Chapter 3 - Ethan's Message
The old train station had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Dante went anyway.
Not alone.
He simply made sure whoever was watching believed he had.
Raphael stayed two blocks away.
Three armed men waited inside a utility building.
Two snipers covered the roof.
Dante entered the station at exactly eleven.
Snow fell through holes in the old roof.
No one was there.
Then a small voice came through an old speaker.
"Mister."
Dante stopped.
"Ethan?"
Silence.
Then:
"Don't bring Lucy."
Dante's blood ran cold.
"Where are you?"
"You have to find the red door."
Dante moved deeper into the station.
There were twelve doors.
Only one was red.
He opened it.
Inside was a storage room.
No boy.
Only another chess piece.
A white knight.
Dante picked it up.
A tiny note was taped underneath.
ONE PLAYER DOESN'T KNOW THE GAME IS ALREADY OVER.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Dante dropped behind a concrete barrier.
His men returned fire.
Three attackers fled.
One was caught.
Dante pulled him into the light.
"Where is the boy?"
The man laughed.
"You're late."
"Where?"
"Ask your brother."
Dante stared.
Marco.
He had been right all along.
Back at the estate, Dante confronted his brother.
Marco was sitting in the library with a glass of whiskey.
"You look angry."
"Where is Ethan?"
Marco didn't move.
"What are you talking about?"
Dante closed the door.
"Anna's son."
Marco finally looked at him.
"You're making accusations without proof."
"I found the recordings."
Marco's expression changed.
Only for a second.
But Dante saw it.
"You know something."
"I know people lie."
"Did you know Anna was investigating you?"
Marco laughed.
"Anna was a maid."
Dante stepped closer.
"She was smarter than you."
Marco stood.
"Careful."
"Where is Ethan?"
"I don't have him."
"Then who does?"
Marco stared at his brother.
"I don't think you want the answer."
Dante's voice dropped.
"Try me."
Marco looked toward the windows.
"Father's old associates."
"Our father is dead."
"Not all of his arrangements died with him."
Dante stared.
"What did he leave?"
Marco swallowed.
"An agreement."
"What agreement?"
Marco refused to answer.
Dante grabbed him by the collar.
"What agreement?"
Marco whispered:
"Anna's husband found a ledger."
"What ledger?"
"The Black Book."
Dante released him.
"Where?"
"Your father hid it."
"Where?"
Marco laughed bitterly.
"You're standing in it."
Dante looked around the library.
Then he remembered the grandfather clock.
He opened the wooden panel behind it.
A narrow compartment appeared.
Empty.
Except for a torn page.
Dante picked it up.
There were names.
Payments.
Dates.
And one name circled twice.
Belladonna.
He knew it.
The private nickname used by his mother.
Dante's blood ran cold.
"Why would my mother be in this?"
Marco's face changed.
"Now you understand."
"Understand what?"
"Father didn't run the organization alone."
Dante stared.
"My mother?"
Marco shook his head.
"Not her."
"Then who?"
Marco pointed to the circled name.
"That's not your mother's name."
He leaned closer.
"That's the code name of the person who built the network."
Dante looked at the page.
"Who?"
Marco's voice dropped.
"Our mother died before we were born."
Dante froze.
"What?"
Marco smiled sadly.
"Our mother was gone before Father married his second wife."
Dante stared.
He had spent thirty-nine years believing one woman had raised him.
Now his brother was telling him she had never been his mother at all.
Before he could ask another question, the estate alarm sounded.
Raphael's voice came through the intercom.
"Sir! Someone breached the east wing!"
Dante ran.
He reached the nursery.
The window was open.
The curtains moved in the cold wind.
Lucy was gone.
Dante stopped breathing.
On the bed sat one thing.
The black rook.
And underneath it, a note.
BRING THE LEDGER.
OR THE GIRL DISAPPEARS LIKE HER MOTHER.
Dante stared at the words.
Then he heard a child's voice through the house speakers.
"Mister Dante?"
He looked up.
Lucy's voice.
"Don't be scared."
Dante grabbed the intercom.
"Lucy!"
A man's voice came over the line.
"Midnight."
Then silence.
Dante looked at Raphael.
"Find her."
"We will."
"No."
May you like
Dante's eyes hardened.
"I will."
