Chapter 10 - THE MAN UNDER THE CHAPELThe coordinates from the phone call led them to a church outside the city.
An old stone building.
Abandoned.
Luca entered with Elena and Marco.
Beneath the chapel they found a tunnel.
The tunnel led to a private room.
Inside sat an old man.
White hair.
Thin frame.
A scar across his cheek.
Luca stared.
Connor Costello looked up.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Connor smiled.
"You look like your mother."
Luca raised his gun.
"You watched me suffer."
Connor's smile disappeared.
"I watched you survive."
"You let them poison me."
"I had no choice."
"Everyone says that when they want forgiveness."
Connor looked at Elena.
Then at Maya.
His expression softened.
"So she's the girl."
Maya stepped forward.
"I'm Maya."
Connor nodded.
"Yes."
Luca stepped between them.
"Don't talk to her."
Connor looked back at his son.
"I know what Anthony has told you."
"Anthony kidnapped my daughter."
"Anthony is afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of you."
Luca laughed bitterly.
"I've been in a wheelchair for twelve years."
Connor's eyes moved to Luca's legs.
"You were never supposed to walk again."
"You did this."
"No."
Connor leaned forward.
"I saved you."
Luca nearly fired.
Connor continued.
"Your body was damaged deliberately. But the poison was designed to leave the nerves intact."
"Why?"
"Because I needed you alive."
"For what?"
Connor looked at Maya.
"For the moment when the second heir was revealed."
Luca's expression hardened.
"Who is the second heir?"
Connor said nothing.
Elena did.
"Maya."
Connor looked at her.
"You are clever."
Luca stepped forward.
"What did you do to my daughter?"
"Nothing."
"Then why were people watching her?"
"Because the child carries the key."
"The key to what?"
Connor smiled.
"The family trust."
Luca frowned.
"There is no hidden fortune."
Connor laughed.
"Of course there is."
He reached into a drawer.
He removed a document.
"The Costello empire is not owned by you."
Luca stared.
"Who owns it?"
Connor pushed the paper forward.
"The children of the next generation."
Luca read.
The document named a child.
Maya Harper.
His daughter's name.
Luca's heart stopped.
Then he saw the second name.
Another child.
A boy.
Connor looked at him.
"That is the child Anthony is trying to find."
"Where is he?"
Connor's face hardened.
"You already know him."
Luca suddenly thought of Tommy.
The patched clothes.
The suspicious eyes.
The strange knowledge.
He remembered Tommy telling him rich men helped until they got bored.
He remembered Tommy finding the hidden room.
Tommy had been too curious.
Too capable.
Too perfectly placed.
Luca whispered:
"Tommy."
Connor nodded.
"He is the second heir."
Elena looked horrified.
"Who is his mother?"
Connor looked at Luca.
"The woman your brother murdered."
Before Luca could ask another question, the chapel exploded.
Stone shattered.
Connor was thrown across the room.
Luca grabbed Maya.
Smoke filled the tunnel.
Marco shouted:
"Move!"
They ran.
Behind them, gunfire erupted.
Luca looked back.
Connor was gone.
So was Tommy.
And on the floor where Connor had been standing was a single envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Tommy.
Standing beside Anthony.
Taken six months earlier.
Luca stared at it.
Tommy had not accidentally found the estate.
May you like
He had been sent.
But by whom?
