THE PRICE OF SIN

THE DEAD MAN'S WARNING

Chapter 8

Elena's scream was lost in the symphony of gunfire as Lorenzo pressed her against the tunnel's cold concrete floor. His body was a shield above her, solid and warm and trembling with barely controlled violence.

"Stay down," he growled against her ear, his breath hot against her skin.

But Elena couldn't stop staring into the darkness ahead where her father's voice had come from. The impossibility of it made her feel like she was losing her mind.

"Dad?" she whispered.

"Elena, don't trust him! Lorenzo isn't saving you—he's delivering you!"

The voice was closer now, definitely her father's, but distorted somehow, like it was coming through a speaker or...

"It's a recording," Lorenzo snarled, raising his gun toward the muzzle flashes ahead. "Someone's playing psychological games."

"But it sounds exactly like—"

"Your father's dead, Elena. Whatever you're hearing, it's not him."

More gunfire erupted, closer this time. Lorenzo returned fire, his gun blazing in the confined space. The noise was deafening, and Elena could smell gunpowder and something else—blood.

"Vincent, where the hell are you?" Lorenzo barked into his earpiece.

Static answered him.

"Boss!" A new voice echoed from behind them in the tunnel. "Boss, we got problems!"

Elena recognized the voice as belonging to one of Lorenzo's men from the club, but she couldn't see him in the darkness.

"Talk to me, Marco," Lorenzo called back, never taking his aim off the shadows ahead.

"Building's completely surrounded. Feds, SWAT, and something else. Military maybe. They got the whole block locked down."

Elena's hope spiked. If it was the FBI, maybe they really were here to rescue her. Maybe Phoenix was one of the good guys.

"Elena, sweetheart, you have to run. Now. Before he—"

Her father's voice cut off in a burst of static, replaced by a different voice—mechanical, artificial.

"Elena Rossi. You have something that belongs to us."

Lorenzo's gun arm never wavered, but Elena felt his body tense above her. "Phoenix."

"Lorenzo Santangelo. Still playing with toys, I see."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, echoing off the tunnel walls. Elena realized whoever was speaking was using some kind of sound system built into the tunnels themselves.

"What do you want?" Lorenzo called out.

"You know what we want. The girl has access to information that could compromise national security."

Elena's mind raced. National security? What could her father possibly have known that was important to the federal government?

"She doesn't know anything," Lorenzo shouted back.

"Perhaps. But she has something even more valuable—her father's genetic code."

Elena's blood turned to ice water. "What does that mean?"

Lorenzo's face had gone completely white. "It means your father lied about more than just his job."

"Elena," the artificial voice continued, "your father wasn't just an accountant who got mixed up with criminals. He was Dr. David Rossi, former biochemist for the Defense Department. He worked on classified projects before he disappeared fifteen years ago."

Elena felt like the world was spinning beneath her. "That's impossible. My father couldn't even program the TV remote."

"Your father stole government secrets worth billions of dollars. Biological weapons research, genetic enhancement protocols, viral manipulation techniques." The voice was getting closer, and Elena could see figures moving in the darkness ahead. "He used his accounting business as a cover while he sold those secrets to the highest bidders."

"You're lying!" Elena screamed into the darkness.

"Am I? Ask Lorenzo what the Santangelo family really does with all those shipping containers from overseas."

Elena looked up at Lorenzo, whose jaw was clenched so tight she could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.

"Lorenzo?" she whispered.

"Not now, principessa."

"The biological weapons your father stole," Phoenix continued, "have been modified and sold to terrorist organizations worldwide. The Santangelos have been the distribution network. And Elena—sweet, innocent Elena—you carry your father's genetic markers in your blood."

Elena's world tilted. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're the key to unlocking research worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Research that could create plagues, enhance soldiers, or develop the ultimate biological weapon." The voice paused. "Your DNA is a weapon, Elena. And every government in the world wants it."

Lorenzo suddenly grabbed Elena's arm and hauled her to her feet. "We're moving. Now."

"Where are we going?"

"Away from them." Lorenzo pushed her ahead of him down a side passage she hadn't noticed before. "Away from everyone who wants to use you."

They stumbled through the narrow passage, Elena's heels making her clumsy on the uneven ground. Behind them, she could hear shouting and the sound of boots on concrete.

"Lorenzo," Elena gasped as they ran, "is it true? About my father?"

"Some of it." Lorenzo's voice was grim. "Your father was Dr. David Rossi. He did work for the government. But he didn't steal those secrets to sell them."

"Then why?"

"He stole them to destroy them. To make sure they could never be used." Lorenzo pulled her around a corner into another tunnel. "Your father was trying to be a hero, Elena. Unfortunately, heroes don't usually live long in my world."

