Chapter 4 - The Quarry of Shadows
The blood roared in my ears like a surging tide.
"Where are they holding her, Sarah?" I demanded, my hand slamming down onto the boat's helm console so hard the plastic cracked.
"Sensors pick up cell signal pings from a burner phone in that convoy heading directly into the abandoned Northport Limestone Quarry," Sarah replied quickly, the clicking of her keyboard echoing over the radio connection. "It’s four miles inland from your boathouse. The quarry has been closed for a decade—it’s Carmine’s off-grid execution ground."
"How many men?"
"My satellite feed shows three vehicles parked near the primary processing shed," Sarah said. "At least eight armed men on the perimeter. Leo, listen to me—do NOT go in there alone. Call your estate guards!"
"My estate guards belong to Julian!" I spat into the mic. "If I call them, Julian will know I’m onto him, and he’ll order Carmine’s men to put a bullet through Elena’s head before I reach the gate!"
"Then what are you going to do?" Sarah asked, her voice tight with alarm.
"I'm going to get my wife back," I said flatly. "Sarah, I need you to initiate a remote blackout of the Northport electrical grid surrounding that quarry in fifteen minutes. Cut every cell tower, every landline, and every power feed within two miles."
"Consider it done," Sarah answered without hesitation. "Godspeed, Leo."
I disconnected the radio, jammed the heavy throttles of the Valiant all the way forward, and slammed the boat through the ocean swells toward the Northport inlet.
Ten minutes later, the boat hit the gravel shoreline near an old wooden fishing pier. I killed the engines, leapt over the side into knee-deep icy water, and sprinted up the forested ravine toward the high chain-link fence marking the quarry boundary.
Tucked into the small leather holster beneath my armpit was my father’s nickel-plated .45 automatic—a gun I hadn't fired in anger since the turf wars of 2021.
I reached the ridge overlooking the quarry basin.
Below me, surrounded by massive walls of grey limestone, stood three black SUVs parked around an rusted corrugated iron shed. Two guards carrying heavy shotguns walked slowly along the upper ledge, while four more stood near the shed doors smoking cigarettes.
Inside the open doors of the shed, tied securely to a wooden chair beneath a single hanging lightbulb, was Elena.
Her face was bruised, her cream silk robe torn and stained with grease, but her chin was held high. Standing directly in front of her was Marco Moretti—Carmine’s vicious nephew, a lieutenant known across Brooklyn for his brutal, sadistic temper.
"Where is the master ledger, Elena?" Marco’s harsh voice echoed up the stone canyon walls. "Julian said you had the private encryption keys to Leo’s offshore accounts in your personal safe!"
"I don't have your damn keys, Marco," Elena spat, wiping blood from her lip. "And even if I did, I’d swallow them before I gave them to a pathetic dog like you."
Marco backhanded her across the face with a heavy leather glove. Elena’s head snapped back, a sharp cry escaping her lips, but she didn't weep. She glared up at him with pure, unadulterated venom.
"You're going to die in this pit, little girl," Marco sneered, drawing a heavy suppressed pistol from his belt. "And your precious Leo is sitting at his mansion right now thinking you betrayed him. He won't even come looking for your body."
BANG!
A sharp explosion echoed from the ridge above!
The guard standing on the upper ledge collapsed onto the limestone rocks, his shotgun clattering down the embankment.
Before the remaining mercenaries could even react to the gunshot, every single floodlight around the quarry flickered violently and died as Sarah’s remote grid blackout hit the Northport sector!
The entire quarry was instantly plunged into pitch-black shadow!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Marco roared, pulling his pistol. "Perez! Get the generator on! PEREZ!"
Out of the darkness, swift, silent, and deadly, I moved like a phantom down the limestone path.
BANG! BANG!
Two gunshots shattered the dark. Two more guards crumpled to the dirt near the SUVs.
"HE’S IN THE PIT!" a mercenary screamed, firing wildly into the gloom.
I ducked behind the rear fender of the lead SUV, racking the slide of my .45, my eyes adapted to the dark after years of night navigation on the sound.
I stepped out from behind the vehicle, firing three rapid shots into the doorway of the shed. The two guards covering Marco dropped instantly.
Marco panicked, grabbing Elena by her hair, pulling her up as a human shield, pressing his pistol against her temple.
"STAY BACK!" Marco screamed into the pitch-black doorway of the shed. "SHOW YOURSELF OR I'LL BLOW HER BRAINS ALL OVER THIS WALL!"
I stepped out of the shadow into the center of the concrete doorway, my nickel-plated .45 held steadily in both hands, pointed directly at his face.
The faint moonlight filtering through the broken tin roof illuminated my features.
Elena gasped, her eyes wide with shock and pure, disbelieving hope. "Leo?!"
Marco froze, his breath catching in his throat. "Moretti...? How... how did you find us?!"
"You made three mistakes, Marco," I said, my voice cold, calm, and utterly devoid of mercy as I took one slow step forward. "First, you trusted Julian. Second, you touched my house. And third..."
I raised the gun half an inch higher.
"...you laid your hands on my wife."
BANG!
A single bullet tore through the air, striking Marco squarely between the eyes before he could even tighten his finger on the trigger.
His grip loosened, and he collapsed backward into the dust like a broken doll.
Elena sank to her knees, sobbing hysterically as I dropped my weapon, rushed forward, and dropped down beside her, pulling her small, shaking body tightly against my chest.
"I'm here," I whispered, tearing the thick ropes away from her wrists, cradling her face in my hands, kissing her bruised forehead over and over again. "I'm here, my love. I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry I ever doubted you..."
Elena buried her face in my neck, her tears soaking through my shirt, her fingers clutching my wool coat as if she would never let go.
"I knew you'd come," she sobbed, her voice breaking. "I knew you wouldn't leave me..."
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I pulled her up into my arms, holding her tightly against my heart as the sirens of Sarah’s covert extraction team began to wail in the distance.
"The night isn't over yet, Elena," I whispered, looking back toward the road leading to my estate. "Now... we go home and settle the score with Julian."
