Chapter 6 - The Vault Beneath the City
The railway vault was beneath an abandoned station in Lower Manhattan.
Genevieve, Mateo, Preston, and Eleanor entered through a maintenance tunnel.
The air was cold.
The walls were wet.
Every sound echoed.
Mateo held a flashlight.
Genevieve followed.
Preston stayed behind them.
He had changed.
He no longer looked like the privileged heir who had abandoned his bride.
He looked like a man desperate to repair something impossible.
“Why are you helping us?” Genevieve asked.
“Because my father is not the only person I betrayed.”
“Who else?”
“You.”
She remained silent.
He continued.
“I thought marrying you would save my family.”
“And now?”
“Now I know my family is the reason you needed saving.”
They reached the vault.
The code required four numbers.
Eight.
Four.
One.
Four.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with hard drives.
Documents.
Photographs.
And recordings.
Eleanor stared.
“My mother kept all this?”
“She knew Vale would come.”
Genevieve opened the first file.
It contained evidence of political bribery.
The second showed money laundering.
The third contained murder orders.
The fourth was a list of judges.
Genevieve stared.
This wasn't only a criminal organization.
It was an entire network.
Mateo found another folder.
Coretti.
He opened it.
Inside were records of his father making illegal deals.
Mateo went still.
“My father.”
Genevieve touched his arm.
“You don't have to read it.”
“Yes.”
He opened everything.
There was proof that Mateo's father had ordered multiple killings.
There was also proof that Mateo himself had been watched since childhood.
A final document explained why.
His father had feared Mateo would discover the truth.
Mateo closed the file.
“I thought I knew who he was.”
“You knew who he wanted you to think he was.”
He looked at Genevieve.
“That's what this entire city has been doing.”
A gunshot rang out.
The vault door slammed.
They were trapped.
Vale's men entered.
Mateo pushed Genevieve behind a steel cabinet.
Preston fired.
Eleanor shouted.
The battle was brief.
But when it ended, Preston had been shot.
Genevieve caught him.
“Preston.”
He looked at her.
“I finally did something useful.”
“Don't talk.”
He smiled.
“I deserve that.”
Mateo's men arrived.
They cleared the vault.
But Vale had escaped with one hard drive.
The most important one.
Genevieve stared at the empty slot.
“What was on it?”
Eleanor's face went pale.
“Your grandmother's final list.”
“Of what?”
“People she knew would betray her.”
Genevieve's stomach tightened.
“Who was on it?”
Eleanor looked at her.
“You.”
Genevieve stared.
“Me?”
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Your name was marked as the heir.”
Beneath it was another name.
Mateo.
Then Preston.
Then Amelia.
Then…
Genevieve's blood ran cold.
The final name belonged to someone they trusted completely.
Josiah Blake.
Mateo's oldest adviser.
Genevieve turned to Mateo.
“Blake.”
His face hardened.
“He has been with me for twenty years.”
“He's listed here.”
Mateo grabbed the paper.
The note beside Blake's name said:
He will betray the family when the heir appears.
Silence.
Then Mateo whispered,
“He knew.”
The next day, Blake disappeared.
So did the remaining trust funds.
Genevieve's mother received a message.
YOUR DAUGHTER MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN HER HUSBAND AND HER FAMILY.
Then a second message arrived.
MEET ME AT THE CHAPEL WHERE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MARRIED.
Genevieve looked at Mateo.
“It's the cathedral.”
He nodded.
“The wedding.”
She smiled bitterly.
“Everything comes back to that.”
May you like
Mateo took her hand.
“This time, you won't stand alone.”
