Chapter 17 - THE LAST ROUTE OUT
In darkness, Sophia heard Isabella crying.
She pulled both girls close.
“Stay down.”
Another gunshot exploded.
Someone screamed.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Gabriel was gone.
A trail of blood led toward the rear wall.
Valentina lay near the entrance with a wound in her leg.
Lorenzo was unharmed.
He grabbed Gabriel’s dropped weapon.
Then Daniel Cruz and two security officers entered.
“There’s another passage.”
Lorenzo looked at the blood trail.
They followed it.
Behind the vault was an old tunnel leading beneath the estate.
Gabriel had known about it for years.
The tunnel ended nearly half a mile away near the river.
Police converged on the area.
Sophia remained with the girls.
Valentina was taken into custody again.
Before paramedics carried her away, she looked at Sophia.
“You think Lorenzo saved you?”
Sophia said nothing.
Valentina laughed.
“Men like Gabriel don’t build one escape.”
Sophia leaned closer.
“What does that mean?”
Valentina’s smile was weak.
“There’s always one last route.”
Police searched the riverbank.
Gabriel had disappeared.
A small boat was missing from a nearby dock.
By dawn, federal agents controlled the Moretti estate.
The criminal network was collapsing.
Ports were raided in three states.
Warehouses were searched.
Twenty-seven people were arrested.
But Gabriel remained free.
Then investigators found his final plan.
A cargo ship called Belladonna was scheduled to leave Savannah that evening.
Its destination was Tangier.
Gabriel had purchased it through a shell company.
If he reached the ship, he could leave the country.
Lorenzo immediately prepared to fly to Georgia.
Sophia stopped him.
“Police can handle it.”
“He killed Elena.”
“And he killed Ethan.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
Sophia understood his anger because she carried the same one.
“But if you chase him because you want revenge, he still controls you.”
Lorenzo remained silent.
Sophia continued.
“Help them catch him.”
“Don’t become him.”
Hours later, federal agents surrounded the Savannah terminal.
Gabriel appeared on surveillance footage.
He moved toward Belladonna.
Then he stopped.
Something had changed.
Instead of boarding the ship, Gabriel turned around.
He looked directly into a security camera.
Then he smiled.
A message arrived on Sophia’s phone.
A photograph.
Lily’s school.
May you like
Underneath were four words.
YOU MISSED THE REAL TARGET.
