CHAPTER 6: The Race to the Silent Chapel
The young police officer collapsed beside his motorcycle.
Blood spread across the dirt road beneath him.
For a split second, the entire world froze.
Even Miguel's bodyguards looked toward the distant tree line where the sniper's shot had come from.
Ethan sprinted forward.
"Stay with me!"
He dropped to his knees and pressed both hands against the officer's chest, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
The officer's breathing came in shallow, ragged gasps.
He grabbed Ethan's shirt with surprising strength.
"The... chapel..."
His lips trembled.
"Basement..."
"What basement?" Ethan asked urgently.
The officer struggled to focus.
"Bell tower..."
"Hidden... entrance..."
Then his grip loosened.
His hand fell to the ground.
The night became eerily silent.
A single clap echoed through the darkness.
Miguel.
He slowly applauded, his face unreadable.
"What a waste."
Ethan looked up, fury burning in his eyes.
"You killed him."
Miguel shrugged.
"I didn't."
"But someone clearly doesn't want you learning what's inside that chapel."
He looked toward the hill in the distance.
"We're both running out of time."
Another voice suddenly crackled through the loudspeaker.
Not Miguel's.
A distorted electronic voice.
"Retrieve the archive."
"Eliminate all witnesses."
The transmission ended.
Miguel's expression changed instantly.
For the first time that night...
He looked genuinely surprised.
One of his bodyguards hurried over.
"Sir..."
"That wasn't one of ours."
Miguel's jaw tightened.
"I know."
Ethan noticed it immediately.
Someone else was involved.
Someone powerful enough to order armed men around.
Someone Miguel himself wasn't expecting.
The realization hit him like ice water.
His brother wasn't the only villain.
He might not even be the biggest one.
Suddenly, headlights flashed from the opposite direction.
Three pickup trucks roared down the dirt road.
Construction company logos covered their doors.
They screeched to a stop beside Ethan.
More than a dozen workers jumped out carrying flashlights, hard hats, and heavy tools.
"Boss!"
Carla climbed out of the lead truck, breathing hard.
"We tracked your vehicle."
She stopped as she saw the armed convoy.
"...What happened here?"
Ethan answered without taking his eyes off Miguel.
"Long story."
Miguel laughed quietly.
"You brought construction workers."
Ethan stood.
"I brought witnesses."
"And people who don't scare easily."
The workers instinctively formed a line in front of the elderly couple.
Several held steel pipes.
Others carried heavy sledgehammers from the construction site.
They weren't soldiers.
But they weren't backing down either.
Miguel studied them for a moment.
Then smiled.
"Interesting."
His phone rang.
He answered immediately.
Nobody else could hear the caller.
As the conversation continued, Miguel's confident expression slowly faded.
"...What?"
"...Impossible."
"...Who found it?"
He ended the call without another word.
For the first time in Ethan's life...
He saw fear in his brother's eyes.
Miguel looked toward the chapel.
Then back at Ethan.
"They've already started."
Without another explanation, he turned toward his SUV.
His bodyguards looked confused.
"Sir?"
"We're leaving."
"What about him?"
Miguel opened the vehicle door.
"If we're late..."
"...none of this will matter."
Within seconds the convoy accelerated away from the house, racing toward the hill where the abandoned chapel stood.
Everyone watched in stunned silence.
Carla looked at Ethan.
"Are we following them?"
His father answered before Ethan could.
"Yes."
"We have no choice."
He slowly reached into the steel box again.
"There was one thing I didn't show you."
From beneath the stack of property deeds, he removed a small cloth pouch.
Inside lay an old brass key unlike any Ethan had ever seen.
Its head was shaped like a church bell.
His father held it carefully.
"Your grandfather told me..."
"...this opens the door no one knows exists."
Minutes later, Ethan's convoy headed toward the abandoned chapel.
Rain began falling.
The narrow mountain road became slick with mud.
Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly illuminating the old stone structure on the hill.
It looked abandoned.
Forgotten.
Almost swallowed by nature.
But tonight...
It wasn't empty.
Dark vehicles surrounded the chapel.
Some belonged to Miguel.
Others didn't.
Ethan parked two hundred meters away.
"No headlights."
Everyone continued on foot.
As they approached, voices drifted through the rain.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Armed men surrounded the chapel from every direction.
They wore different uniforms.
Different vehicles.
Different insignias.
Two separate groups.
Facing each other.
Carla whispered,
"They're not together..."
Ethan nodded.
"They're rivals."
From behind a fallen stone wall, they watched the confrontation unfold.
Miguel stood opposite a tall man in a black raincoat.
The stranger's face remained hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat.
His voice was calm.
"You lied to us."
Miguel replied coldly,
"I told you the archive was destroyed."
The stranger laughed.
"No."
"You hid it."
The mysterious man raised one hand.
Several armed guards dragged an elderly priest into the open.
His hands were tied.
His face bruised.
The old priest looked exhausted but defiant.
Ethan's mother gasped softly.
"Father Gabriel..."
The priest lifted his head.
Despite the rain, his eyes searched the darkness.
Almost as if...
He knew Ethan was there.
The man in the raincoat pressed a pistol against Father Gabriel's head.
"You have one minute."
"Open the hidden chamber."
The priest smiled weakly.
"I buried better men than you."
The stranger's patience vanished.
He cocked the pistol.
Miguel suddenly stepped forward.
"Wait."
"I have the key."
Every eye turned toward him.
The stranger frowned.
"You said the key was lost."
Miguel reached slowly into his coat.
Then stopped.
His face hardened.
He looked directly toward the darkness...
Toward the place where Ethan was hiding.
He smiled.
"No..."
"The key isn't with me."
"It's with my little brother."
Dozens of armed men turned their flashlights toward Ethan's position at once.
The darkness exploded into blinding white beams.
A voice shouted:
"There!"
May you like
Gunfire erupted.
End of Chapter 6
