Chapter 5 - The Black Sedans
The heavy rain pounded against the metal roofs of the idling black sedans parked in the alleyway below the bell tower. Through the rain-streaked glass, the silhouettes of men in dark suits sat motionless, staring up at the stone balcony.
"Who are they, Dad?" Lily whispered, stepping out from the shadows of the staircase. Her voice cut through the howling wind.
Julian flinched, looking back at his daughter with a look of pure terror. "Lily, get back down the stairs! I told you not to follow me!"
"Drop the envelope, Julian!" Miller commanded, taking a cautious step forward while keeping his weapon aimed. "Those cars belong to the syndicate, don't they? You've been laundering money for organized crime."
"You don't know the kind of people we're dealing with!" Julian screamed, his voice breaking as lightning illuminated the entire tower in a blinding flash of white. "If I give you those checks, they kill Lily. If I give them to the syndicate, they kill all of us!"
Miller didn't lower his gun, but a flicker of hesitation crossed his face. "Federal protection exists, Julian. But you have to cooperate right now."
"Protection?" Julian let out a bitter, choking laugh. "They found us in three different states over five years, Miller! There is no protection!"
Down in the alley, one of the rear doors of the middle sedan swung open. A tall man wearing a dark trench coat and a wide-brimmed fedora stepped out into the rain. He didn't use an umbrella. He simply stood there, looking up toward the bell tower with an unnerving, calm posture.
The man raised his left wrist, checking his watch under the streetlamp, then pointed a small laser pointer directly at Julian's forehead. A tiny red dot danced across the terrified man's skin.
"Dad, move!" Lily screamed, lunging forward and tackling her father around the waist just as a sharp, suppressed crack echoed from the alley below.
A bullet pierced the stone balustrade inches from where Julian's head had been a second earlier, sending a shower of sharp granite fragments flying into the air.
Julian and Lily tumbled hard onto the dusty wooden floor of the bell tower. Miller immediately dropped to one knee, firing two warning shots down toward the alley before dragging Julian and Lily behind the thick bronze support of the massive cathedral bell.
"They've got spotters!" Miller cursed, pressing his radio mic against his shoulder. "Backup! This is Miller! We need tactical units at St. Jude Cathedral right now! Shots fired!"
Julian clutched the brown envelope, which had torn open during the fall, spilling several cashier's checks onto the dusty floor. He scrambled to gather them, but his hands were shaking too violently to hold the paper.
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Lily looked down at one of the checks resting near her sneakers. Scrawled on the back of the municipal document was not a bank endorsement, but a handwritten address and a single name she recognized instantly: her grandfather's old law firm.
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