Chapter 8 - The Fourth DoorThe tunnel was narrow.
They moved single file.
Victor in front.
Elena behind him.
Daniel covered the rear.
Gunfire echoed above.
The tunnel ended at a metal door.
Victor searched for a lock.
Elena noticed a small slot.
Her silver key fit.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
Dozens of screens.
Every hallway of the Russo mansion.
Every safe room.
Every bedroom.
Every entrance.
Elena stared.
“He's been watching everyone.”
Daniel nodded.
“Carlo trusted cameras more than people.”
Victor found a desk.
A laptop was still running.
He opened it.
Files appeared.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Financial records.
Then a folder titled:
MARLOW PROJECT.
Victor opened it.
Elena stepped closer.
Inside were photographs of her from childhood.
School.
Hospital.
Birthday parties.
Teenage years.
Someone had been following her for decades.
Victor clicked another file.
A video appeared.
Daniel and his wife were arguing.
The recording was dated sixteen years earlier.
Elena's mother was crying.
“I won't give you the ledger.”
Carlo's voice answered from behind the camera.
“Then your daughter dies.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Her mother looked directly toward the camera.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“Daniel knows.”
“He'll be dead by morning.”
The video ended.
Elena turned toward Daniel.
“You let him threaten me.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I couldn't fight him.”
“You didn't even try.”
“I did.”
“You disappeared.”
“To keep you alive.”
She backed away.
“I spent fifteen years believing you were dead.”
Daniel whispered:
“I thought the same about your mother.”
A sound came from the monitor room.
Applause.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Victor turned.
Matteo stood in the doorway.
Elena gasped.
“How did you get here?”
Matteo smiled.
“Fourth door.”
Victor raised his weapon.
“You're working for Carlo.”
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
Matteo slowly placed something on the desk.
A USB drive.
“This contains the original warehouse footage.”
Victor stared.
“You had it?”
“For years.”
“Why hide it?”
“Because my father would kill me if he knew.”
Victor paused.
“Carlo isn't your father.”
Matteo looked at him.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Elena's eyes widened.
“Then who is?”
Matteo looked at Teresa's image on the monitor.
“My mother.”
Victor stared.
Teresa.
Matteo Russo was Carlo's nephew.
But Teresa was his mother.
Who was his father?
Matteo answered before Victor asked.
“Daniel Marlow.”
Elena went pale.
“No.”
Daniel looked like he'd been struck.
Teresa's voice came through the speaker.
“Now you know.”
The monitors flickered.
Every screen changed.
Teresa appeared.
She sat calmly in the Russo dining room.
Carlo sat beside her.
And on the table was a gun.
Teresa smiled.
“Victor.”
Victor stared at the screen.
“What do you want?”
“You have something I need.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
She looked at Elena.
“I want my son.”
Matteo stared at the screen.
“Mom.”
Teresa's face remained cold.
“You were never supposed to survive tonight.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You're his mother.”
“Yes.”
“You told me he was dead.”
“He was never supposed to know who his father was.”
Matteo's eyes filled.
“Why?”
Teresa looked away.
“Because Carlo would have killed you.”
Victor looked at Matteo.
“You've been helping us.”
“Because I wanted the truth.”
Teresa suddenly lifted the gun.
“Then here's the truth.”
A shot rang through the speakers.
The screen went black.
Matteo froze.
“Mom?”
Victor turned.
Teresa had shot Carlo.
Or so it appeared.
Then a second camera activated.
Carlo was still alive.
Teresa had shot the screen.
A distraction.
Victor realized it too late.
The doors around them locked.
A voice echoed through the room.
“Thank you for finding my control room.”
Carlo.
Victor looked upward.
A camera stared down.
May you like
Carlo laughed.
“Now none of you can leave.”
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