Chapter 7 - The Hidden Prison Beneath the Mansion
Gabriel revealed the truth with the calmness of a man who had already won.
He had been inside Alessandro's security operation for eight years.
He had built blind spots.
He had copied credentials.
He had manipulated surveillance.
He had allowed enemies access whenever it suited him.
But the biggest revelation was worse.
He had not kidnapped Emma.
He had arranged for Alessandro to find her.
“You needed someone to make you vulnerable,” Gabriel said.
Alessandro's gun remained fixed on him.
“You chose the wrong family.”
Gabriel smiled.
“No. I chose exactly the right one.”
I pulled Emma behind me.
Gabriel looked at her.
“The child is the key.”
“To what?”
“The vault.”
Alessandro looked at the ledger.
“You mean the old family vault.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Not the vault beneath the chapel.”
He pointed downward.
“The vault beneath your mansion.”
My blood chilled.
“We're not going anywhere with you.”
Gabriel looked at Alessandro.
“You don't understand.”
His voice became almost gentle.
“Your father didn't hide money under the mansion.”
“He hid people.”
The words struck like lightning.
“People?”
“Witnesses.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
Gabriel continued.
“Women. Children. Accountants. Anyone who knew what the organization was doing.”
I stared at him.
“Trafficking?”
“Yes.”
Alessandro's hand tightened around the weapon.
“My mother was one of them.”
“Your mother wasn't a prisoner.”
Gabriel smiled.
“She was the organizer.”
Silence.
Alessandro stepped back.
“No.”
“She created the system.”
“Liar.”
“She didn't want the truth exposed because the truth would destroy her.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't true.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your mother knew.”
“How?”
“She was Elena's sister.”
I felt sick.
“And she protected the network?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“She tried to destroy it.”
That changed everything.
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Your mother found the records. She stole them. She hid them inside the rabbit.”
I looked at Bunny.
“She did?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Emma have it?”
“Because your mother gave it to you.”
I remembered.
The night before she died.
Her trembling hands.
Her strange words.
“Never let anyone take Bunny.”
I had thought she was delirious.
Now I understood.
Gabriel approached.
“She knew someone would come for it.”
Alessandro raised the gun higher.
“And you spent years searching.”
“Years.”
“Why not take it?”
“Because the rabbit only mattered when the person protecting it could be identified.”
I understood.
“You were looking for me.”
“Yes.”
“And Emma.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Because the final ledger isn't complete without a blood witness.”
Before he could explain further, the chapel doors exploded open.
Alessandro's men stormed inside.
Gabriel spun.
Gunfire erupted.
I dropped.
Emma screamed.
Alessandro grabbed her.
“Stay down!”
Gabriel fled through a hidden passage.
Alessandro followed.
I wanted to go with him.
Instead, I heard a strange metallic click beneath the floor.
A trapdoor opened.
Men emerged.
One grabbed me.
Another grabbed Emma.
I screamed.
“Alessandro!”
He turned.
His face became pure fury.
The attackers dragged us underground.
We fell through darkness.
Then the lights came on.
We stood inside a vast underground chamber.
Rows of locked rooms.
Old files.
Boxes.
Photographs.
And on one wall, dozens of names.
Alessandro Moretti.
Elena Moretti.
My mother.
Me.
Emma.
I could barely breathe.
“This was the vault.”
The door locked behind us.
Gabriel's voice echoed through speakers.
“You finally came home, Alessandro.”
He appeared on a screen.
“Welcome to the place your family buried its sins.”
Alessandro slammed his fist against the steel door.
“Open it.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Your problem has always been anger.”
He looked at Emma.
“Her problem is blood.”
I held her tighter.
“You won't touch her.”
“Oh, I won't.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Someone else will.”
A second screen appeared.
It showed Luca tied to a chair.
Luca was bleeding.
Next to him stood a woman.
I recognized her from the old photograph.
Elena.
Alessandro stopped breathing.
“Mother?”
The woman slowly lifted her face.
She was older.
But unmistakable.
“Alessandro.”
His knees almost buckled.
“No.”
Elena began crying.
“You shouldn't have found me.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Alessandro stared.
“Why?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because every person who knew the truth was hunted.”
“Who hunted you?”
Elena looked toward Gabriel.
But Gabriel interrupted.
“Not me.”
He pointed toward another screen.
A photograph appeared.
A man stood beside a young Alessandro.
His uncle.
Matteo Moretti.
Alessandro's eyes widened.
“My uncle.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He controls the remnants of the old network.”
Alessandro looked sick.
“He's dead.”
“No.”
Gabriel smiled.
“He's been waiting.”
A voice came through the speakers.
Deep.
Old.
Familiar.
“Hello, nephew.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
“Matteo.”
“Bring me the rabbit.”
“No.”
“Then the girl dies.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
I held Emma tighter.
He looked at me.
I shook my head.
“Don't.”
He stepped closer.
“I won't let them take her.”
“But they want the rabbit.”
“I know.”
“Then give it to them.”
He shook his head.
“It's not the real key.”
“What?”
He looked at the capsule.
“The message said the fifth name was a place.”
He finally understood.
“The rabbit is the map.”
We examined the toy.
Its stitching contained tiny symbols.
A route.
Coordinates.
The path led directly beneath the chapel.
To another chamber.
Alessandro smiled.
“They want the vault.”
I stared.
“What vault?”
“The real one.”
He looked at Emma.
“And they've been using us to find it.”
The walls suddenly shook.
Gabriel's voice returned.
“Five minutes.”
The chamber lights turned red.
An alarm began.
Elena screamed from the other room.
“They're flooding the lower level!”
May you like
Alessandro grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
