Chapter 10 - Three DoorsTen minutes.
Three doors.
One choice.
Salvatore stared at the screens.
"No."
The grandmother's expression remained calm.
"Yes."
Matteo searched the walls.
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't."
Salvatore looked toward the monitoring system.
"He's lying."
The grandmother smiled.
"Perhaps."
Salvatore turned.
"What do you mean?"
She pointed toward the central panel.
"The vault was built by men who understood one thing better than money."
"What?"
"Choices."
Every second mattered.
The countdown started.
9:42.
Adelaide's face appeared on one screen.
She was tied to a chair.
Luciano appeared on another.
His hands were restrained.
The third screen showed Ella's mother.
She was crying silently.
Salvatore looked at Ella.
She was standing frozen.
"Uncle?"
"I'm here."
"Save Mommy."
"I will."
The grandmother spoke.
"Choose."
Salvatore looked at the buttons.
A.
B.
C.
Then he remembered.
The ledger.
Pressure.
Threats.
Isolation.
Transfer.
Confession.
He asked:
"What happens when the time reaches zero?"
The grandmother smiled.
"Someone dies."
"No."
"What?"
"The system doesn't need a choice."
She stared.
"How do you know?"
"Because whoever built this wanted the victim to believe they had control."
Matteo looked at him.
"What are you thinking?"
Salvatore pointed at the three doors.
"They're not separate."
He moved toward the wall.
The three screens were connected.
Each camera feed came from the same corridor.
"Look."
Matteo followed.
The camera angles overlapped.
There was a hidden junction.
A fourth room.
Not shown.
Salvatore grabbed a crowbar.
His men helped tear through the wall.
Behind the concrete was a narrow passage.
He smiled.
"Found it."
The grandmother's face changed.
"No."
They rushed into the tunnel.
At the end was a control room.
Inside sat a laptop.
On the screen was the live feed.
Nolan stood over Ella's mother.
Salvatore raised his weapon.
"Drop it."
Nolan looked at the camera.
Then laughed.
"You think you found me?"
A door behind Nolan opened.
Someone entered.
Salvatore froze.
Hattie.
She wasn't carrying a gun now.
She was holding the missing black ledger.
Nolan looked at her.
"Give it to me."
Hattie shook her head.
"No."
Nolan's smile disappeared.
"What?"
"You promised my son would be safe."
Salvatore stared.
"Your son?"
Hattie looked toward the camera.
Her eyes met Salvatore's.
"I wasn't starving Adelaide for Nolan."
"Then why?"
"Because I was trying to protect Ella."
She opened the ledger.
"Your grandmother wanted to use the child as a blood key."
"Nolan wanted the vault."
"And I wanted my son."
Salvatore asked:
"Where is your son?"
Hattie looked away.
"Dead."
The room fell silent.
"Nolan killed him because he saw the wrong thing."
Hattie lifted the ledger.
"That's why Adelaide was starved."
She turned to Salvatore.
"Your mother knew who killed my son."
Adelaide's face appeared on another screen.
She whispered:
"I didn't."
Hattie screamed:
"You saw him!"
Adelaide shook her head.
"I saw the mask."
Hattie froze.
Salvatore realized something.
"The mask."
He looked at the photograph from the banquet.
The mysterious woman.
The guest.
The one who smiled at Camera 17.
Salvatore whispered:
"She was wearing a mask."
A voice answered behind them.
"You finally remembered."
They turned.
The woman from the basement stood in the doorway.
She removed a black veil.
Her face was scarred.
But Adelaide recognized her immediately.
"Helena."
Helena smiled.
"The last witness."
Then she held up a small object.
A memory card.
"The truth isn't in the ledger."
She looked at Salvatore.
"It's in this."
A shot rang out.
Helena collapsed.
The memory card flew across the floor.
May you like
Nolan's men stormed the room.
And someone grabbed Ella.
