“Stop Calling This Number,” She Said—Then the Mafia Boss Whispered, “My Mother Is Dead.”
Chapter 7
The old church had been abandoned for twelve years.
Its windows were broken.
Its roof leaked.
Weeds covered the stone steps.
Marco and Clara entered through the side door.
The inside smelled of dust and damp wood.
“Where is the safe?” Clara whispered.
Sofia’s instructions had been precise.
Behind the old baptismal basin.
Marco moved it aside.
Nothing.
He checked the floor.
Nothing.
Then Clara noticed four carved numbers.
11-7-3-9.
She pressed the stones in order.
A section of the floor opened.
Inside was a steel box.
Marco lifted it out.
The combination lock accepted the numbers.
They opened it.
Inside were passports.
Bank records.
Photographs.
And one handwritten list.
Twenty-three names.
Clara recognized some.
Women reported missing over the last fifteen years.
Marco looked at the documents.
“These are all women my family claimed had left the city.”
“They didn’t.”
“No.”
He turned the page.
Each name had a destination.
Each destination was connected to a charity.
Each charity was connected to Anthony.
Then Clara found something.
A photograph of Evelyn.
She was thinner.
Older.
But alive.
On the back:
Location 7.
Marco stared.
“Seven what?”
Clara searched the records.
One document showed a series of safe locations.
Number seven was a private clinic outside the city.
They left immediately.
The clinic was deserted.
No patients.
No staff.
But in the basement, they found a room.
A bed.
A lamp.
And fresh food.
Someone had been there recently.
Clara looked around.
“She was here.”
Marco touched the blanket.
“Recently.”
Then a door slammed above them.
Marco pulled Clara behind a wall.
Footsteps approached.
A man entered the room.
Daniel Hayes.
The detective.
He held a gun.
Clara’s heart pounded.
Hayes spoke into his phone.
“They found the safe.”
Marco’s eyes narrowed.
Hayes continued.
“Give me ten minutes.”
Then he hung up.
Marco whispered:
“Now.”
He stepped out.
Hayes spun.
“Drop it.”
Marco raised his hands.
“You killed my mother.”
Hayes laughed.
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
Hayes smiled.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Your mother wasn’t taken because of the women.”
Marco stared.
“She was taken because of you.”
Silence.
Clara looked at Marco.
Hayes continued.
“Anthony needed access to your family’s accounts.”
“And?”
“Your mother refused.”
“What did she know?”
Hayes pointed at Clara.
“Her mother.”
Clara froze.
“My mother?”
“She found the original records.”
“What records?”
“The Romano family ledger.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“What ledger?”
Hayes smiled.
“The book that proves who owns what.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because the Romano family’s legitimate businesses are worth billions.”
Clara stared.
“And the criminal money?”
Hayes shrugged.
“Much more.”
Marco stepped forward.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Hayes looked at him.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Far from you.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
Marco’s eyes turned cold.
Hayes said:
“If you want your mother alive, bring me the ledger.”
Clara whispered:
“We don’t have it.”
Hayes smiled.
“Yes, you do.”
He pointed toward Clara.
“Your mother left it to her.”
Clara’s breath stopped.
“What?”
Hayes’s smile widened.
“Check the phone.”
Clara pulled it out.
A hidden notification appeared.
A message from her mother’s old number.
I knew you’d find this.
Then another message arrived.
Don’t let Marco open the final file.
Clara looked at him.
Marco stared at the screen.
Neither understood.
Until a final message appeared.
Because he is the one person they can use to destroy it all.
