Chapter 4 - Ruth Had Hidden One Last Recording Inside Tommy’s Toy Rabbit, and It Revealed Who Had Been Ordering Children to DisappearWe reached the safe house.
The children slept.
Dante refused to put Tommy down.
He sat in a chair with the boy against his chest.
The sight was strange.
A crime boss holding a sleeping five-year-old.
Like the world had tilted.
I searched Ruth's notebook.
There was one clue.
Rabbit.
Tommy's stuffed rabbit.
I took it.
There was a small zipper beneath the ear.
Inside was a USB drive.
Dante stared.
“Ruth hid it in his toy.”
“Yes.”
We plugged it into the computer.
A video opened.
Ruth.
Alive.
Tired.
Scared.
“Olivia, if you're watching this, I'm probably gone.”
My throat tightened.
“If Dante ever finds Tommy, tell him the truth.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Your son was taken from me because someone wanted leverage.”
“I tried to fight.”
“I failed.”
Then she held up a document.
“Six families.”
“All connected to the same program.”
“Program Nine.”
Dante leaned forward.
“Program Nine?”
Ruth continued.
“The children aren't being kidnapped for money.”
“They are being used to control their parents.”
“Every parent who refused to cooperate disappeared.”
“And someone inside the Calvetti organization is selling them.”
Dante whispered:
“Victor.”
Ruth shook her head.
“Not Victor.”
I froze.
“Someone higher.”
Dante's expression hardened.
Ruth continued.
“Victor is only following orders.”
“Your father's closest adviser still controls the old network.”
A name appeared.
Gideon Calvetti.
Dante's uncle.
Dead for sixteen years.
Dante stared.
“My uncle?”
Ruth nodded on the recording.
“Gideon is alive.”
“He runs Program Nine.”
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“He knows about Tommy.”
“He knows about Olivia.”
“He knows where the other children are.”
The video ended.
Dante stood.
“We're going back.”
“Where?”
“To the mansion.”
“Why?”
“Because my uncle has been hiding under my roof.”
I looked at the children.
“We can't take them.”
“We won't.”
“We?”
He stared at me.
“Yes.”
Then he walked over.
He knelt beside Lily.
“You're safe.”
She stared.
“Are you Tommy's daddy?”
“Yes.”
“You're scary.”
He almost smiled.
“I'm trying not to be.”
Lily thought.
“You're doing okay.”
Dante laughed softly.
It was the first time I heard him laugh around the children.
Then he stood.
We left before dawn.
The mansion looked unchanged.
But beneath it was an entire hidden world.
Dante's father had built it.
Victor had inherited it.
And Gideon was controlling it.
The question was why he had waited seven years to reveal himself.
The answer came from a hidden screen.
Gideon's face appeared.
“Welcome home, nephew.”
Dante froze.
Gideon smiled.
“You found your son.”
Dante stared.
“Where are the other children?”
May you like
Gideon laughed.
“Exactly where they've always been.”
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