Chapter 10: The Body in the Wall
For three years, Elena had carried the secret inside her like a stone.
Now there was nowhere left to hide it.
Dante stared at her.
“Tell me where.””
Elena wiped her cheeks.
“Downstairs.””
“We were just downstairs.””
“Not that basement.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“There’s another level?””
Elena nodded.
“Behind the old wine cellar.””
Vanessa looked toward the floor.
“I knew it.””
Dante turned to her.
“You knew?””
“I suspected.””
Dante's expression hardened.
“Everyone in my life seems to know something except me.””
Victoria whispered, “Dante…”
He looked at her.
She stopped.
Elena pointed toward the service corridor.
“There’s a steel door behind the wine racks.””
Marcus immediately motioned to his men.
“Move.””
They rushed through the kitchen.
Dante followed Elena.
The corridor was narrow and dark. Their footsteps echoed against the concrete.
Elena stopped beside a row of wine racks.
She pushed aside several dusty bottles.
A steel door appeared.
Marcus examined it.
“Locked.””
Elena reached beneath the third shelf.
“I remember this.””
She pulled out a small brass key.
Dante looked at her.
“Where did you get that?””
“From your father.””
The key turned.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed across their faces.
Beyond it was a staircase descending into darkness.
Dante took the first step.
Elena followed.
Victoria started after them.
Dante turned.
“You stay here.””
“I need to see.””
“No.””
“Dante, please.””
He stared at her.
“You've said that word all night.””
Victoria lowered her head.
“I know.””
Dante continued downward.
At the bottom was a small concrete chamber.
A single light hung from the ceiling.
There was an old wooden table.
Two chairs.
And a wall covered with photographs.
Dante stopped.
Photographs of him.
Anthony.
Victoria.
Vanessa.
Their father.
Different years.
Different places.
Different versions of the same family.
Marcus whispered, “Someone's been watching all of you.””
Elena pointed toward the far wall.
“There.””
A section of bricks looked newer than the rest.
Dante approached.
He ran his fingers across the mortar.
“This was sealed recently.””
Marcus pulled a crowbar from his belt.
“Stand back.””
He drove it into the seam.
The first brick came loose.
Then another.
The wall opened.
Dante looked inside.
A body lay behind it.
He recognized the watch first.
Then the ring.
Then the face.
His father.
Not a stranger.
Not Isaiah.
Not a double.
His actual father.
Dante staggered backward.
“No.””
Anthony's voice came from behind them.
“Now you know.””
Everyone turned.
Anthony stood at the bottom of the stairs.
His clothes were torn.
A bruise darkened one side of his face.
Dante rushed toward him.
“Anthony.””
They stopped inches apart.
Dante grabbed his brother's shoulders.
“You're alive.””
Anthony smiled faintly.
“Apparently.””
Dante pulled him into a hug.
For the first time that night, neither man tried to hide what he felt.
When they separated, Dante looked at the body.
“You knew.””
Anthony nodded.
“I found him three years ago.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Isaiah had men watching you.””
“You could have told me.””
“I tried.””
Dante frowned.
“What?””
“I left clues.””
Anthony looked at Elena.
“She found one.””
Elena lowered her eyes.
“I found the body.””
Dante looked at her.
“When?””
“Three years ago.””
“How?””
“I was cleaning the old cellar.””
She swallowed.
“I heard something behind the wall.””
Dante stared at the body.
“Why didn't you tell anyone?””
“I tried.””
“What happened?””
Elena looked toward Victoria.
“Someone stopped me.””
Dante slowly turned.
Victoria was crying.
“Dante…”
“Was it you?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
Vanessa spoke.
“It was me.””
Everyone looked at her.
“I found Elena that night.””
Dante's eyes hardened.
“Why?””
“Because Isaiah was looking for anyone who knew.””
“You protected her?””
“Yes.””
“Then why work with him tonight?””
Vanessa's expression broke.
“Because I thought I could control him.””
Dante looked at the body again.
“None of you could.””
A slow clap echoed from the staircase.
Everyone turned.
Isaiah stood there.
His face was calm.
But there was blood on his collar.
Behind him stood the man who looked exactly like Dante.
Dante's double.
Isaiah smiled.
“Family reunions are always emotional.””
Dante stepped forward.
“You killed my father.””
Isaiah shook his head.
“I finished what others started.””
“You impersonated me.””
“I built you.””
“You destroyed my family.””
Isaiah's smile faded.
“No.””
He pointed toward the body.
“Your family destroyed itself.””
Dante looked at Anthony.
Anthony shook his head.
“Don't listen.””
Isaiah continued.
“Your father wanted out.””
Dante frowned.
“Out of what?””
“The organization.””
Isaiah laughed.
“He thought he could walk away from the empire.””
Dante looked at the body.
