Chapter 4 - The Basement No One Was Allowed To Open
The old Bellucci estate had a basement Dante had never entered.
His father had forbidden it.
When Dante was fifteen, he asked why.
His father said there were things a man could live with and things he could never unknow.
Dante had accepted the answer.
Now he broke the lock.
Inside was a corridor lined with concrete walls.
At the end stood an iron door.
The ledger was inside.
Or so Marco claimed.
Dante brought him down.
"Open it."
"I don't have the key."
Dante stared.
"You know where it is."
Marco sighed.
He removed a ring.
One key was hidden beneath the stone on the floor.
The door opened.
Inside were boxes.
Documents.
Photographs.
Weapons.
And a black leather book.
Dante picked it up.
The Black Book.
He opened the first page.
His father's handwriting.
Names of politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
Paid informants.
People who had protected the Bellucci empire.
Then he saw Anna's husband's name.
Daniel Carter.
Next to it:
FOUND LEDGER. REMOVE.
Dante's hands tightened.
"Father ordered his death."
Marco looked away.
"Yes."
"What about Anna?"
"She kept searching."
"And Lucy?"
Marco whispered.
"They needed leverage."
Dante stared at him.
"You let this happen."
Marco's face twisted.
"I tried to stop it."
"How?"
"I warned Anna."
"Not enough."
"No."
A gunshot echoed above them.
Dante and Marco looked at each other.
Someone was inside the house.
They ran upstairs.
Raphael was fighting two men in the hallway.
Dante fired once.
The second attacker dropped his weapon.
"Where's Lucy?"
The man laughed.
"You're too late."
Dante grabbed him.
"Where?"
"Saint Agnes."
An abandoned church.
Dante knew it.
He took three cars.
They arrived within minutes.
The church was dark.
Dante entered through the side door.
"Lucy!"
Nothing.
Then a child's sob.
He followed it.
Behind the altar, he found a locked room.
Inside was Lucy.
Alone.
Cold.
Terrified.
Dante broke the door.
She ran to him.
He lifted her immediately.
"You came."
"I promised."
She buried her face in his neck.
"Ethan was here."
Dante froze.
"Where?"
"He made them mad."
"What did they do?"
"They took him through the door."
"What door?"
She pointed toward the wall.
A hidden passage.
Dante found a narrow staircase.
It led underground.
But Ethan was gone.
There was only a small red toy car on the floor.
Lucy reached for it.
"That's his."
Dante picked it up.
"He left it."
"Why?"
"Maybe so we'd find him."
Dante looked at Raphael.
"Then we find him."
On the drive back, Lucy slept against Dante.
Marco sat opposite them.
After an hour of silence, he said:
"I know where Ethan is."
Dante looked at him.
"Where?"
"At the Bell Tower."
"Why?"
"Because that's where Father kept witnesses."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"Then tomorrow we end this."
Marco looked out the window.
"There is one thing you need to know."
"What?"
"The person giving the orders isn't my father."
Dante stared.
"My father died six years ago."
Marco shook his head.
"I know."
"Then who?"
Marco's answer came quietly.
"Your mother."
Dante looked at him.
"Our mother is dead."
May you like
Marco whispered:
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