They emerged into what looked like an underground parking garage, but one that had been abandoned for years. Rusted cars sat on flat tires, and water pooled on the cracked concrete floor.

Lorenzo pulled out his phone and made a call. "It's me. I need extraction. Location Zulu-Seven." He paused, listening. "How long? Fine. We'll hold position."

"Who was that?" Elena asked.

"The only person left who might help us." Lorenzo's expression was grim. "My brother."

"You have a brother?"

"Marco. Younger, stupider, and completely psychotic. But he's family." Lorenzo checked his gun's ammunition. "He'll get us out of the city, but it'll cost us."

"Cost us what?"

Before Lorenzo could answer, Elena's phone buzzed with another text: "Elena, it's Dad. I'm not dead. Meet me at the place where we scattered Mom's ashes. Come alone. Trust no one else."

Elena's hands shook as she showed Lorenzo the message. "How is this possible?"

Lorenzo read the text, his face cycling through confusion, anger, and something that might have been fear. "It's not possible. I saw the coroner's report. I saw the body."

"Then who's sending these messages?"

"Someone who knows entirely too much about your family." Lorenzo grabbed Elena's arm. "Where did you scatter your mother's ashes?"

"Red Rock Canyon. There's a overlook she loved..." Elena trailed off as the implication hit her. "You think someone's trying to lure me there?"

"I think someone's playing a very dangerous game." Lorenzo's grip tightened. "And we're the pieces."

The sound of approaching engines echoed through the garage. Lorenzo tensed, raising his gun.

"That better be Marco."

Three black SUVs roared into the garage, their headlights blazing. Elena squinted against the glare as armed figures poured out of the vehicles.

"Lorenzo!" A voice called from the lead SUV. "You always did know how to throw a party!"

The speaker emerged into the light—a younger version of Lorenzo, but where Lorenzo was controlled violence, this man was chaos incarnate. Marco Santangelo had the same dark hair and sharp features as his brother, but his eyes held a wildness that made Elena's skin crawl.

"Marco." Lorenzo's relief was palpable. "What took you so long?"

"Had to lose a federal tail. Apparently, half the alphabet agencies are very interested in our family tonight." Marco's gaze found Elena, and his smile turned predatory. "And this must be the famous Elena Rossi. The girl who's caused so much trouble."

"She's under my protection," Lorenzo said quickly.

"Is she now?" Marco circled Elena like a shark. "Interesting. Big brother's never protected anything that didn't benefit the family."

Elena pressed closer to Lorenzo, instinctively seeking his protection despite everything he'd done to her. Compared to Marco's unhinged energy, Lorenzo seemed almost safe.

"We need to move," Lorenzo said. "Phoenix has the building surrounded."

"Phoenix?" Marco's expression shifted. "I thought that was just a rumor."

"It's real. And they want Elena."

Marco's gaze swept over Elena again, this time with calculation rather than lust. "What's so special about college girl?"

"That's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it. Fast."

Lorenzo hesitated, then pulled Marco aside. Elena could hear fragments of their whispered conversation: "...biological weapons..." "...genetic markers..." "...father was government scientist..."

Marco's eyes widened, and he looked at Elena with new interest. "Madonna santa. She's worth more than the entire family business."

"She's not for sale," Lorenzo said firmly.

"Everything's for sale, brother. You taught me that."

Elena's phone buzzed again. This time it was a photo—an image that made her gasp out loud.

It showed her mother, alive, standing in what looked like a laboratory. But the timestamp on the photo was from last week.

"That's impossible," Elena breathed.

Lorenzo snatched the phone from her hands, Marco peering over his shoulder. Both brothers went completely still.

"Merda," Marco whispered. "If Maria Rossi is alive..."

"She's not alive," Lorenzo said, but his voice lacked conviction. "I was there when she died. I saw—"

"What did you see, exactly?" Marco's voice was sharp. "A body? Or just what you were supposed to see?"

Elena looked between the two brothers, pieces of a horrifying puzzle starting to click together. "You said you let my mother die. But what if she didn't actually die? What if she just... disappeared?"

Lorenzo's face had gone ashen. "If Maria is alive, if she's been working undercover all these years..."

"Then she's Phoenix," Marco finished. "And she's been planning this for fifteen years."

Elena's phone buzzed one final time: "Elena, this is Mom. I'm coming for you. Don't let Lorenzo out of your sight—he's the only one who can keep you safe until I get there. I love you, baby girl."

The message was signed with something only Elena's mother would know—the pet name she'd called Elena as a child, a name Elena had never told anyone.

"Stellina." Little star.

Elena's mother was alive.

And she was coming.