“What did you do?””
“I gave him a choice.””
“You murdered him.””
“I gave him a choice.””
Dante raised his weapon.
“You don't get to call murder a choice.””
Isaiah nodded toward the double.
“Your replacement was ready three years ago.””
The double stepped forward.
Dante studied him.
Up close, the resemblance was almost perfect.
But there was one difference.
A tiny scar beneath the right eye.
Dante touched his own face.
No scar.
Anthony noticed.
“He's not your twin.””
Isaiah smiled.
“No.””
The double spoke.
“I was trained from Dante's photographs.””
Dante stared.
“Who are you?””
The man looked at Isaiah.
Then at Victoria.
Then finally at Dante.
“My name is Daniel Cole.””
Victoria covered her mouth.
Vanessa whispered, “Daniel.””
Dante looked at her.
“You know him?””
She nodded.
“He's our brother.””
Silence.
Dante stared at Victoria.
“How many secrets does your family have?””
Victoria cried.
“Too many.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“I never wanted your life.””
Dante looked at him.
“Then why take it?””
“Because Isaiah promised to let me live.””
Isaiah's expression hardened.
“You're wasting time.””
Dante glanced at the clock on his phone.
Nine minutes had passed.
He understood.
The messages.
The ten-minute deadline.
Dante looked at Elena.
“What's supposed to happen at ten?””
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Anthony suddenly looked toward the ceiling.
“Wait.””
A faint ticking sound filled the chamber.
Marcus's eyes widened.
“Boss.””
Dante heard it too.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Isaiah smiled.
“You really should have asked why I brought everyone here.””
Dante looked at the walls.
Then the ceiling.
Then the body.
He realized.
The room wasn't meant to hide the dead.
It was meant to hold the living.
Dante grabbed Elena.
“Everyone out!””
The ticking accelerated.
Anthony pulled Victoria toward the stairs.
Vanessa grabbed Daniel.
Marcus shouted to his men.
“Move!””
Dante was last.
He looked back at his father's body.
For years, he had wondered why his father died.
Now he knew.
He had died protecting the family from the truth.
Dante turned to run.
The lights went red.
A voice came through the hidden speakers.
Isaiah's voice.
“Ten.””
Dante reached the stairs.
“Nine.””
Anthony pushed Victoria upward.
“Eight.””
Vanessa dragged Daniel.
“Seven.””
Marcus shoved Elena through the doorway.
“Six.””
Dante looked back.
Isaiah was still standing beside the body.
“Five.””
Dante stopped.
“Why aren't you running?””
Isaiah smiled.
“Because I don't need to.””
“Four.””
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“You’re bluffing.””
Isaiah shook his head.
“Three.””
Dante looked at the double.
Daniel suddenly grabbed Isaiah.
“What did you do?””
Isaiah's smile disappeared.
“Two.””
Daniel screamed.
“Run!””
Dante reached the top step.
“One.””
The chamber exploded.
The blast threw Dante across the corridor.
Smoke filled the air.
Concrete collapsed.
For several seconds, there was nothing but ringing in his ears.
Then someone grabbed his hand.
Dante opened his eyes.
Anthony.
“You alive?””
Dante coughed.
“Yeah.””
Anthony pulled him up.
Behind them, Elena was crying.
Victoria was holding Vanessa.
Marcus was checking his men.
Dante looked toward the collapsed staircase.
Isaiah was gone.
Daniel was gone.
The body was buried again.
Dante stood slowly.
He looked at Victoria.
She stared back through tears.
“I'm sorry.””
Dante walked toward her.
For a moment, it looked like he might embrace her.
Instead, he removed the engagement ring from his finger.
He placed it in her palm.
Victoria looked down.
“Dante…”
“You knew too much.””
Her fingers closed around the ring.
“I loved you.””
Dante nodded.
“I believe you.””
He looked at Anthony.
Then Elena.
Then Vanessa.
“That's what makes this worse.””
Suddenly, Elena's phone vibrated.
Everyone froze.
She looked at the screen.
A new message.
Dante took the phone.
There was no number.
Only one sentence.
*YOU FOUND THE WRONG BODY.*
Dante's blood ran cold.
A second message appeared.
*YOUR FATHER IS STILL ALIVE.*
And beneath it was a photograph.
Dante stared at the image.
His father was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Older.
Terrified.
Beside him stood Isaiah.
And behind them—
Dante's double.
But Daniel wasn't holding a weapon.
He was holding a bloodied knife to Isaiah's throat.
Dante looked at Anthony.
Anthony whispered:
“That's impossible.””
Dante stared at the photograph.
Then another message appeared.
*COME ALONE, SON.*
Dante's eyes hardened.
The family had spent three years believing the dead were gone.
May you like
Tonight, they learned the truth.
The dead had been watching them the entire time.
