Chapter 5: The Hidden Archive
Emergency lights flickered red along the hallway.
Dante moved first.
He shoved the lounge door open and pulled Elena behind him.
“Stay close.””
Marcus followed.
Victoria remained frozen for half a second before running after them.
The ballroom had erupted into chaos.
Guests screamed and dropped beneath tables. Crystal glasses crashed to the floor. Security rushed toward the entrance.
No bodies lay on the marble.
Whoever had fired the shots had fired into the ceiling.
A warning.
Dante immediately understood.
“They're not here for the guests.””
Marcus nodded.
“They're here for us.””
Dante grabbed Victoria's arm.
“Where's the service exit?””
She pointed toward the kitchen.
“There.””
“Move.””
They ran.
Elena's shoes slipped against the marble.
Dante caught her before she fell.
“I'm sorry,” she gasped.
“Don't apologize. Keep moving.””
Victoria glanced behind them.
“Dante!””
A shadow appeared at the ballroom entrance.
Then another.
Dante pushed open the kitchen doors.
“Down.””
They ducked behind the stainless-steel preparation counter as two men entered the ballroom.
Both were Black.
Both wore dark suits.
Neither rushed.
They walked through the panicked crowd with the calm of men who already knew exactly what they wanted.
Marcus whispered, “They're working for him.””
Dante looked at him.
“Who?””
Marcus shook his head.
“Not here.””
Dante's patience snapped.
“You have been dead for eight years. You don't get to keep answering me like that.””
Marcus looked him in the eye.
“You're right.””
He pointed toward a rear door.
“Your father's old house.””
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“That's abandoned.””
“No.””
Marcus swallowed.
“It's been watched.””
Victoria whispered, “We can't go there.””
Dante turned.
“Why?””
“Because that's where they want us.””
Marcus looked at her.
“They want the ledger.””
Victoria's voice cracked.
“And if they get it, everyone dies.””
Dante stared at her.
“Everyone?””
She looked away.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Tell him.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Tell me what?””
Marcus's expression hardened.
“She gave them the archive password.””
Dante turned slowly toward Victoria.
“Is that true?””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
Elena stared at her.
“Why?””
Victoria's voice broke.
“Because they had Caleb.””
Marcus looked away.
Dante said nothing.
Victoria continued.
“They sent me photographs. Videos. They told me if I didn't cooperate, they would kill him.””
Marcus whispered, “You should have come to me.””
“I tried!””
“You never called.””
“Because they were watching me!””
Dante stepped between them.
“Enough.””
Victoria looked at him.
“I never wanted you dead.””
Dante's eyes dropped toward the glass still sitting in the ballroom.
“You put something in my drink.””
“I was supposed to make you unconscious.””
Marcus stared at her.
Victoria's voice shook.
“They said they needed you alive.””
Dante's expression became colder.
“Who?””
“I never saw his face.””
“Name.””
“I don't know.””
“Then why did he know about my father's ledger?””
Victoria wiped her tears.
“Because he knew your father.””
Dante froze.
A kitchen clock ticked behind them.
Marcus looked at him.
“Now you understand.””
Dante turned toward Elena.
“What did you find?””
Elena hesitated.
“The key was inside an old laundry cart.””
“Why were you searching it?””
“I wasn't.””
She looked at Victoria.
“She told me to clean the basement.””
Victoria closed her eyes.
Dante's gaze sharpened.
“You sent her down there.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because they told me the key was somewhere in the house.””
Dante looked at Marcus.
“So they used her to find it.””
Marcus nodded.
“Exactly.””
A metallic crash echoed from the ballroom.
They were getting closer.
Dante pulled a gun from inside his jacket.
“Then we go to the archive.””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
Dante looked at her.
“They'll kill Caleb.””
“And if we don't go?””
“They'll kill him anyway.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“There's one way in.””
Dante looked at him.
“Tell me.””
“Through the old chapel.””
Dante stared.
“My father demolished that chapel.””
Marcus shook his head.
“He demolished the entrance.””
Elena whispered, “What's underneath it?””
Marcus looked at her.
“The archive.””
They moved through the rear corridor and escaped into the alley behind the ballroom.
Rain had started.
Cold drops struck Dante's face as black SUVs tore away from the curb.
One of the cars followed.
Dante noticed.
“Someone's behind us.””
Marcus climbed into the driver's seat.
“I know.””
Victoria got in beside him.
Elena sat in the back.
Dante climbed in last.
The SUV accelerated.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Victoria said quietly, “Dante.””
He stared through the windshield.
“What?””
“I need you to know something.””
He didn't turn.
“What?””
“I really did love you.””
Marcus looked at her through the mirror.
Dante's voice was flat.
“Did?””
Victoria's eyes filled.
“I still do.””
Dante finally looked at her.
“Then you should have trusted me.””
She looked down.
“I was scared.””
“So was Elena.””
Victoria shut her eyes.
Dante turned away.
The old family property appeared through the rain.
A massive stone mansion sat behind iron gates.
Dark.
Empty.
Waiting.
Marcus stopped near the abandoned chapel.
Dante stepped out.
The pursuing SUV slowed at the far end of the road.
Marcus looked at him.
“We don't have much time.””
Dante followed him inside.
The chapel smelled of wet stone and dust.
Marcus walked toward the altar.
He pressed his hand beneath the carved wooden cross.
A hidden mechanism clicked.
The floor shifted.
A narrow staircase appeared.
Elena stared down into the darkness.
“What is that?””
Dante looked at Marcus.
“My father built this?””
Marcus nodded.
“After he realized someone inside the family was stealing from him.””
Dante descended.
At the bottom stood a steel door.
Elena held out the brass key.
Dante inserted it.
The lock turned.
The door opened.
Rows of shelves filled the enormous underground chamber.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Old weapons permits.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Dante walked toward a central desk.
On top sat a single envelope.
His name was written across it in his father's handwriting.
*DANTE.*
He opened it.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
He read the first line.
Then his face went completely still.
Marcus stepped closer.
“What does it say?””
Dante slowly turned the page toward him.
At the bottom was his father's signature.
And beneath it, a second signature.
Marcus stared.
“That isn't possible.””
Victoria entered the archive behind them.
She saw the document.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Dante looked at her.
“You recognize it.””
Victoria couldn't answer.
Elena noticed something else.
A tiny red light blinking beneath the desk.
She whispered, “Dante…”
He turned.
“What?””
She pointed.
“There.””
The light blinked again.
Once.
Twice.
Then a speaker hidden inside the wall crackled to life.
A man's voice filled the archive.
“Good.””
Dante raised his weapon.
The voice continued.
“You finally found the ledger.””
A pause.
May you like
Then:
“Now, Dante, let's see whether you can save your brother before I erase every name in that book.””
