Chapter 5 - The Uncle Who Wanted to Die
Thomas Moretti waited in the old wine cellar.
Lorenzo entered with Nolan behind him.
Thomas looked older than he remembered.
Tired.
Broken.
“I want to tell you everything.”
Lorenzo pointed a gun at him.
“You've got five minutes.”
Thomas nodded.
“Elena found me six months ago.”
“Why?”
“She wanted information.”
“About Gideon?”
“Yes.”
“Why you?”
“Because I helped your father.”
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
“You helped kill Luca.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I helped cover up what happened.”
“Same thing.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Fear.”
Lorenzo laughed bitterly.
“That's everyone's excuse.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Your father discovered that Gideon was using the foundation to traffic children.”
Lorenzo went silent.
Thomas continued.
“Not physically.”
“Paperwork.”
“Fake medical charities.”
“Money laundering.”
“Adoption records.”
“Identity changes.”
Lorenzo understood.
Children were being moved through falsified charity systems.
Gideon's network made money by controlling legal identities and exploiting vulnerable families.
Elena had discovered the truth.
Luca discovered it too.
He threatened to expose them.
Thomas had tried to stop him.
Not by killing him.
By hiding evidence.
Then Luca was murdered anyway.
Thomas had spent years carrying the guilt.
“And Elena?”
“She wanted the evidence.”
“Where is she?”
“Gideon has her.”
“Then why did she say you took her?”
“Because she wanted me to lead you to this.”
He handed Lorenzo a key.
“What is it?”
“A vault.”
“Where?”
“Under the old Saint Vincent hospital.”
Lorenzo knew the place.
Abandoned.
Closed after a fire.
“What is inside?”
“Everything.”
Lorenzo didn't trust him.
But he went.
The vault was real.
Inside were ledgers.
Video tapes.
Medical records.
Photographs.
And proof that Commissioner Kane had been working for Gideon for twenty years.
Lorenzo stared.
“That's why he knew about Sophie.”
Thomas nodded.
“Gideon has people everywhere.”
Then they heard a sound.
A woman coughing.
They turned.
Elena was behind a steel door.
Alive.
Bruised.
But standing.
Lorenzo rushed forward.
“Lorenzo.”
He opened the door.
Elena stumbled into his arms.
“I knew you'd come.”
He helped her sit.
“Where's Gideon?”
“Gone.”
“What did he want?”
“The trust.”
“Why?”
“Because the evidence is attached to it.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“And Sophie?”
“Safe.”
Elena closed her eyes in relief.
“Thank God.”
Lorenzo crouched.
“You need to tell me everything.”
She nodded.
“My father stole money from Gideon.”
“The forty-seven million.”
“Yes.”
“Why was it put in Sophie's name?”
“To keep Gideon from finding it.”
“What does the trust actually contain?”
“Not money.”
She looked at him.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“Names.”
“Politicians.”
“Judges.”
“Doctors.”
“Businessmen.”
“Men who were supposed to protect children.”
Lorenzo went cold.
“This is bigger than Philadelphia.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you go to the police?”
“Because Kane is one of them.”
That explained the fear.
Elena touched his arm.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Your mother knew.”
Lorenzo froze.
“My mother?”
“She helped me hide.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew what Gideon had done.”
“And she never told me.”
“She wanted you out.”
Lorenzo sat back.
“My entire family knew.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody trusted me with the truth.”
Elena's expression softened.
“You were twenty-seven.”
“I could have handled it.”
“No.”
“Don't decide that for me.”
She looked down.
“You're right.”
Lorenzo's anger softened.
Then Elena said:
“Sophie isn't just the beneficiary.”
“What else?”
“She has the final access code.”
“To the vault?”
“To everything.”
“Does she know?”
“No.”
“She can't possibly.”
Elena shook her head.
“She doesn't know the code.”
“What is it?”
“A phrase.”
“What phrase?”
Elena looked at him.
“You already heard it.”
Lorenzo frowned.
Then remembered.
Sophie had said one sentence repeatedly.
Can you take me to Mommy?
He stared at Elena.
“That?”
“Yes.”
“That's the code?”
“Yes.”
The system had been designed by someone who understood that adults could be forced to speak.
A child could not.
The phrase could only be given willingly.
Lorenzo understood.
“That means Gideon needs Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“And you.”
“Yes.”
“So the child was always the target.”
“Not the money.”
“The code.”
Elena nodded.
Lorenzo stood.
“We're moving Sophie.”
“No.”
He turned.
“What?”
“She has to stay.”
“Absolutely not.”
“If you move her, Gideon will follow.”
“I'll kill him first.”
Elena shook her head.
“That is what he wants.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Let him come.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“You want to use my home as bait.”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he thought of Sophie.
The little girl who had walked barefoot through rain because she trusted him.
He couldn't risk her.
But he couldn't run forever.
He returned to the estate.
Sophie was sitting by the window.
She looked at him.
“Mommy?”
“She's safe.”
Sophie smiled.
Lorenzo knelt.
“Do you remember the words Mommy told you?”
“Yes.”
“The special words.”
She nodded.
Lorenzo's heart tightened.
“Never say them unless you're safe.”
Sophie looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because they are important.”
She hugged her bear.
“Okay.”
That night, Lorenzo moved security around the estate.
No visible guards.
No unnecessary movement.
Everything quiet.
At 2:31 a.m., the lights went out.
Sophie woke.
She heard footsteps.
Lorenzo was already moving.
He opened her door.
“Come with me.”
She held his hand.
They reached the hidden passage.
Behind them, a voice came through the house speakers.
“Lorenzo.”
Gideon.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Lorenzo looked at Sophie.
Then toward the darkness.
“You should have come yourself.”
Gideon laughed.
“Oh, I did.”
A gunshot shattered the hallway.
The wall beside Lorenzo exploded.
He pulled Sophie behind him.
Nolan returned fire.
Men flooded the estate.
Lorenzo carried Sophie through the passage.
“Where are we going?”
“To the lake.”
She looked at him.
“But Mommy said—”
“I know.”
He ran.
Behind them, Gideon shouted:
“Take the girl alive!”
May you like
Lorenzo's face hardened.
Now the real war had begun.
