Chapter 5: My Mother's Last Warning
2123 Words
The gunshot shattered the silence.
Luca pulled me behind a row of lockers as another bullet struck the metal door above us. The impact sent rust and dust falling into my hair.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
“What about the recorder?”
“Forget it.”
“It has Mother’s message!”
“And you’ll never hear the rest if you’re dead.”
He leaned around the corner and fired twice toward the emergency exit. The shots echoed violently through the abandoned room, followed by the sound of running footsteps.
“Did you see them?” I whispered.
“Black jacket. Mask. Probably male.”
“That describes half the people who work for Dante.”
Luca gave me a sharp look. “Not helping.”
The voice recorder lay several feet away. Its red light continued blinking while Mother’s recorded voice played beneath the noise.
“There are truths that Dante will never willingly tell you…”
I moved toward it.
Luca caught the back of my coat and dragged me down just as another bullet hit the floor.
“Are you insane?”
“We need that recording!”
“We need to leave.”
The emergency exit opened briefly. A shadow disappeared beyond it, and Luca fired again. This time, a grunt followed.
“You hit him.”
“Maybe.”
“Then we can catch him.”
“Elena, this isn’t one of your mystery novels.”
“No. In those, people usually explain things before someone starts shooting.”
Luca grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the recorder. He kept his body between mine and the exit while reaching down to retrieve it.
The plastic casing had cracked, but Mother’s voice was still audible.
“If the locker has been opened, you must find Father Gabriel. He knows—”
The recording suddenly stopped.
Luca pressed the button several times.
“No,” I said. “Play it again.”
“It’s damaged.”
“Fix it.”
“I’m carrying a gun, not a toolbox.”
A door slammed somewhere in the corridor.
Luca shoved the recorder into his jacket. “We’re leaving.”
“But Mother said—”
“I heard her.”
“Who is Father Gabriel?”
“I don’t know.”
“You hesitated.”
“I’m trying to remember while someone is attempting to kill us.”
He pulled me through the old locker room. We followed the wet footprints toward the emergency exit, moving carefully around the corner.
The corridor beyond was empty.
A small amount of blood stained the wall near the door.
“You did hit him,” I said.
“Stay behind me.”
The blood formed a broken trail leading toward a staircase. Luca followed it until we reached the upper landing, where the marks abruptly disappeared.
“He cleaned it,” I whispered.
“Or someone helped him.”
“Do you think he came alone?”
“No professional attacks without an exit plan.”
The sound of an approaching engine rose outside. Luca looked through the narrow window and cursed.
“What is it?”
“Security vehicles.”
“From the station?”
“Worse.”
Black SUVs stopped outside the building. Men stepped onto the pavement, and even from a distance, I recognized the De Santis crest on one of their jackets.
“Dante found us.”
“How?”
Luca checked his phone. “He probably tracked the car.”
“You used a family security vehicle?”
“I was working with limited time.”
“You said you had a brilliant plan.”
“I also said it felt poorly organized.”
Footsteps entered the corridor below us.
Luca returned his gun to its holster. “Give me the key.”
“Why?”
“If Dante searches you, he’ll find it.”
“And if he searches you?”
“I’m more experienced at lying.”
“That is not comforting.”
“Elena.”
I handed him the silver key. He slipped it into his shoe moments before Dante appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
Dante climbed slowly, his expression unreadable. Four armed guards followed him, but his eyes remained fixed on us.
Blood marked Luca’s sleeve. Dust covered my coat. Neither of us could pretend we had taken a peaceful evening drive.
“What happened?” Dante asked.
“Someone shot at us,” I answered.
His gaze immediately moved over my body, searching for an injury.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Luca?”
“Not my blood.”
Dante reached the landing and stopped in front of him.
“You took her out of the house.”
“Yes.”
“You disobeyed a direct order.”
“Yes.”
“You brought her to an unsecured location.”
“In my defense, it was only moderately unsecured until the bullets started.”
Dante punched him.
The blow sent Luca into the wall.
“Dante!” I stepped between them. “He saved me!”
“He endangered you.”
“I would’ve come alone if he hadn’t helped.”
“That does not improve his decision.”
Luca touched his bleeding lip. “She’s right.”
“Be quiet.”
“Gladly.”
Dante turned toward me. His control had cracked, revealing the fear beneath his anger.
“Why would you do this?”
“Because you refuse to tell me anything.”
“So you followed instructions from an unknown person?”
“Noah gave me the key.”
“And that made it safe?”
“No. It made it my only chance.”
“To find what?”
I glanced at Luca.
Dante noticed.
“What was inside the locker?”
“Nothing,” Luca said.
“Someone shot at you over an empty locker?”
“It was already open when we arrived.”
Dante stepped closer. “What did you find?”
I could feel the recorder hidden inside Luca’s jacket. If Dante discovered it, he might destroy the only remaining part of Mother’s message.
“A photograph,” I lied.
“Of what?”
“A woman I didn’t recognize.”
“Where is it?”
“The shooter took it.”
Dante stared at me for several long seconds.
