Chapter 11 - The Basement EscapeThey fled through the servants’ corridor.
Gunfire echoed above them.
Carmine pushed open a hidden door behind the pantry.
A narrow staircase descended.
Ivy followed.
“Where are we going?”
“Old tunnels.”
“The estate has tunnels?”
“My family built them before I was born.”
Lucia followed behind them.
She moved surprisingly quickly.
Carmine looked back.
“Mother, stay close.”
She ignored him.
The tunnel walls were damp.
Ivy heard footsteps behind them.
“They’re coming.”
“I know.”
Carmine stopped at a steel gate.
He entered a code.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
“What’s wrong?”
“The code was changed.”
Lucia stepped forward.
“Use my birthday.”
Carmine looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because your father never forgot it.”
Carmine entered the date.
The gate opened.
Inside was a small room.
A table.
Three chairs.
One safe.
Carmine opened it.
Inside was an old tape recorder.
Lucia stared at it.
“Your father left that for you.”
Carmine pressed play.
Static.
Then a man’s voice.
Ivy recognized it instantly.
Her father.
“If you’re hearing this, I failed.”
Carmine closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
“Carmine, your mother is not your enemy. She was forced to disappear.”
Lucia began crying silently.
“Maria Bellini is not the architect.”
The tape crackled.
“She works for someone called The Shepherd.”
Ivy frowned.
“The Shepherd?”
The recording continued.
“He controls judges, police, politicians, and men inside every major criminal organization.”
A pause.
“And there is one person he needs.”
Ivy’s stomach tightened.
“You.”
Her father’s voice became weaker.
“Because you inherited something he cannot create.”
The recording stopped.
Carmine stared at the machine.
“What did she inherit?”
Lucia whispered:
“Memory.”
Ivy shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will,” Lucia said.
She looked at her.
“You were too young to remember what happened that night.”
“What night?”
“The night your father died.”
Ivy felt dizzy.
Lucia continued.
“You saw the killer.”
“I was six.”
“Yes.”
“You said I forgot.”
“You did.”
“Then why am I still important?”
Lucia looked toward the tunnel entrance.
“Because forgetting is not the same as losing.”
A gunshot echoed.
The tunnel door began shaking.
Carmine grabbed his weapon.
“We have thirty seconds.”
Lucia looked at Ivy.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Because there is something inside you that was deliberately buried.”
Ivy closed them.
Then memories came rushing back.
Her father screaming.
A man in a black coat.
Maria standing beside him.
A silver ring.
And a sentence spoken through the darkness.
“The girl remembers the face.”
Ivy opened her eyes.
She was trembling.
“I know who killed my father.”
Carmine stared.
“Who?”
Ivy looked straight at him.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Your father.”
