Chapter 7 - The Interrogation of a Brother
Aleandro did not hit him. He did not raise his voice. He simply pointed to a wooden dining chair in the corner of the small room.
"Sit," Aleandro said.
Gabriel sat down, his hands trembling as he rested his elbows on his knees, staring down at the faded linoleum floor.
"How long?" Aleandro asked, standing over him like an executioner.
"Three months," Gabriel choked out. "They contacted me in July. They knew about the Prohibition shaft under the pantry—they had old city sewage maps from 1932. They told me to core-drill the concrete from the storm drain main down by the lake."
"And the black cable?" Hannah asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Gabriel looked up at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of shame and desperation. "It’s an optical fiber line. It connects the biometric sensors in Aleandro’s private study to an offshore server. They weren't trying to kill him, Hannah. They were waiting for him to transfer the family’s international asset keys next Tuesday."
Aleandro’s face remained a mask of dark stone. "They wanted the digital treasury."
"Forty-two billion dollars in untraceable bearer assets," Gabriel admitted. "Once the transfer went live on your study screen, the cable would capture the cryptographic keys in real-time. Then... then they were going to detonate a thermite charge in the shaft to destroy the evidence and cave in the kitchen."
Hannah gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "A thermite charge? In the house?"
"It would have brought down the entire east wing," Gabriel said, looking back at Aleandro. "I tried to delay them! I told them the kitchen staff was always in the way! That's why I kept postponing the maintenance contract!"
"You put a thermite bomb under my home," Aleandro said quietly, every syllable laced with a cold, absolute finality. "Under the room where this woman cooks my food. Where my staff sleeps."
"They have my son!" Gabriel screamed, tears finally breaking through his hard exterior, spilling down his scarred cheeks. "What would you have done, Aleandro? If it was your child?"
Aleandro went quiet. He turned his head slowly, looking past the hallway toward the bedroom door where eight-year-old Lily was now standing, holding a worn stuffed rabbit, rubbing her sleepy eyes in the dim light.
Lily looked at the big black dog, then at her mother, and finally at Aleandro.
"Mommy?" Lily whispered softly. "Who is the tall man?"
Aleandro’s expression underwent a profound, startling transformation. The terrifying mafia boss vanished, replaced by a man of quiet, gentle dignity. He dropped down onto one knee, bringing himself eye-level with the little girl.
Maximus walked over to Lily, gently nudging her hand with his broad wet nose. Lily smiled, her tiny fingers tangling into the dog’s soft, dark fur.
"Hello, Lily," Aleandro said, his deep voice impossibly soft. "My name is Aleandro. I'm a friend of your mother’s."
"Is that your dog?" she asked, pointing at Maximus.
"He used to be my dog," Aleandro said, casting a brief, subtle glance up at Hannah. "I think he belongs to your mother now."
He stood up smoothly, turning back to his tactical commander standing in the doorway.
"Take Gabriel to the safehouse in Barrington," Aleandro ordered flatly. "Treat his wounds. Do not break his skin. We need him alive and functional for six hours."
Gabriel looked up, bewildered. "Six hours?"
Aleandro looked down at him with dark, unforgiving eyes. "Your son is being held at a shipping yard in Newark, New Jersey. In five hours, my New York strike team will burn that yard to the ground and bring your boy home."
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Gabriel stared at him in utter shock. "You... you knew where he was?"
"I found out twenty minutes ago while we were driving here," Aleandro said quietly. "You should have come to me on day one, Gabriel. I protect my family. I would have saved your boy in July."
