Chapter 9 - THE TRAITORThe gunman emerged from behind the altar.
He wore a black suit.
Victor recognized him immediately.
One of his own guards.
“Drop the weapon!”
The guard fired.
Victor moved first.
Two shots.
The guard fell.
Silence.
Tessa stared at the body.
“He was yours.”
Victor looked at Paulie.
“Take him outside.”
Paulie was still breathing.
Barely.
Maria grabbed Tessa's hand.
“We have to leave.”
Victor nodded.
The three moved toward the rear exit.
Then Maria suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?” Victor asked.
She pointed toward the floor.
A trail of blood.
Leading away from the dead guard.
Tessa frowned.
“That isn't his blood.”
Victor crouched.
He touched it.
Still warm.
“Someone else is injured.”
Maria looked toward the confession booth.
Victor walked over.
He opened the door.
Inside lay a man in a police uniform.
Alive.
He was Judge Kane's personal security chief.
Victor grabbed him.
“Where is Kane?”
The man laughed.
“You're too late.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Where?”
The man coughed.
“He already has her.”
Victor froze.
“Who?”
The man looked at Tessa.
“Your mother.”
Tessa stepped forward.
“What did you say?”
“The woman you're looking for.”
“Where is she?”
The man smiled.
“She came willingly.”
“Why?”
“To save you.”
Tessa's knees nearly failed.
Victor caught her.
“Don't listen.”
The man laughed.
“She knows what Massimo wants.”
Victor pointed his gun at him.
“Tell me where they are.”
The man shook his head.
“Old church.”
“Which one?”
“The one beneath the river.”
Tessa frowned.
“There isn't a church beneath the river.”
Victor looked at Maria.
She went pale.
“There is.”
“What?”
Maria whispered:
“The flooded monastery.”
Victor stared.
“That place was destroyed.”
“That's what everyone believes.”
Tessa looked at Victor.
“Can we save her?”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
The security chief laughed again.
“You can't save anyone.”
Victor turned.
The man whispered one final sentence.
“Because Massimo already knows the girl remembers.”
Tessa froze.
“What?”
The man's eyes remained on her.
“Your memories.”
Victor stared at Tessa.
“What memories?”
She backed away.
“I don't know.”
Maria grabbed her shoulders.
“Tessa.”
“What?”
“Think.”
She shook her head.
“I don't remember anything.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“Your mother erased it.”
Victor's expression changed.
“How?”
Maria looked at him.
“Hypnosis.”
Tessa laughed nervously.
“This is insane.”
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
“When you were three, you saw something you weren't supposed to see.”
“What?”
Maria whispered:
“The night your father died.”
Victor stopped breathing.
Tessa looked at him.
“You saw him.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“You were there.”
“How?”
Maria took her hand.
“You were hiding beneath the table.”
Tessa's mind flashed.
A room.
Smoke.
A man's voice.
Her father's face.
A gun.
Then a woman screaming.
Tessa gasped.
She fell to her knees.
“I remember.”
Victor crouched beside her.
“What did you see?”
Tessa stared at him.
Her eyes filled with terror.
“Your father wasn't murdered.”
Victor's face went still.
“What?”
She whispered:
“He was killed by someone he trusted.”
“Who?”
Tessa looked directly into Victor's eyes.
And whispered:
“Massimo wasn't the one holding the gun.”
Victor's expression changed.
“Who was?”
Tessa's voice broke.
“It was…”
She suddenly stopped.
Her face went pale.
May you like
Because she recognized the killer.
And the name was one Victor had never suspected.
