Chapter 4 - The Dead Man's Message
I stared at the note.
Sophia was trembling.
“That can't be his handwriting.”
“I know it.”
“Matthew is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then someone has his handwriting.”
I looked at the crib-sized bed where Luca had slept.
I hadn't realized how much noise a child made until the house became silent.
A stuffed bear lay on the floor.
One shoe sat beside the bed.
The other was missing.
I picked up the note.
“Why would they take Luca?”
Sophia answered quietly.
“Because he's the easiest way to control you.”
I looked at her.
“You sound like someone who's lived this before.”
She hesitated.
“Matthew once told me there were people who believed your family owed them something.”
“What?”
“Forty million dollars.”
“The debt.”
She nodded.
“But it wasn't financial.”
“What was it?”
“Blood.”
The word made no sense.
She explained.
Matthew had discovered a secret agreement made by my father decades earlier.
The Moretti family had promised a rival family protection after a failed operation.
Instead, my father had betrayed them.
Their leader was killed.
His wife disappeared.
His child disappeared.
Now someone was collecting the debt from the next generation.
I thought of the seven names in the ledger.
Then I remembered Vincent Rane.
“What family?”
Sophia swallowed.
“The Bellandos.”
I knew the name.
I had thought the Bellando bloodline ended years ago.
Apparently not.
“Who survived?”
“We never found out.”
I called Marcus.
“Find every Bellando connected to New York.”
He nodded.
While he searched, we followed another clue.
The missing shoe.
Luca's second shoe had a small tracking device sewn into it by security.
I accessed the signal.
It was moving.
Across Brooklyn.
Toward the docks.
Warehouse 17 again.
Someone wanted me there.
I went.
Sophia insisted on coming.
Inside, the place was dark.
A projector turned on.
Luca appeared on the wall.
He was sitting in a chair.
His hands were tied.
But he wasn't crying.
A man's voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Alessandro.”
I raised my weapon.
“Where is my son?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt him—”
“Your threats are meaningless.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
Elena.
Alive.
My heart stopped.
She was standing in an unknown room.
The photograph had been taken the day she died.
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
The man laughed.
“Your wife knew everything.”
“Who are you?”
A pause.
“Someone who has waited a long time.”
The image changed.
Luca.
Then Sophia.
Then me.
“You brought them together yourself.”
Sophia whispered,
“Who is this?”
The voice answered.
“Your husband knew me.”
She covered her mouth.
“Impossible.”
The projector shut off.
A door slammed somewhere upstairs.
Marcus searched.
Nothing.
Then I saw a message painted on the wall.
ONE DEBT FOR ONE LIFE.
Beneath it was a location.
An old church.
We went there before dawn.
The church had been abandoned for years.
Inside, candles burned.
Luca sat in the front pew.
His hands were untied.
He saw me and ran.
“Dad!”
I caught him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Who brought you?”
Luca pointed toward the altar.
A woman stood there.
She was older.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
She looked at Sophia.
“Hello, darling.”
Sophia froze.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
The woman smiled.
“My real name is Eleanor Bellando.”
Sophia stepped backward.
“No.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I am your mother.”
Sophia began crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“So did everyone.”
I looked at Sophia.
“You knew her?”
“She's my mother.”
The betrayal was deeper than I expected.
The woman walked closer.
“I didn't kidnap Luca.”
“Then who did?”
“I rescued him.”
“From whom?”
“Gabriel.”
I raised my weapon.
“What?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“You're still protecting him.”
“Explain.”
“Gabriel took Luca.”
I laughed.
“That makes no sense.”
“Then ask him.”
The church doors opened.
Gabriel stood there.
He looked exhausted.
“She's telling the truth.”
I turned.
“Did you take my son?”
“Yes.”
My blood boiled.
“You betrayed me.”
“No.”
“You tied him up.”
“To keep him hidden.”
“From whom?”
Gabriel looked at Eleanor.
“Rane.”
Eleanor interrupted.
“Not Rane.”
She pointed behind me.
A gunshot cracked.
Sophia screamed.
The church windows shattered.
Men stormed through the doors.
Gabriel tackled me.
“Down!”
Bullets tore through the pews.
Eleanor ran toward Sophia.
Marcus returned fire.
We escaped through a side entrance.
Outside, Gabriel grabbed my arm.
“I had to take Luca.”
“You had no right.”
“They were coming for him.”
“Then tell me everything.”
“I couldn't.”
“You lied to me.”
“I lied because Elena made me promise.”
I froze.
“What promise?”
Gabriel looked at Sophia.
“She made me promise to protect all of you.”
I stared.
“You knew Elena was alive?”
“No.”
“You saw the photograph.”
“So did I.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the photograph is old.”
I looked at him.
“How old?”
“The night she died.”
I felt something break inside me.
The photograph wasn't proof she survived.
It was proof she was alive after the attack began.
That changed everything.
Gabriel pulled out a tiny memory card.
“Elena gave this to me.”
“Where did you get it?”
“She slipped it into my coat before the car exploded.”
I stared.
“You had this for three years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was waiting for the right time.”
I took it.
Inside was a video.
Elena appeared.
Blood covered her forehead.
Her breathing was shallow.
“Adrian.”
I couldn't look away.
“If you're watching this, I didn't die in the car.”
I stopped breathing.
“I was taken.”
Sophia covered her mouth.
Elena continued.
“Someone inside your organization arranged the attack.”
She looked terrified.
“Don't trust Gabriel.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
I stared at him.
The video continued.
“Not because he's the traitor.”
I froze.
“Because he is being watched.”
Elena whispered,
“And the person watching him is the only one who knows where the debt came from.”
The video ended.
I looked at Gabriel.
“Who?”
May you like
He whispered,
“My father.”
