Chapter 5 - My Best Friend Had Been Lying to Me for Years, and She Knew Where Daniel Was
Sofia smiled sadly.
She had been my best friend for eight years.
She had held me when Daniel's death was announced.
She had brought food when I couldn't afford groceries.
She had babysat Emma.
She had cried at the funeral.
And now she stood in a dark tunnel with a gun pointed at us.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
“Sofia?”
She shook her head.
“Don't come closer.”
Alessandro moved in front of me.
“You work for whom?”
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
“My brother.”
“Who is your brother?”
She swallowed.
“Luciano Romano.”
Vivian gasped.
“My cousin?”
Sofia nodded.
Alessandro understood immediately.
“The Romano family.”
Sofia lowered the gun slightly.
“They forced me.”
“You've been spying on Lena?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Eight years.”
I stared at her.
Eight years.
Every birthday.
Every dinner.
Every conversation.
Everything had been part of a lie.
“You knew Daniel was alive.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
My voice cracked.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because every time I thought about it, I saw Emma.”
Alessandro lowered his weapon.
“You're scared of them.”
Sofia nodded.
“They have my brother.”
Vivian stepped forward.
“Luciano is dead.”
“No.”
Sofia shook her head.
“He isn't.”
Vivian stared.
“He was executed.”
“Fake.”
Alessandro asked:
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Sofia looked at me.
“To stop you from finding Daniel.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The original Black Falcon ledger.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
“Inside a church.”
“Which one?”
“The old San Marco chapel.”
Alessandro turned to Matteo.
“Check it.”
Matteo called.
Seconds later he returned.
“There's nothing there.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Because you're looking in the chapel.”
She looked at the floor.
“It's underneath.”
Alessandro studied her.
“You're telling the truth.”
“I have nothing left to lose.”
Suddenly gunfire exploded from above.
The tunnel shook.
Sofia ducked.
Alessandro pulled me down.
Men stormed through the entrance.
“They found us!”
Matteo fired back.
Sofia crawled toward us.
“Take the side passage!”
We ran.
The tunnel split into three directions.
Sofia pointed.
“Left!”
Alessandro trusted her.
We emerged near the old chapel.
Outside, black cars waited.
Men were everywhere.
Alessandro's guards engaged them.
I held Emma against me.
She clung to my neck.
“Mommy.”
“I'm here.”
“Daddy's close.”
“How do you know?”
“Mr. Bunny told me.”
The rabbit was still inside Matteo's evidence bag.
I stared at Emma.
“How?”
She smiled.
“Mr. Bunny always knows.”
We reached the chapel.
The altar was empty.
Sofia knelt near the stone floor.
She pressed a hidden switch.
A section opened.
Stairs descended.
The air smelled old.
At the bottom was a room.
There was no treasure.
No money.
Only shelves of ledgers.
Alessandro walked toward them.
Then stopped.
A black leather book lay open on a table.
The Black Falcon ledger.
He picked it up.
Names filled every page.
Judges.
Bankers.
Police.
Politicians.
But the final pages contained something else.
Payments for disappearances.
Including:
Daniel Bennett.
Lena Bennett.
Emma Bennett.
I couldn't speak.
They had planned to erase all of us.
Alessandro's hand tightened around the book.
“Who ordered this?”
Sofia pointed to the last page.
A signature.
Eleanor Moretti.
My blood froze.
“My mother?”
Alessandro stared.
“No.”
He flipped the page.
There was a second signature.
Eleanor Moretti had been forced to sign.
Beneath it was another name.
Vivian Romano.
Vivian gasped.
“I never signed that.”
Sofia stared at her.
“They used your name.”
“Why?”
“Because they wanted Alessandro to believe the Romano family betrayed him.”
Vivian looked at Alessandro.
“I swear I didn't.”
He said nothing.
Then another entry appeared.
Daniel had been transferred to a facility in northern Italy.
Alive.
I stepped forward.
“Where?”
The location was marked with an old monastery.
Alessandro closed the ledger.
“We're going.”
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“They moved him.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“Where?”
Sofia looked at me.
“To the Moretti private hospital.”
I felt sick.
“My hospital?”
“Yes.”
Alessandro immediately understood.
“The place where Daniel first disappeared.”
We rushed back to Milan.
But the hospital was already surrounded.
And standing at the entrance was a man I had never seen before.
He looked at me.
Smiled.
Then raised a photograph.
Daniel.
Alive.
He called across the parking lot.
“Lena Bennett.”
I froze.
“Your husband wants to see you.”
Alessandro stepped in front of me.
The man laughed.
“Come closer.”
“No.”
“Then he'll die tonight.”
Emma suddenly screamed.
“Daddy!”
Everyone froze.
She pointed at the photograph.
“He's crying.”
My heart broke.
Alessandro looked at me.
“We're getting him.”
The man smiled.
May you like
“You have one hour.”
Then he disappeared inside the hospital.
Related Stories
