Chapter 18 - The Night New York Went Dark
At 9:03 p.m., lower Manhattan lost power.
At 9:07, three subway control systems failed.
At 9:12, emergency dispatch servers began receiving thousands of false calls.
Vittorio’s network had activated.
Not sophisticated enough to destroy New York.
Enough to make it panic.
Television networks called it a cyberattack.
Sloan called it leverage.
Salvatore called it his father’s final tantrum.
“He wants chaos,” she said.
“He wants Gabriel.”
“Why now? He still doesn’t have the key fragment.”
Mrs. Alvarez entered.
“Maybe he doesn’t need it anymore.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Elena built the voice lock thirteen years ago. Vittorio may have found another way into the archive.”
“Then why Gabriel?”
“Revenge.”
Salvatore’s face hardened.
Of course.
Vittorio had lost power.
Lost the archive.
Lost officials.
Lost his sons.
Gabriel was no longer access.
He was punishment.
Salvatore doubled security.
Gabriel hated it.
“I can’t breathe with six men following me.”
“You can breathe.”
“I can’t pee.”
“That sounds unrelated.”
“Dad.”
Salvatore almost smiled.
Then every phone in the house buzzed.
A video.
Vittorio stood on a rooftop overlooking Manhattan.
Behind him were explosive devices.
Sloan analyzed the image.
“Probably staged.”
Carmine disagreed.
“I know that building.”
“Where?”
“Old Moretti Telecommunications Center.”
Salvatore frowned.
“We sold it.”
“Shell company bought it.”
Vittorio’s.
The video continued.
“One hour. Bring Gabriel.”
Gabriel entered the room.
“No.”
Salvatore turned.
“You weren’t invited.”
“I live here now.”
Something about the sentence nearly stopped him.
Gabriel continued.
“I’m not going.”
“Good.”
“But you are.”
“No.”
“You have to stop him.”
“Federal teams will.”
“He knows their plans.”
Sloan’s face tightened.
“He probably still has compromised officers.”
Gabriel approached Salvatore.
“You said I’m not bait.”
“You’re not.”
“So don’t make me one.”
“I’m not.”
“Then stop protecting me by letting him hurt everybody else.”
Salvatore stared at his son.
There was no childlike fantasy in Gabriel’s eyes.
Only exhausting clarity.
Salvatore made a decision.
“We go together.”
Carmine protested.
“Boss.”
“Not inside.”
Gabriel nodded.
“I stay in armored command.”
“Yes.”
“No argument.”
“Yes.”
At 9:51, teams surrounded the telecommunications building.
Vittorio had fewer men now.
His empire was collapsing.
Desperation made him more dangerous.
Salvatore entered alone through the lobby.
No weapon visible.
Vittorio’s voice came through ceiling speakers.
“You finally brought him?”
“No.”
“Then people die.”
“You don’t have enough explosives.”
Silence.
Salvatore smiled faintly.
“You taught me that fear works best when nobody checks the threat.”
Another silence.
“You’re bluffing.”
“So are you.”
Salvatore climbed.
Twenty floors.
Thirty.
At forty-one, he found two men.
Carmine’s team neutralized them remotely after Salvatore signaled.
At forty-eight, Vittorio waited.
No explosives.
Only a pistol.
And a laptop connected to remote systems.
“You’ve destroyed this family,” Vittorio said.
Salvatore laughed softly.
“You did that before I was born.”
“You chose outsiders over blood.”
“Victims over traffickers.”
“You chose a boy you barely know.”
“My son.”
“You chose Elena.”
“Yes.”
Vittorio’s face twisted.
“You were supposed to inherit everything.”
“I did.”
Vittorio frowned.
Salvatore smiled.
“I inherited exactly what you feared.”
“What?”
“A chance to become different.”
Vittorio fired.
Salvatore moved.
The bullet struck glass.
Carmine’s team breached.
Vittorio ran toward the roof.
Salvatore followed.
Rain had begun again.
Almost like the night Gabriel arrived.
Vittorio reached the edge.
Helicopters circled.
Spotlights turned night white.
He held the pistol to his own head.
“Tell them back.”
Salvatore stopped.
“No.”
“I’ll jump.”
“Your choice.”
Vittorio stared.
“You’d let your own father die?”
Salvatore thought of Gabriel.
Choices.
Consequences.
“No. I’d let you decide whether to.”
Vittorio laughed.
“You think that makes you better?”
“No.”
“Then what does?”
Salvatore looked toward the stairwell.
Gabriel stood there.
Carmine behind him, furious.
The boy had slipped out of command.
Of course he had.
Vittorio stared.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Salvatore’s heart stopped.
“Gabriel, back.”
The boy looked at Vittorio.
“You’re going to prison.”
The old man smiled.
“Not if I die.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“That’s running.”
Vittorio’s expression changed.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know you made everybody scared so they’d stay.”
Rain ran down Gabriel’s face.
“But now nobody stays.”
Vittorio’s gun lowered slightly.
Gabriel continued.
“My mom died and people still love her.”
Vittorio said nothing.
“If you die, people will just remember what you did.”
The gun lowered another inch.
“So don’t pretend dying makes you important.”
Salvatore almost laughed at the cruelty of child logic.
It worked.
Vittorio looked old.
Not powerful.
Just old.
Sloan’s agents moved.
They took the weapon.
Cuffed him.
This time there was no escape.
As they passed Gabriel, Vittorio whispered:
“You are a Moretti.”
Gabriel looked up.
“No.”
Vittorio smiled bitterly.
“Your name says otherwise.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“My name says Gabriel.”
Vittorio was taken away.
The city’s systems returned slowly.
Lights came back block by block.
Salvatore turned toward his son.
“You left the armored vehicle.”
Gabriel looked nervous.
“Yes.”
“You disobeyed me.”
“Yes.”
“You climbed forty-eight floors.”
“There was an elevator.”
Salvatore stared.
Gabriel tried not to smile.
Then Salvatore pulled him into his arms.
“Never do that again.”
“Okay.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
For the first time since Elena disappeared thirteen years earlier, Salvatore Moretti laughed in the rain.
But the battle was not quite over.
The next morning, his attorney arrived with the final cooperation agreement.
Salvatore read it twice.
Then looked at the sentencing recommendation.
Gabriel watched his face.
“How long?”
Salvatore could not answer.
May you like
Because even after helping dismantle Vittorio’s empire, the government wanted one final price.
Five years.
