Chapter 7 - Elias had spent fifteen years visiting a grave that contained nothing.He had never questioned it.
That was the part that haunted him most.
The Marchetti mausoleum stood beneath an old church outside Chicago.
By dawn, Elias, Maeve, Gabriel, and Daniel stood inside the sealed crypt.
The marble coffin bearing Elias's father's name had been opened.
Empty.
Maeve stared into the darkness.
“So where is he?”
Elias didn't answer.
Daniel held the small metal key.
“The ledger wasn't the only thing hidden here.”
“What else?”
Daniel pointed toward the wall.
Gabriel moved closer.
There was a narrow metal panel beneath the stone.
He inserted the key.
Click.
The wall opened.
Inside sat a metal box.
Elias took it.
His hands were steady.
His eyes were not.
He opened the box.
A photograph.
A blood-stained notebook.
And a small cassette tape.
Elias stared at the photograph.
It showed four men standing together.
His father.
Salvatore.
Daniel Ashford.
And a fourth man whose face had been scratched out.
Maeve looked at it.
“Who is that?”
Elias whispered.
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked terrified.
“Yes, you do.”
Elias turned.
“What?”
Daniel pointed at the notebook.
“Read the first page.”
Elias opened it.
There were only seven words.
IF ELIAS FINDS THIS, TRUST NO ONE.
Below the sentence was his father's signature.
Elias looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel's face was pale.
“What?”
Gabriel said nothing.
Maeve noticed.
“You know something.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Elias closed the notebook.
“Then why do you look afraid?”
Gabriel finally whispered:
“Because I recognize the handwriting.”
“Whose?”
“My father's.”
The room went silent.
Elias looked at him.
“You're saying your father knew mine?”
Gabriel nodded.
“They worked together.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Elias stepped closer.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because my father disappeared.”
“Disappeared where?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“After your father's death.”
Elias stared.
Then the cassette tape began to hiss.
Gabriel had brought an old player from the security vehicle.
They pressed play.
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Elias's father.
“If you are hearing this, they failed to bury the truth with me.”
Maeve felt chills run down her arms.
The recording continued.
“The black circle is not an organization.”
Pause.
“It is a bloodline.”
Elias stopped breathing.
“They infiltrated families. They created alliances through marriage. They removed anyone who refused to obey.”
Static.
Then:
“The woman closest to me is one of them.”
Elias looked at Maeve.
His father's voice continued.
“If she ever tells my son that she loves him, he must run.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Maeve looked at Elias.
“Who was he talking about?”
Elias didn't answer.
Then his phone rang.
Gabriel picked it up.
His face changed.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“There was an attack at the hospital.”
Elias's blood went cold.
“Who?”
“Margaret Ashford is missing.”
“And Sienna?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Missing too.”
Maeve stood.
“My brother?”
“Safe.”
“Then who took them?”
Gabriel looked at Elias.
“We found a message.”
“What message?”
Gabriel handed him the phone.
A photograph of Margaret and Sienna sitting in a dark room.
Both alive.
A clock behind them.
The time was visible.
Nine hours.
Nine minutes.
Nine seconds.
Under the photograph were six words.
BRING THE GIRL OR THEY BOTH DIE.
Maeve's stomach dropped.
“Which girl?”
Elias looked at her.
“You.”
She felt the room tilt.
Then the phone rang again.
Unknown number.
Elias answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Hello, Elias.”
He froze.
Maeve watched his face change.
Because Elias knew that voice.
“Who is this?”
The caller laughed.
“You've spent fifteen years searching for me.”
Elias's grip tightened.
“Daniel.”
“No.”
A pause.
“You called me Uncle all your childhood.”
Maeve's blood went cold.
May you like
The caller whispered:
“Salvatore sends his love.”
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