Chapter 15
After the rolls were placed in the heavy commercial ovens to bake, Maya cleared a spot on the flour-dusted marble counter. Sophia sat on her wooden stool, a fresh sheet of parchment paper laid out before her, clutching a set of colored pencils that Rosa had found in a drawer.
Maya sat beside her, sipping a cup of black coffee. "Draw me a story, Sophia," Maya said gently. "Draw whatever you're thinking about."
Sophia picked up a gray pencil and began drawing heavy, mechanical shapes. She drew three massive, tall cylinders standing side by side. Next to them, she drew a tall, thin chimney stack made of red lines.
Maya watched closely, her heart beginning to beat a little faster. "What are those big circles, Sophia?"
"The tall metal towers," Sophia whispered, her small brow furrowed in deep concentration. "When Mommy and I were in the car... the bad men put a blanket over my head. But I looked out the bottom."
Maya leaned in closer, keeping her voice soft and calm. "What did you see out the bottom, sweetie?"
"Big white towers," Sophia said, using the red pencil to draw a tiny shape near the top of the chimney stack. "And a star. A silver star on the red wall. And the water made a loud horn sound. Bhoooong."
Maya’s eyes widened. She stared at the drawing. Three massive storage tanks. A red brick smokestack with a faded silver star logo. A foghorn near the water.
Maya remembered her early morning drives delivering wholesale flour across the borough. The old, abandoned Atlantic Sugar Refinery on the waterfront in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It had been closed for twenty years, surrounded by decaying piers, decorated with a massive, historic brick smokestack bearing the old star emblem.
Maya stood up so fast her wooden chair scraped loudly against the tile floor. She grabbed the parchment paper. "Sophia, stay here with Rosa for one minute. I'll be right back."
Maya sprinted out of the kitchen, taking the grand stairs two at a time, her heart pounding against her ribs. She threw open the heavy oak doors of the library without knocking.
Dante, Luca, and three armed capos snapped their heads toward her, guns half-drawn.
"Dante!" Maya gasped, holding up the drawing, her breath coming in ragged hitches. "Look at this!"
Dante stepped forward, taking the parchment from her hands. "What is this, Maya?"
"It’s not just a drawing!" Maya shouted, pointing at the red chimney and the silver star. "Sophia remembered what she saw under the blanket when they kidnapped her mother! The three storage tanks, the star emblem on the red brick, the foghorn! It’s the abandoned Atlantic Sugar Refinery at the edge of the Red Hook docks!"
Luca stared at the paper, his mouth slightly open. "The old sugar refinery... it’s been abandoned since nineties. It’s off the main grid, right on the water, perfectly isolated."
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Dante stared at the red star drawn by his five-year-old daughter, his pale gray eyes lighting up with a sudden, terrifying fire. The cold, lethal boss returned in an instant, his frame straightening as authority surged through him.
"Luca!" Dante barked, his voice ringing through the estate like a battle horn. "Mobilize the heavy assault team. Four tactical SUVs. Full body armor, silenced rifles. We hit the Red Hook refinery in two hours."
