Chapter 9 - THE LAST DEAL OF SALVATORE MORETTI
Lena wanted to go immediately.
Adrian refused.
“He'll kill you.”
“He has my mother.”
“He wants the drive.”
“Then give it to him.”
“No.”
Lena stared at Adrian.
“My mother is tied to a chair with a gun beside her head.”
“And if Salvatore gets that drive, every person who can prove what he did becomes unnecessary.”
“My mother could die in fifty minutes.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to make this decision.”
Adrian looked at her.
“No. You do.”
He placed the flash drive on the table.
Lena stared at it.
“You're giving it to me?”
“It belongs to the people whose lives were destroyed.”
“And if I hand it over?”
“I'll still go with you.”
“Why?”
Adrian's answer was immediate.
“Because I'm not letting you face him alone.”
Lena picked up the drive.
Then smiled faintly.
“What?”
“You're finally learning.”
“Learning what?”
“To think like an interpreter.”
Adrian understood.
“The drive can mean more than one thing.”
“Exactly.”
They copied everything.
Not once.
Hundreds of times.
Encrypted packages went to attorneys, journalists, federal investigators, medical regulators, and secure servers.
A dead-man switch was scheduled to release everything publicly if Lena failed to cancel it by 1 a.m.
Adrian looked impressed.
“Remind me never to underestimate a waitress.”
She looked at him.
“Too late.”
They left at 11:31.
Salvatore had chosen an abandoned private hospital on the city's industrial edge.
The same facility where the earliest HaleBridge trials had taken place.
Adrian's men surrounded the area but remained hidden.
Salvatore had warned that any visible security would get Rosa killed.
Lena and Adrian entered alone.
Victor Hale waited inside.
Martin Shaw stood beside him.
And behind them sat Rosa.
Alive.
“Lena!”
“Mom.”
Rosa began crying.
Salvatore emerged from the darkness.
He was older than Adrian.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Calm.
The resemblance between them was unmistakable.
But where Adrian's silence felt controlled, Salvatore's felt empty.
“My son.”
Adrian didn't respond.
Salvatore smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You threatened her mother.”
“I requested a meeting.”
“With a gun.”
“Negotiations require leverage.”
Lena looked at Victor.
“You ruined my father.”
Victor shrugged.
“Your father ruined himself.”
“You stole my work.”
“I gave you a career.”
“You erased my name.”
“And nobody cared until Adrian Moretti noticed you.”
Lena smiled.
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“You still don't understand why you're going to lose.”
Victor laughed.
“Lose?”
“You think people like me are invisible.”
“You were serving drinks yesterday.”
“And you couldn't stop talking in front of me.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
Lena continued.
“You spoke German because you thought I didn't understand. Italian because you thought I didn't understand. You discussed contracts in front of staff because you assumed nobody listening mattered.”
She looked at Salvatore.
“Your entire organization was built on the same mistake.”
Salvatore raised an eyebrow.
“And what mistake is that?”
“You confused silence with ignorance.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Salvatore extended his hand.
“The drive.”
Lena held it up.
“Release my mother.”
“First the drive.”
“No.”
Salvatore looked at Adrian.
“Control your woman.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“She doesn't belong to me.”
Lena glanced at him.
Even now, the words mattered.
Salvatore sighed.
“Modern romance.”
He raised his gun toward Rosa.
Lena tossed the drive.
Victor caught it.
“Now release her.”
Victor inserted it into a laptop.
Files appeared.
Salvatore nodded.
Martin untied Rosa.
Lena rushed toward her.
Then Victor spoke.
“Wait.”
Everyone stopped.
He stared at the laptop.
“These files are copies.”
Lena smiled.
“Of course they are.”
Salvatore's expression darkened.
“Where are the originals?”
“There are no originals anymore.”
“What did you do?”
“Sent them everywhere.”
Victor stood.
“You stupid—”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Finish that sentence.”
Victor stopped.
Salvatore remained calm.
“You think evidence matters?”
“Yes,” Lena said.
“I've buried evidence for thirty years.”
“Not this time.”
“Why?”
“Because you're talking.”
Salvatore frowned.
Lena touched the necklace beneath her shirt.
A microphone.
Salvatore's face changed.
Adrian smiled.
“Hello, Dad.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Victor ran.
Adrian's men entered through the side doors.
Martin dropped his weapon immediately.
Salvatore grabbed Rosa.
Gun against her throat.
“Everyone back!”
Adrian froze.
“Let her go.”
“You chose strangers over family.”
“You stopped being family when you used Luca as an experiment.”
“I saved him!”
“You used him.”
“I built everything for you.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You built it because power was the only thing you ever loved.”
Salvatore's face twisted.
Lena watched his hand.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
“Adrian!”
The gun fired.
Rosa screamed.
Adrian tackled Salvatore.
Chaos exploded.
Lena pulled her mother away.
Another shot.
Victor reached for a fallen weapon.
Martin shouted.
Adrian turned.
Victor fired.
Adrian jerked backward.
Lena screamed his name.
“ADRIAN!”
He fell.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Salvatore broke free and ran toward the rear exit.
Victor followed.
Adrian lay motionless on the floor.
Lena dropped beside him.
“No. No, no, no.”
His eyes opened.
“Lena.”
“Don't talk.”
He touched her wrist.
“Go.”
“What?”
“Your mother is safe.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Salvatore has another exit.”
“I don't care.”
“Yes, you do.”
Sirens grew louder.
Adrian struggled to breathe.
“If he escapes, this never ends.”
Lena looked toward the dark corridor.
Then at Adrian.
He squeezed her hand.
“Finish it.”
May you like
She stood.
And followed Salvatore Moretti into the darkness.
