Chapter 10 - The Ledger of NamesThe explosion threw everyone to the floor.
Gunfire followed.
Victor disappeared into smoke.
Dominic cut Salvatore free.
Matteo dragged Norah behind a concrete pillar.
Frank fired toward the doorway.
Elena screamed.
When the smoke cleared, Victor was gone.
So was the ledger.
Norah looked at Matteo.
“You said he had it.”
“He did.”
“Then why attack us?”
“To distract us.”
Dominic stood.
“From what?”
Matteo looked toward the back of the warehouse.
A steel door hung open.
Inside was an old records room.
Boxes.
Files.
Photographs.
And a single table.
On it sat a black leather ledger.
Norah stared.
“The original?”
Matteo nodded.
Dominic opened it.
Page after page.
Names.
Payments.
Murder orders.
Judicial favors.
Police transfers.
Political donations.
Buried evidence.
The Moretti empire wasn't merely criminal.
It was interconnected with half the city's institutions.
Norah turned pages.
Then stopped.
A page dated October 17, 2000.
Under it were three names.
Rosa Bellandi.
Claire Gallagher.
Norah Gallagher.
Next to Norah's name:
EXTRACTION ORDER.
Norah's hands went cold.
“Extraction?”
Matteo read the line beneath.
“Alive.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Victor wanted her alive.”
“Why?”
“Because she was leverage.”
Norah stared.
“What about my mother?”
Matteo turned the page.
The words were barely legible.
CLAIRE REFUSED PAYMENT.
Another line.
REMOVE HER. PRESERVE CHILD.
Norah's knees weakened.
“My mother was killed because she refused him.”
Dominic looked at the page.
Then at Norah.
“You were never the target.”
Norah swallowed.
“I was the bargaining chip.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Someone was approaching.
Dominic closed the ledger.
“Everybody move.”
The door opened.
A woman stood there.
Old.
Thin.
Silver hair.
Norah's heart stopped.
Rosa.
Alive.
Again.
But this time she was standing.
She stared at Norah.
Then at Dominic.
“You found it.”
Norah walked toward her.
“You said my mother died.”
Rosa's eyes filled.
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because the truth would have killed you.”
“Where is she?”
Rosa looked away.
“Your mother is alive.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Where?”
Rosa's lips trembled.
“In an institution.”
Norah's breath caught.
“Saint Agnes?”
Rosa nodded.
“She was declared mentally unfit after the attack.”
Dominic stared.
“She survived?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Rosa looked at him.
“Because by the time I could, Victor owned the hospital.”
Norah held the ledger.
“Then we're going there.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor knows.”
“How?”
Rosa looked at the doorway.
“He always knows.”
The lights flickered.
A phone began ringing.
Dominic pulled it from the ledger.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
Victor's voice whispered:
“You found Claire.”
Dominic's face froze.
Victor laughed.
“Good.”
A pause.
May you like
Then:
“Because now you can watch her die.”
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