“You touch your necklace when you lie.”
I lowered my hand from the chain.
“Apparently both of you know that.”
“You’re coming home.”
“I want to know who attacked us.”
“My men will handle it.”
“They always handle everything, and I never receive an answer.”
“This discussion is over.”
“No, it isn’t. Mother left that locker for me.”
His expression hardened. “Is that what Carter told you?”
“It was written on the key.”
“So you did have one.”
I said nothing.
Dante looked toward Luca. “Give it to me.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Search them,” Dante ordered.
Two guards moved forward.
Luca immediately raised a hand. “Think carefully before you let your men touch your sister.”
“They won’t touch her. They’ll search her coat.”
“I’m not taking it off,” I said.
Dante’s gaze returned to me. “Don’t make this more difficult.”
“You mean don’t make it difficult for you to control me.”
“I’m trying to determine why someone knew you would be here.”
“Perhaps they followed us.”
“No one followed you from the estate.”
“Then how did you find us?”
“The vehicle has a tracker.”
I looked accusingly at Luca.
He shrugged. “Limited time.”
Dante held out his hand. “The key.”
Before either of us answered, one of his guards approached from the staircase.
“Sir, we found a man outside.”
“Alive?”
“Yes. He has a gunshot wound.”
Luca smiled faintly. “I told you I hit him.”
“Who is he?” Dante asked.
“He won’t give us a name. But you should see this.”
The guard handed Dante a small card stained with blood.
All color disappeared from Dante’s face.
“What is it?” I asked.
He closed his fist around the card. “Nothing.”
I moved closer. “Let me see.”
“No.”
“Does it have my real name on it?”
Dante looked at the guards. “Take her to the car.”
“I’m not leaving until you show me.”
“Elena.”
I reached for the card, but he pulled his hand away. Luca used the distraction to take the recorder from his jacket and slide it into my coat pocket.
The movement was quick, yet Dante noticed.
“What did you give her?”
“Nothing.”
“Search her.”
Luca stepped in front of me. “I wouldn’t recommend that.”
The guards hesitated, unwilling to choose between the two brothers.
Then a scream came from downstairs.
Dante drew his gun and ran toward the staircase. Luca pushed me against the wall before following him.
“Stay here.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
A second scream echoed through the building, followed by several men shouting.
I ignored Luca and hurried downstairs.
The wounded attacker was lying near the entrance, surrounded by guards. Blood covered his shirt, but that was not what had caused the panic.
Black foam spilled from his mouth.
“Poison,” one of the men said. “He had something hidden in his tooth.”
The attacker’s body convulsed once before becoming still.
Dante crouched beside him and removed the mask.
I had never seen the man before.
Luca checked his neck for a pulse. “He’s dead.”
“Search him,” Dante ordered.
A guard examined the attacker’s pockets and removed a phone, a knife, and an old silver necklace.
The necklace was identical to mine.
I touched the chain around my neck.
“Where did he get that?”
No one answered.
Dante took the necklace from the guard and turned it over. A small symbol had been carved into the back—a crown surrounded by thorns.
The same symbol existed on my necklace.
“What does it mean?” I demanded.
Dante closed his hand around it.
“We leave now.”
“I asked you a question.”
“And I said we’re leaving.”
Luca rose slowly. “She deserves an answer.”
Dante looked at him. “Not here.”
“Then when?”
“After I know who else is watching.”
I glanced toward the dark windows. Someone had known about the locker, Mother’s recording, and the exact moment we arrived.
Perhaps they were still nearby.
During the drive home, I sat between Luca and Dante. Neither spoke. The damaged recorder remained hidden in my coat while Dante held the attacker’s card.
Every few minutes, he looked at it as though the words printed there could kill us.
When the mansion appeared beyond the trees, I finally broke the silence.
“Who is Father Gabriel?”
Dante’s head turned sharply.
Luca’s entire body became tense.
I pulled the recorder from my pocket.
“Mother mentioned him before this stopped working.”
Dante stared at the cracked device.
“You heard her voice?”
“Yes.”
“What else did she say?”
“That you aren’t my enemy.” I paused. “But you aren’t innocent either.”
Pain crossed his face.
“Give me the recorder.”
“No.”
“Elena, the man who attacked you died to protect this secret.”
“Then it must be worth hearing.”
Dante looked toward the driver. “Turn the car around.”
“Where are we going?” Luca asked.
“To the cathedral.”
My heart began beating faster.
“Why?”
Dante opened his fist and finally showed us the bloodstained card.
A message was printed beneath the symbol of the thorned crown.
FATHER GABRIEL HAS CONFESSED.
THE GIRL MUST DIE BEFORE SHE LEARNS HER NAME.
Dante met my eyes.
“Because Father Gabriel disappeared twenty-one years ago.”
He turned the card over.
On the back was a recent photograph of an elderly priest standing outside the cathedral.
Beside him was Noah Carter.
And beneath Noah’s face, someone had drawn a red circle.
“He isn’t helping you find the truth,” Dante said quietly.
“He’s leading them directly to you.”
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