Chapter 4 - The Safe Held a Name That Connected Norah’s Dead Father to Lorenzo’s FamilyWe arrived at an abandoned church just after midnight.
It had been closed for fifteen years.
Lorenzo’s men searched it twice.
Then he locked the doors himself.
There were no cameras.
No phones.
No guards inside.
Only Lorenzo and me.
He looked at my necklace.
“Open it.”
“I don't know the combination.”
“You said it was a key.”
“It opens a box. The box needs a code.”
“What code?”
“My birthday.”
I stared at the old wooden table.
My hands shook.
I entered the code on a small metal lockbox hidden beneath the church floorboard.
Click.
Lorenzo crouched beside me.
The box opened.
Inside was a notebook.
A flash drive.
And an old photograph.
I picked up the photograph first.
My father stood beside another man.
I didn't recognize him immediately.
Then I saw the sign behind them.
Rossi Shipping Company — 1998.
The man beside my father was a younger Lorenzo's father, Matteo Rossi.
My breath caught.
“They knew each other.”
Lorenzo stared.
“Yes.”
I opened the notebook.
Pages of names.
Dates.
Payments.
Shipments.
Codes.
Most were meaningless.
Then I found one page circled in red.
PROJECT ROSA
Underneath:
Lorenzo Rossi — protected
Norah Sullivan — eliminate if discovered
My hands went cold.
Lorenzo read over my shoulder.
He went completely still.
“What is Project Rosa?”
“I don't know.”
He took the notebook.
Flipped pages.
Then stopped.
“This date.”
“What?”
“November 12, 2010.”
“What happened?”
“My mother died.”
I looked at him.
He turned another page.
“Three days later, your father disappeared from the Rossi shipping records.”
I swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means our fathers were connected to the same operation.”
“Operation to do what?”
Lorenzo looked at the flash drive.
“We find out.”
He plugged it into an old laptop.
Encrypted.
Password protected.
He looked at me.
“You said the key was your father's.”
“Yes.”
“The inscription?”
“R-17.”
He typed it.
Rejected.
I thought.
Then remembered something.
“My father used dates.”
“What date?”
“The day my mother died.”
I entered it.
The screen unlocked.
Thousands of files appeared.
Lorenzo stared.
“Financial transfers.”
“From whom?”
“Politicians. Judges. Police.”
My stomach twisted.
“And?”
He opened one folder.
PROJECT ROSA — PHASE TWO
Inside was a list of names.
Lorenzo Rossi.
Daniel Reed.
Vincent Hale.
Thomas Gable.
Mrs. Gable.
And me.
My breath disappeared.
“Everyone inside the mansion,” I whispered.
Lorenzo read the names.
Then another document appeared.
Primary Objective: Remove Lorenzo Rossi.
Secondary Objective: Recover Sullivan Archive.
“What archive?”
I looked at him.
“The notebook.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to a file.
Sullivan Archive — Family Records
“What is that?”
“I don't know.”
A second file opened automatically.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Lorenzo’s father.
And another man.
The third man's face was crossed out.
At the bottom were five words:
He still runs the house.
My heart pounded.
“Who is that?”
Lorenzo zoomed in.
Then froze.
I watched him carefully.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
His voice became almost inaudible.
“My uncle.”
“Is he dead?”
“He was declared dead fourteen years ago.”
I stared at the screen.
A new message appeared.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO OPEN THIS.
The laptop went black.
Then the church doors slammed.
Someone outside shouted.
“Lorenzo!”
Gunfire erupted.
He pulled me behind him.
“Stay down.”
Bullets tore through the wooden doors.
Lorenzo fired through the wall.
We ran toward the back room.
Another explosion shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
I looked at him.
“Who is your uncle?”
Lorenzo's jaw clenched.
“Massimo Rossi.”
“The dead man?”
He nodded.
May you like
Then whispered—
“Apparently, he's very much alive.”
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