Chapter 17 - THE AMBER VIAL
The rear corridor of the estate was quiet, illuminated only by the faint red glow of the emergency exit signs and the flashes of lightning outside the narrow side windows. Rain lashed relentlessly against the glass, creating a chaotic, rhythmic tapping sound that filled the narrow space.
Dante walked slowly down the carpeted hallway, his heavy leather dress shoes making no sound against the runner. He held his silver pistol pointed low, his gray eyes scanning every shadowed doorway, every recessed archway.
He reached the heavy oak door of his private study. It was standing half-open, a sliver of light streaming out into the hall.
Dante stepped through the doorway with smooth, silent precision, his gun raised, sweeping the room in a single second.
Standing near the heavy mahogany desk, frantically throwing papers onto the floor as he searched for the hidden wall safe behind the swung mirror, was Vance Falcone. He was breathing heavily, his dark coat disheveled, a small backup revolver clutched in his shaking right hand.
"Looking for something, Uncle?" Dante asked smoothly from the doorway.
Vance spun around instantly, his revolver flying up toward Dante’s chest.
BANG!
Dante didn't even blink. He fired a single, precise shot from his silver pistol. The heavy caliber bullet struck Vance’s right wrist with surgical accuracy, shattering his revolver and sending the firearm flying across the room into the dark fireplace.
Vance let out a high-pitched scream of agony, clutching his bloody wrist as he stumbled back against the desk, knocking over a heavy brass lamp.
"Aaargh! Damn you, Dante!" Vance sobbed, sliding down against the mahogany wood, his face slick with sweat and tears. "You don't understand! I did it for the family! Father was weak! He was going to sell our shipping territories to the federal government! I had to save the empire!"
Dante slowly walked across the dusty floor, stopping three feet away from the wounded man. He didn't raise his gun to fire a second shot. He simply looked down at his uncle with absolute, cold disgust.
"You didn't save the empire, Vance," Dante said softly. "You destroyed it from the inside. You murdered my father. You forced my sister into hiding. And you tried to murder a four-year-old child who carries our blood."
Dante reached into his inner suit pocket, pulling out the small, sealed glass vial filled with amber liquid that he had retrieved from Elena’s hidden wall safe three hours ago.
He held the vial up in the faint red light.
Vance’s eyes locked onto the small glass bottle, and his face instantly turned as pale as a corpse. His jaw dropped in utter horror.
"That... that's..." Vance stammered, his voice choking in his throat.
"You recognize it, don't you?" Dante asked quietly. "This is the synthetic cardiac neurotoxin Elena found in father's private medical kit after he died. The exact same poison Dr. Wallace used on Raymond Winslow in Chicago two weeks ago. The signature weapon of your offshore syndicate partners."
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Dante knelt down in front of his uncle, his tall frame looming over the broken man like an angel of death.
"Elena didn't just hide the money, Vance," Dante whispered, his voice chillingly calm. "She kept the chemical evidence that will put you and your partners in a federal supermax facility for the rest of your natural lives."
