Chapter 10 - The St. Christopher|
By two in the morning, the rain had returned to Chicago, slicking the dark streets in cold grease.
Nico stood in the carriage house hallway, watching through the cracked door as Mrs. Gable rocked little Maya to sleep in a wooden armchair. Beside her, Leo was fast asleep on a rug, clutching his blue-rimmed blanket.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Josie stepped into the hallway wearing a dark rain jacket Mrs. Gable had found in the closet.
"You're going to fight him," she whispered.
"Walter Brandt crossed a line twenty years ago," Nico said without turning around. "Tonight, he crossed mine."
Josie stepped closer, reaching into her jacket pocket. She pulled out a small, metallic object tied to a silver chain and held it out to him.
"I found this under the seat in Eleanor’s car when we fled," she said softly.
Nico looked down at her open palm.
Resting in her fingers was a worn silver St. Christopher medal, its edges smoothed by decades of thumbs rubbing against the metal.
Nico’s heart stopped for a beat.
He reached out and picked up the medal. His father’s medal. The one that had vanished from his watch pocket eleven days ago.
"Where did Eleanor get this?" Nico asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Paulie Rizzo gave it to her," Josie said quietly. "He told her it was a token of faith. That as long as she held it, your family wouldn't touch her."
Nico stared at the silver medal resting in his hand.
Paulie hadn't just been stealing money. Paulie had been trying to protect Eleanor Brandt from her father the only way he knew how—by tying her safety to the Valenti name.
May you like
Nico slipped the medal back into his coat pocket.
"Dante!" Nico called out. "Get the trucks ready. We're going to the railyard."
