Chapter 2 - The Voice Beneath the HouseVictor stopped breathing.
Nobody moved.
The voice came again.
“Victor…”
Elena clutched his sleeve.
“That was your father.”
“I know.”
Carlo's face had turned hard.
“It's an old recording.”
Victor looked at him.
“You knew about it.”
Carlo didn't answer.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“Basement.”
Victor nodded.
He moved toward the stairs.
Elena followed.
“No.”
Victor turned.
“You stay here.”
She shook her head.
“My key opens the door.”
Victor looked down at the silver key in her hand.
He understood.
“You're coming.”
Carlo stepped forward.
“That basement is restricted.”
Victor didn't even look at him.
“Not anymore.”
The basement door stood at the end of a dark corridor.
It was made of steel.
No handle.
Only a narrow keyhole.
Elena approached.
Victor stood beside her.
“Your father gave you this?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me there was a room beneath the Russo house where the truth had been buried.”
Victor stared at the door.
“That's comforting.”
Elena inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed over them.
The corridor beyond was older than the mansion itself.
Brick walls.
Stone floor.
No electricity.
Gabriel switched on a flashlight.
They walked deeper.
After thirty feet, they found a room.
Inside was a desk.
A tape recorder.
Three filing cabinets.
And dozens of photographs.
Victor picked up the first.
His father.
Carlo.
Daniel Marlow.
Standing in front of the same warehouse from the photograph Gabriel had found upstairs.
Another photograph showed Daniel holding a newborn baby.
A woman stood beside him.
Victor stared.
Elena saw it too.
“That’s my mother.”
Victor looked at Elena.
“You were born before the warehouse incident?”
“Yes.”
“Why did Daniel disappear?”
“He didn't disappear.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“He was taken.”
The room went silent.
“By whom?”
Elena pointed at the photograph.
“Carlo Russo.”
Victor's face hardened.
Elena whispered, “My father told me before he disappeared. He said Carlo came to our house at night. He said Daniel had betrayed the Russo family.”
Victor stared at the photograph.
“That doesn't prove anything.”
“No.”
Elena looked at the filing cabinet.
“But this might.”
She opened the first drawer.
Inside were accounting ledgers.
Dates.
Bank transfers.
Names.
Shipment numbers.
Victor scanned the pages.
“These are Russo company accounts.”
Gabriel leaned over his shoulder.
“There are payments to politicians, judges, police officials…”
Victor kept turning pages.
Then he stopped.
A series of transactions had one name repeated.
M. MARLOW.
Elena's expression changed.
“My father?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to another column.
“Your father wasn't receiving money.”
“Then what is this?”
“He was paying it.”
Elena went pale.
Victor pulled another ledger free.
The entries went back twenty years.
Every six months, Daniel Marlow had transferred large sums to accounts registered under false names.
Victor looked up.
“If these records are real, your father wasn't a victim.”
Elena stared at him.
“He was involved.”
She stepped backward.
“No.”
Victor saw tears forming in her eyes.
“My father wouldn't do that.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Gabriel raised his gun.
“Someone's coming.”
Victor moved in front of Elena.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then the basement door slammed shut.
Gabriel rushed back.
“It's locked.”
Victor tried the handle.
Nothing.
Elena's breathing quickened.
“Victor.”
“I know.”
A small speaker crackled above them.
Then Anthony Russo's recorded voice filled the room.
“If you found this room, it means Carlo failed to destroy everything.”
Victor stared at the speaker.
“Dad?”
“My son, there is something you must understand.”
Victor listened.
“I wasn't the first Russo to lie.”
A pause.
“I was the last.”
Victor looked at Elena.
The recording continued.
“Daniel Marlow was framed for the warehouse fire.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Carlo set it up.”
The recording crackled.
“But I helped him.”
Victor froze.
Gabriel stared at him.
Anthony's voice continued.
“Daniel discovered our network was using the warehouse to move weapons and money. He threatened to expose us.”
Victor's fists tightened.
“Carlo wanted him dead.”
A pause.
“I made the decision that protected my family.”
Victor whispered, “Dad…”
“I gave Carlo Daniel's location.”
Elena began crying silently.
Anthony continued.
“That betrayal destroyed more than Daniel. It destroyed the Marlow family.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Then why leave this?”
“Because I couldn't die carrying the lie.”
A sharp click sounded.
The recording changed.
Anthony's voice became quieter.
“Victor, the person who knows the rest is someone you've known since childhood.”
The tape stopped.
Victor opened his eyes.
“Who?”
A metallic sound came from behind the filing cabinet.
The cabinet moved.
A narrow passage opened.
Gabriel aimed his gun.
A man stepped into the light.
Victor recognized him immediately.
One of Carlo's oldest guards.
He raised both hands.
“Don't shoot.”
Victor pointed his gun at his chest.
“Where is Matteo?”
The guard swallowed.
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“He went to the old Marlow property.”
Victor exchanged a glance with Elena.
“The warehouse?”
The guard nodded.
“And he wasn't alone.”
“Who was with him?”
The guard's expression changed.
He looked at Elena.
“Your father.”
Elena stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
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The guard whispered:
“Daniel Marlow is alive.”
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