Chapter 7 - THE OLD CHAPELThe chapel stood on the northern edge of the Romano property.
It had been abandoned for years.
The stained-glass windows were shattered.
The wooden pews were rotting.
Tessa stayed close behind Victor.
Paulie and six armed men followed.
The wind pushed against the chapel doors.
Victor raised his hand.
Everyone stopped.
Silence.
Then a child began singing inside.
Tessa's skin prickled.
The melody was familiar.
A lullaby her mother used to sing.
Victor heard it too.
“You know that song?” he whispered.
Tessa nodded.
“My mother sang it.”
Victor stared at the chapel.
“Then we're not alone.”
The doors opened.
Nobody touched them.
Inside, candles burned along the aisle.
At the altar stood an old woman.
Tessa recognized her instantly.
She was Mrs. Callahan.
The missing housekeeper.
Tessa's voice broke.
“You.”
The woman smiled.
Victor raised his gun.
“Move away from the altar.”
Mrs. Callahan laughed softly.
“I've been waiting thirteen years for you to bring her here.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Bring who?”
Mrs. Callahan looked at Tessa.
“The little girl.”
Tessa felt Victor's arm move slightly in front of her.
“Tell me everything.”
Mrs. Callahan shook her head.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She pulled a small envelope from her coat.
“Your father didn't have one secret family.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“He had two.”
Tessa stared.
Mrs. Callahan handed the envelope to her.
“Your mother knew.”
Tessa opened it.
Inside was another photograph.
Two baby girls.
Newborn.
Identical.
Lying beside each other.
Tessa stared in shock.
“I had a twin?”
“Yes.”
Victor took the photograph.
His expression changed.
“Maria.”
Mrs. Callahan nodded.
“Your sister.”
“What happened to her?”
The old woman looked toward Victor.
“Massimo took her.”
Victor's face darkened.
“Why?”
“To control your father.”
Tessa's voice trembled.
“And me?”
“Elena escaped with you.”
“Why didn't she come back for Maria?”
“Because Massimo threatened to kill her.”
Tessa began crying.
“So my mother abandoned my sister?”
“No.”
Mrs. Callahan's eyes filled with sadness.
“She spent twelve years searching for her.”
“Then why did she die?”
The old woman went silent.
Victor stepped forward.
“Answer her.”
“She didn't.”
Tessa stopped breathing.
“What?”
Mrs. Callahan whispered:
“Elena is alive.”
The world seemed to tilt.
Tessa grabbed Victor's sleeve.
“My mother is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The chapel doors slammed shut.
The candles went out.
A gunshot exploded.
Mrs. Callahan fell.
Victor shoved Tessa behind a stone pillar.
“Stay down!”
Bullets tore through the wooden pews.
Paulie returned fire.
The chapel became chaos.
Tessa crouched behind the pillar.
Then someone grabbed her from behind.
A hand covered her mouth.
She tried to scream.
A whisper reached her ear.
“Don't fight me.”
She froze.
The voice was female.
Familiar.
The woman pulled Tessa into the darkness beneath the altar.
“Your mother never abandoned you.”
Tessa turned.
The woman removed a black veil.
Tessa stared into her face.
The same eyes.
The same mouth.
The same scar above the eyebrow.
Her own face.
Older.
Paler.
But unmistakable.
The woman whispered:
“My name is Maria.”
Tessa couldn't breathe.
May you like
Maria smiled sadly.
“And I'm your twin.”
