Chapter 3 - I left the building through the back entrance.Not because I was afraid.
Because I had finally learned something far more dangerous than fear.
I was being watched.
Everywhere.
My mansion.
My cars.
My businesses.
Maybe even my bedroom.
For twelve years, I had believed I controlled Chicago.
That night, I realized I had been living inside a cage without knowing where the bars were.
Beatrice drove.
I sat in the back seat.
Luca lay hidden beneath blankets in the trunk compartment.
“Why are you helping him?” I asked.
She kept her eyes on the road.
“He saved my life.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
“How?”
“He could have let your people kill me.”
I frowned.
“My people?”
“You don't remember?”
“No.”
She laughed quietly.
“You don't remember a lot of things.”
The sentence bothered me.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, a black SUV appeared behind us.
Beatrice saw it.
She accelerated.
I checked the side mirror.
The SUV followed.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
The SUV slammed into our rear bumper.
Luca woke in the hidden compartment.
“What happened?”
“Hold on!”
Beatrice swerved.
The SUV followed.
We tore through an intersection.
A truck honked.
Gunfire erupted.
The rear window shattered.
I pulled my pistol.
“Drive faster!”
“There are police ahead.”
“Then turn.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
She pointed ahead.
A police barricade.
Not random.
Waiting.
“They knew our route.”
I felt cold.
Someone had predicted exactly where we would go.
Beatrice turned sharply into a parking garage.
The SUV followed.
We went down two levels.
Then Beatrice stopped.
“Out.”
I grabbed Luca.
We ran between concrete pillars.
Footsteps echoed behind us.
Then a familiar voice.
“Adrian!”
I stopped.
Dominic.
He entered the garage with four men.
“Boss, don't make this difficult.”
Luca grabbed my arm.
“Don't trust him.”
Dominic raised both hands.
“Your brother is manipulating you.”
I stared at him.
“Why did my father write your name?”
His expression changed.
Only for half a second.
But I saw it.
“You found the notebook.”
Dominic smiled.
“So he survived.”
The words hit harder than a gunshot.
I lifted my pistol.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew.”
Dominic sighed.
“Adrian, there are things your father did that you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
Dominic looked at Beatrice.
“She was never just a maid.”
Beatrice's face tightened.
Dominic continued.
“She has been working against you for six years.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
He smiled.
“Ask her who paid her to enter your house.”
Silence.
I turned toward Beatrice.
She didn't deny it.
My stomach tightened.
“Who paid you?”
“No one.”
Dominic laughed.
“Still protecting them.”
I aimed at him.
“Answer me.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“She was recruited by the same people who kept your brother alive.”
I looked at Luca.
He lowered his eyes.
I felt betrayed by everyone.
“Luca.”
He whispered,
“It's complicated.”
That was when the garage lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Gunfire exploded.
Men shouted.
Someone grabbed my coat.
I fired blindly.
A body fell.
Then emergency lights came on.
Dominic was gone.
Beatrice was gone.
Luca was gone.
Everyone was gone except me.
And a dead man on the concrete.
I approached him.
He wore a police badge.
I searched his pocket.
Found an old photograph.
My father.
My mother.
Luca.
Dominic.
And a fifth person.
Someone I didn't recognize.
On the back were four words.
THE ORIGINAL FIVE.
Then another slip of paper fell from the dead man's hand.
I picked it up.
It contained an address.
I knew the address.
Everyone in Chicago knew it.
Saint Vincent Cemetery.
Burial site of my father.
I stared at the paper.
My phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice spoke softly.
“Adrian.”
“Who is this?”
“You have spent twelve years looking for your brother.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the reason your brother is alive.”
“Where is he?”
A pause.
Then:
“Before you find Luca, dig up your father.”
The line went dead.
May you like
I looked toward the parking garage exit.
For the first time in my life, I wondered whether the dead were easier to trust than the living.
Related Stories
