Chapter 3 - The Father Who Was Supposed to Be DeadElena stopped crying.
She simply stared.
“My father is dead.”
The guard shook his head.
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“I saw him.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Where?”
The guard hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“The old Marlow warehouse.”
Elena looked at Victor.
“Take me there.”
Victor nodded.
Before they could move, gunfire erupted upstairs.
Three shots.
Then four.
Gabriel looked toward the ceiling.
“We're under attack.”
Victor grabbed Elena's arm.
“Stay close.”
They rushed through the hidden passage.
It emerged behind the wine cellar.
Guards were already running through the mansion.
Carlo stood in the foyer shouting orders.
“Seal every entrance!”
Victor crossed the room.
“Who's attacking?”
Carlo glared at him.
“You.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“The moment you opened that envelope, you became a target.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You knew this would happen.”
Carlo's face remained cold.
“You were never supposed to know.”
Elena stepped beside Victor.
“My father is alive.”
Carlo looked at her.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
Only for a second.
But Elena saw it.
“You knew.”
Carlo turned away.
Victor stepped in front of him.
“Tell me where Daniel is.”
“No.”
Victor grabbed his jacket.
“Tell me.”
Carlo shoved him away.
“You're making a mistake.”
Victor almost drew his gun.
Gabriel interrupted.
“Victor, we don't have time.”
A guard ran toward them.
“Sir! They breached the east gate!”
Victor looked toward the windows.
Flashes of gunfire lit the darkness.
Carlo shouted:
“Get the family to the bunker!”
Victor grabbed Elena.
“Come with me.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“My father is waiting.”
“And running into an armed conflict is going to help?”
“He waited fifteen years.”
Her voice broke.
“I’m not losing him again.”
Victor stared at her.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
Carlo shouted, “Victor!”
Victor looked back.
Carlo's expression was strangely desperate.
“Do not go to that warehouse.”
Victor asked, “Why?”
Carlo looked at Elena.
“Because Daniel isn't the man you think he is.”
Elena flinched.
Victor shook his head.
“You've been saying that since tonight started.”
Carlo stepped closer.
“You should ask him what happened to your mother.”
Elena went still.
“What happened to my mother?”
Carlo didn't answer.
Victor stared at him.
Then the shooting intensified.
Gabriel pulled Victor toward the side exit.
They ran.
Ten minutes later, they reached the old Marlow warehouse.
The building had been abandoned for decades.
Yet a light burned inside.
Victor parked behind a collapsed wall.
Elena opened the door.
“Wait.”
Victor grabbed her hand.
“You're not going in alone.”
They entered through a side door.
The warehouse was dark except for one hanging lamp.
A man sat beneath it.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray hair.
A scar crossed one side of his face.
Elena stopped.
The man slowly raised his head.
Her lips trembled.
“Dad?”
The man stood.
For a second, neither moved.
Then Elena ran to him.
Daniel caught her.
He held her like he had been waiting for that moment every day of his life.
“My little girl.”
Elena cried against his chest.
Victor watched from a distance.
Daniel finally looked at him.
“You're Anthony's son.”
“Yes.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“Then you shouldn't have come.”
Victor approached.
“My father left me a message.”
“I know.”
“He said Carlo betrayed you.”
Daniel looked down.
“Your father betrayed both of us.”
Victor nodded.
“He admitted it.”
Daniel looked surprised.
“He finally told you.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Victor asked, “What happened that night?”
Daniel's eyes moved toward Elena.
“Your mother knew.”
Elena wiped her tears.
“Knew what?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She knew Carlo wanted to kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because I found the shipping records.”
Victor looked at him.
“What records?”
“The ones that proved Carlo was moving weapons through the Russo warehouses.”
Daniel reached beneath the table.
He pulled out an old metal box.
“Your father helped him.”
Victor stared at the box.
“What's inside?”
“Proof.”
Daniel opened it.
Documents.
Photographs.
A cassette.
A small black notebook.
And one photograph that made Elena freeze.
It showed her mother standing beside Carlo.
But her mother was smiling.
And beside her stood Teresa Russo.
Elena whispered:
“That can't be.”
Daniel's hand trembled.
“Your mother was working with them.”
“No.”
“She thought she could protect us.”
“You said Carlo wanted you dead.”
“He did.”
“Then why was my mother with him?”
Daniel looked at Victor.
“Because she was trying to steal something from him.”
“What?”
Daniel opened the notebook.
Inside was a list of names.
At the bottom was a name Victor recognized.
Anthony Russo.
Under it:
Carlo Russo.
Teresa Russo.
Matteo Russo.
And one more.
Victor Russo.
Victor stared.
“My name.”
Daniel nodded.
“The list wasn't a record of criminals.”
He closed the notebook.
“It was a list of people Carlo believed would eventually become dangerous.”
Victor looked at him.
“Why am I on it?”
“Because your father wanted you free.”
Before Victor could answer, a gunshot cracked through the warehouse.
Daniel shoved Elena down.
Another bullet tore through the lamp.
Darkness.
Victor fired toward the loading door.
Gabriel shouted.
“Sniper!”
Daniel grabbed the metal box.
“Back exit!”
They ran.
But when they reached the rear corridor, Elena suddenly stopped.
“Victor.”
“What?”
She pointed at the floor.
A single woman's shoe lay in the dust.
Elena stared at it.
“I know that shoe.”
Victor looked at her.
“Whose?”
Elena whispered:
“My mother's.”
May you like
Then Daniel said something that made the blood drain from Victor's face.
“She was here tonight.”
Related Stories
