side of the seat with one hand and held the black ledger against her chest with the other.
“How many?” Dante shouted.
“Three!” Marco answered.
Victor fired a warning shot over the water.
The boats did not slow.
Samuel stood behind Dante, staring at the approaching lights.
“Take the western channel.”
Dante frowned.
“That leads toward the city.”
“Exactly.”
“You just told me not to go there.”
“I told you Adrian wouldn't be waiting there.”
Another shot cracked through the rain.
The bullet struck the water beside them.
Dante swore.
“Western channel it is.”
He turned the wheel sharply.
The boat tilted, throwing Isabella against him. Dante caught her before she fell.
“You hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay down.”
She shook her head.
“I’m not hiding.”
Dante looked at her for half a second.
That stubbornness should have worried him.
Instead, it made him want to kiss her.
He forced his attention back to the water.
They entered a narrow channel surrounded by trees. The rain made everything difficult to see. Branches scraped against the boat as Dante pushed forward.
Behind them, the engines grew louder.
“They're still following,” Victor said.
Samuel looked toward the darkness ahead.
“They know the route.”
“How?” Marco asked.
Samuel didn't answer.
Dante glanced back.
“How do they know the route?”
“Because someone gave it to them.”
Silence settled over the boat.
Isabella's eyes narrowed.
“Someone in your organization?”
Samuel looked at her.
“Possibly.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Start talking.”
“I don't know who betrayed us.”
“But you suspected someone.”
Samuel looked away.
Dante slowed the boat slightly.
“No more secrets.”
Samuel finally nodded.
“Your father had one partner he trusted more than anyone.”
“Who?”
“Gabriel Voss.”
Dante froze.
He knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago's criminal world knew it.
Gabriel Voss had disappeared almost twenty years earlier after a bloody dispute involving the Moretti family.
“My father said Voss was dead.”
“He wasn't.”
Isabella looked between them.
“Who was he?”
Samuel answered quietly.
“The man who helped Antonio build the original Blackwater network.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“And now?”
“He owns half the legitimate businesses along the western waterfront.”
Marco cursed.
“Voss.”
Dante accelerated again.
“Why would he want the ledger?”
“Because it can destroy him.”
Isabella looked down at the leather cover.
“Then why hasn't he killed us already?”
Samuel stared at her.
“Maybe he doesn't want to kill you.”
The words chilled her.
“Why?”
“Because your mother trusted him.”
Dante turned.
“My mother?”
“No. Elena.”
Isabella's breathing changed.
“What did my mother have to do with Gabriel Voss?”
Samuel hesitated.
“They worked together.”
Dante's eyes darkened.
“On Blackwater?”
“Against it.”
The boat suddenly shook.
Something struck the hull.
Marco looked over the side.
“They're shooting at the engine.”
Dante swerved.
“Everybody down!”
Three bullets ripped through the rear of the boat.
The engine sputtered.
Isabella grabbed Dante's arm.
“Dante!”
“I've got it.”
The motor coughed again.
Then died.
The boat drifted.
Victor raised his gun.
“We're sitting ducks.”
Dante looked around.
A wooden dock emerged through the darkness ahead.
“Hold on.”
He grabbed an oar and jumped overboard.
Isabella stared.
“Dante!”
He waded through waist-deep water, pulled the boat toward the dock, and secured the rope.
Marco and Victor jumped out.
Samuel followed.
Isabella stepped onto the dock.
Dante reached for her hand.
“Stay close.”
They moved toward an old boathouse.
Inside, Dante found a rusted door leading to a narrow passage.
“Where does this go?” Isabella whispered.
Samuel studied the walls.
“Old smuggling tunnel.”
Dante stared at him.
“You knew this was here?”
“Your father built it.”
Isabella looked at Dante.
“How many secrets did our parents have?”
“Too many.”
They entered the tunnel.
Behind them, engines roared again.
The enemy had reached the dock.
Dante shut the door.
They moved quickly through the darkness.
After several minutes, they reached a staircase.
At the top was another door.
Dante opened it carefully.
They emerged inside an abandoned warehouse overlooking the Chicago River.
Isabella recognized the neighborhood.
“This is downtown.”
Samuel nodded.
“Voss's territory.”
A voice came from the darkness.
“You're late.”
Everyone raised their weapons.
A man stepped into the light.
He was in his late sixties, dressed in a charcoal suit, with silver hair and a scar running from his left temple to his jaw.
Dante stared.
“Gabriel Voss.”
The man smiled.
“Your father used to say you had his eyes.”
Dante raised his gun.
“You killed him?”
Voss's smile disappeared.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Your father was killed because he refused to finish what Blackwater started.”
Dante stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Voss looked at Isabella.
“And you must be Elena's daughter.”
Isabella tightened her grip on the ledger.
“You knew my mother.”
“I loved your mother.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Isabella stared at him.
“My mother never mentioned you.”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian was watching her.”
Voss walked toward them slowly.
“Adrian wasn't Blackwater's leader. He was a servant who became ambitious.”
Samuel lowered his weapon slightly.
“Who gave Adrian orders?”
Voss looked at the ledger.
“You already know.”
Dante's voice was cold.
“No. We don't.”
Voss pointed toward the book.
“Your fathers are both named inside.”
Isabella opened the ledger.
The first pages contained columns of names, dates, and payments.
Then she saw them.
Antonio Moretti.
Gabriel Voss.
Elena Romano.
And beneath their names was another entry.
BLACKWATER FOUNDING COUNCIL.
There were seven names.
Four were crossed out.
Three remained.
Isabella read the first surviving name.
Adrian Cross.
The second made Dante's face go pale.
Victor noticed.
“What?”
Dante couldn't speak.
Isabella looked at the final name.
Then she looked at Dante.
“Dante…”
He stared at the page.
The final name belonged to someone he had trusted his entire life.
Someone still alive.
Someone who had been helping them.
The warehouse suddenly felt colder.
Voss watched their faces.
“Now you understand why I brought you here.”
Dante slowly raised his gun toward Voss.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who betrayed my father.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me his name.”
Voss shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You're running out of time.”
Voss smiled without warmth.
“So are you.”
Rain continued outside, masking the sound of approaching footsteps.
A phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from inside the ledger.
Isabella opened the back cover.
A small hidden compartment held an old cell phone.
The screen displayed one word.
HOME.
Isabella stared.
Her hands trembled.
Dante moved beside her.
“Answer it.”
She pressed the button.
For three seconds, there was only static.
Then a woman's voice whispered through the speaker.
“Isabella?”
Isabella stopped breathing.
She knew that voice.
“Mom?”
The line went silent.
Then Elena spoke again.
“Don't trust Dante.”
The call ended.
Isabella slowly lowered the phone.
Dante stared at her.
Neither moved.
Behind them, Gabriel Voss closed his eyes.
Because whatever happened next would decide whether Blackwater finally died—
or whether it took all of them with it.