Chapter 5 - The War at the Docks
The rain fell in blinding sheets over the industrial docks of Brooklyn.
At Pier 42, three massive shipping containers sat beneath the towering yellow cranes, illuminated by the harsh glare of halogen work lights. Four black armored SUVs were parked in a circle, their engines idling quietly.
Standing near the edge of the dark water was Don Lorenzo Vitali—a ruthless, silver-haired mafia patriarch surrounded by ten heavily armed enforcers.
A black sedan pulled slowly onto the pier, its headlights cutting through the fog.
The car stopped twenty feet from Lorenzo. The driver's side door opened, and Marzio stepped out into the rain, his hands visible, his face bruised and pale beneath the yellow lights.
"Marzio," Lorenzo called out, his thick Italian accent carrying over the sound of the crashing waves. "You took your time. Is Bruno dead?"
"Not yet," Marzio said, his voice trembling noticeably. "The house is in chaos. Bruno found out about the harbor leak, but he doesn't suspect you."
Lorenzo chuckled, a dry, cruel sound. "Good. Where is the drive with his offshore account codes?"
"I have it," Marzio said, reaching into his coat.
"Bring it here," Lorenzo commanded.
Marzio took three steps forward, then stopped. He looked at the shadows behind Lorenzo's SUVs with pure terror in his eyes.
Suddenly, the high-beam headlights of six massive trucks snapped on from the surrounding shipping containers, blinding Lorenzo and his men with thousands of watts of pure white light!
SCREECH!
Engine roars echoed across the concrete as Ricardo's convoy blocked every exit route from the pier!
"IT'S AN AMBUSH!" one of Lorenzo's lieutenants screamed, reaching for his automatic rifle!
TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK!
Muzzle flashes strobed through the rain as Ricardo’s men opened fire from behind the steel containers!
Lorenzo grabbed Marzio by the collar, using him as a human shield as bullets tore through the air! "You rat! You brought him here!"
"He made me!" Marzio shrieked before a stray round struck him in the chest, dropping him lifeless onto the wet asphalt!
Lorenzo dove behind his armored SUV, firing his chrome revolver wildly into the fog. "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Through the storm and smoke walked Ricardo Bruno.
He didn't duck. He didn't run. He walked with measured, lethal precision, firing his heavy pistol with devastating accuracy, dropping two of Lorenzo's guards with clean headshots before they could adjust their aim.
Beside him, moving through the rain like a pale shadow, was Sabia.
The dog didn't attack the men with guns. Instead, Sabia darted beneath the chassis of the vehicles, flushing out two hidden shooters who were preparing to flank Ricardo's position!
"Gah! Get this dog off me!" a shooter screamed as Sabia clamped his powerful jaws onto the man's forearm, dragging him out into the open where Luca instantly neutralized him!
Within three minutes, the gunfire died down to a terrifying silence, replaced only by the sound of falling rain and the rhythmic sloshing of sea water against the concrete piles.
Lorenzo Vitali lay on his back against the tire of his SUV, clutching a bullet wound in his leg, his gun empty on the ground beside him.
Ricardo walked up, stopping over the defeated Don.
"You touched my family, Lorenzo," Ricardo said, his voice flat, emotionless, and absolute.
"It was... it was business, Bruno..." Lorenzo wheezed, blood bubbling on his lips. "We can make a deal... name your price..."
Ricardo looked down at the old man, then back toward his car, where Sabia stood waiting patiently by the rear door, his cream fur soaked in rain.
"My daughter lost her voice for seven months because of you," Ricardo said softly. "There is no price in this world that pays for that."
May you like
Ricardo raised his weapon.
A single shot echoed across the dark waters of the harbor.
