Chapter 10 - The Queen Behind North Crown
Evelyn sat down slowly.
Mara stared.
“You know her.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Who is she?”
No answer.
Mara slammed one hand against the console.
“Who is she?”
“Victoria Crane.”
Dante frowned.
“Sebastian’s wife?”
“Ex-wife.”
Adrian swore.
“I thought she died.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“So did half of us.”
Mara folded her arms.
“What is with everybody in this story being dead and then not dead?”
Even Dante smiled at that.
For one second.
Then another burst of gunfire struck the hull.
No time.
Luca returned fire while Dante ordered the captain toward a narrow channel between rocky outcrops.
Evelyn spoke quickly.
“Victoria founded the network before Sebastian.”
“Trafficking?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Money. Influence. Blackmail.”
Mara felt sick.
“Sebastian answered to her.”
“For years.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know.”
The radio activated.
Victoria’s voice.
“Evelyn.”
Evelyn took the microphone.
“I’m here.”
“So sentimental.”
“What do you want?”
“The recorder.”
“It’s underwater.”
“For now.”
Victoria laughed.
“I have divers on Belladonna already.”
Mara looked at the sonar map.
Sebastian’s salvage vessel had reached the wreck site.
Victoria’s gunboat approached from behind.
They were trapped.
Dante spoke into the radio.
“You attack my ship again, I’ll sink yours.”
Victoria sounded amused.
“Lorenzo used to say things like that.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t speak his name.”
“He begged very beautifully before he died.”
Dante froze.
Adrian stepped closer.
“What?”
Victoria continued.
“Did Sebastian tell you Lorenzo died of a heart attack?”
Dante stared at the receiver.
“Yes.”
“He didn’t.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“What happened?”
“I poisoned him.”
Silence.
Mara watched both brothers absorb it.
Victoria laughed.
“You Vale men make the same mistake.”
Dante’s voice became quiet.
“What mistake?”
“You love people.”
She ended the transmission.
Dante stood still.
Then turned toward the captain.
“Ram them.”
Mara grabbed him.
“No.”
“Get off me.”
“No.”
“They killed my father.”
“And they want you angry.”
“He was poisoned.”
“I heard.”
“Mara.”
She stepped directly in front of him.
“You ram that boat, everybody here dies.”
Dante breathed hard.
“You want revenge?”
“Yes.”
“Then survive long enough to get it.”
His eyes locked onto hers.
Gradually, control returned.
Adrian watched.
Something like approval entered his face.
“She’s good for you.”
Dante glared.
“Not now.”
Mara looked at Adrian.
“Definitely not now.”
They changed course.
Victoria’s boat pursued.
Mara studied the charts.
A storm channel cut between two reefs.
Too shallow for Victoria’s heavier gunboat.
Dante’s vessel could barely clear it.
“We go through there.”
Captain shook his head.
“Depth margin under three feet.”
Mara pointed.
“High tide.”
“Waves.”
“I know.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
Dante said, “Do it.”
The vessel entered.
Rock scraped beneath the hull.
Victoria’s ship followed.
First reef cleared.
Second.
Then a grinding sound thundered behind them.
Victoria’s gunboat stopped.
Grounded.
Mara exhaled.
Dante looked at her.
“Remind me to hire you.”
“You can’t afford me.”
“I’m insulted.”
Ahead waited Sebastian’s salvage vessel.
Divers in the water.
Crane logo on the stern.
Adrian pointed.
“Sofia.”
A woman stood on the upper deck beside Sebastian.
Late twenties.
Dark hair.
Vale eyes.
Dante stared at the sister he had never met.
Sebastian held a gun to her side.
Mara whispered, “He knew we’d come.”
Dante looked at Adrian.
“Plan?”
Adrian smiled grimly.
“For once, I thought you had one.”
Dante looked at Mara.
She shook her head.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Whatever expression that is.”
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s what worries me.”
He smiled.
Then kissed her.
Mara froze.
Everything stopped.
Sea.
Guns.
Engines.
Twenty-two years of lies.
All disappeared for one impossible second.
His hand touched her cheek.
Warm.
Careful.
He pulled back.
Mara stared.
“What the hell was that?”
“In case the plan fails.”
She slapped him.
Not hard.
“Ask next time.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Next time?”
“Focus.”
Adrian laughed.
Luca muttered, “Finally.”
Mara pointed at him.
“Not a word.”
They approached under a white flag.
Sebastian waited on deck.
Sofia beside him.
Up close, the resemblance to Dante was unmistakable.
She stared at him too.
“My brother?”
Dante’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
Sebastian pressed the gun closer.
“Touching.”
Dante’s face hardened.
“Let her go.”
“Recorder.”
“We don’t have it.”
“Then retrieve it.”
Mara looked over the rail.
Divers had attached cables to the wreck.
Belladonna lay 120 feet down.
“Your divers can’t access the engine compartment,” she said.
Sebastian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Hull collapsed sideways. You pull it wrong, the entire stern caves.”
Sebastian stared.
“You can reach it?”
“Yes.”
Dante immediately said, “No.”
Mara ignored him.
Sebastian smiled.
“Excellent.”
Dante stepped between them.
“She doesn’t dive.”
Mara looked at him.
“I do.”
He turned.
“What?”
“Certified rescue diver.”
“You failed to mention that.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Sebastian laughed.
“The girl dives or Sofia dies.”
Dante stared at Mara.
“No.”
She touched the ring.
“You said this means protection.”
“It does.”
“Then protect me while I do it.”
His face tightened.
Mara lowered her voice.
“We need the recorder.”
“I know.”
“We need Sofia.”
“I know.”
“Then trust me.”
That was harder for him than fighting.
She saw it.
Finally Dante nodded.
“One condition.”
“What?”
“I dive with you.”
Mara almost argued.
Then nodded.
They entered the water together.
Cold darkness swallowed them.
Belladonna appeared below.
Burned hull.
Twisted steel.
A graveyard of secrets.
Mara found the engine access.
Collapsed.
Exactly as expected.
She squeezed through.
Dante followed.
Inside, sediment filled the corridor.
She reached the recorder housing.
Empty.
Her heart dropped.
Someone had already taken it.
Dante pointed.
Scratches.
Fresh.
A diver had beaten them there.
Then Mara saw something wedged behind the housing.
A waterproof pouch.
She pulled it free.
Inside was a smaller data module.
A decoy?
Dante signaled upward.
They surfaced.
Chaos.
Gunfire.
Sebastian’s crew fighting another team.
Victoria’s people had arrived by helicopter.
Sofia was gone.
Sebastian too.
Adrian shouted from Dante’s vessel.
“Move!”
Mara climbed aboard.
Dante followed.
She held up the data module.
“We got something.”
Adrian looked toward the salvage ship.
“They got Sofia.”
“Who?”
“Victoria.”
Dante’s face changed.
Then Sebastian’s voice came over the open radio.
Panicked.
For the first time.
“She took her.”
Dante stared at the salvage vessel.
Sebastian continued.
“Victoria took Sofia.”
Mara looked at Dante.
Sebastian’s next words shocked everyone.
“Help me get my daughter back.”
Dante went still.
May you like
Adrian whispered:
“His daughter?”
