Chapter 7: Saint Agnes
Vincent called Nico.
No answer.
He called again while Elena searched the laboratory for anything that could identify the explosive network.
The signal failed.
The underground walls blocked transmission.
“We need to reach the surface,” Vincent said.
“My mother is still here.”
“She may already be in the east tunnel.”
“The prisoners said they heard her.”
A woman screamed from somewhere beyond the boiler room.
Elena turned toward the sound.
“Mom!”
She ran.
Vincent followed through a narrow corridor between rusted pipes. The scream came again, weaker this time.
They reached a barred gate.
Beyond it, Tony Rizzo dragged Isabella toward an open service tunnel.
Two armed men covered him.
Elena fired through the bars.
One gunman fell behind a pipe.
Tony pulled Isabella in front of him.
She struggled weakly against his arm.
“Drop it!” Tony shouted.
Elena stopped.
Vincent moved to her side.
The second gunman aimed at them.
Tony held a pistol against Isabella’s neck.
“You cut the wrong circuit,” he said.
“The bridge garage,” Vincent replied.
“Dominic always prepares a second grave.”
“Call him. Stop the charges.”
Tony smiled.
“You still think I take orders from him.”
“You betrayed me for money.”
“I betrayed you because you made men like me spend our lives protecting men like Marcus.”
Vincent kept his weapon lowered but ready.
“I paid you well.”
“You paid everyone well. That was the problem. You thought money erased humiliation.”
“What humiliation?”
“Your nephew gave commands. Your wife gave commands. Dominic gave commands. You expected me to smile and obey whichever Torino entered the room.”
“And now you obey Dominic.”
“Now I’m paid enough to forget the difference.”
Elena watched Isabella.
The older woman’s eyes moved toward her.
Recognition did not appear.
Only fear.
“Isabella,” Elena said.
Her mother flinched at the name.
“My name is Elena. I’m your daughter.”
Tony laughed quietly.
“This is touching.”
Elena ignored him.
“You placed me at Saint Agnes. You gave me the Saint Michael medal.”
Isabella stared at the necklace around Elena’s throat.
Something changed.
Her lips parted.
“Sofia?”
Elena’s face broke for the first time.
“Yes.”
Tony tightened his arm around Isabella.
“Drop the gun.”
Elena slowly placed it on the floor.
Vincent did the same.
The second gunman approached to collect the weapons.
Vincent watched his steps.
The man favored his right knee.
Old injury.
Weak balance.
When he bent toward Elena’s pistol, Vincent kicked the damaged knee.
The man fell.
Elena seized his wrist and fired his weapon toward Tony.
Tony pulled Isabella aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Vincent tackled the gunman.
Elena ran toward the barred gate.
Tony dragged Isabella into the tunnel.
The gate required an electronic code.
Elena fired into the lock.
Sparks erupted, but the bars remained shut.
Tony disappeared around the corner.
Vincent disarmed the fallen gunman and struck him unconscious.
“How do we open it?”
Elena took the man’s access card.
The card worked.
They entered the tunnel.
The remote continued displaying the bridge countdown.
Forty-nine seconds.
Vincent attempted to call Nico again.
Still no signal.
The tunnel sloped upward.
Tony’s footsteps echoed ahead.
Isabella cried out.
Elena ran faster.
They reached a fork.
A painted red arrow pointed east.
Fresh blood marked the western path.
“Tony’s bleeding,” Vincent said.
Elena followed the blood.
The tunnel opened inside an underground garage.
An armored van waited near a loading ramp.
Tony pushed Isabella into the rear compartment.
Elena fired.
The bullet struck the van door beside his head.
Tony returned fire.
Vincent pulled Elena behind a concrete pillar.
The countdown reached twenty seconds.
He finally received one bar of cellular signal.
Nico answered.
“Where are you?”
“Leaving the garage!” Nico shouted over an engine. “Victoria found the secondary device!”
“Did she stop it?”
“She’s trying!”
“Get everyone out!”
“Marcus is still under anesthesia!”
The call ended.
Ten seconds.
Elena fired toward the van’s tires.
One tire burst.
Tony climbed into the driver’s seat.
The vehicle lurched forward.
Five seconds.
Vincent closed his eyes for half a heartbeat.
He pictured Nico carrying Marcus.
Victoria beside her son.
Maya trying to move medical equipment.
The countdown reached zero.
Nothing happened.
Then the remote displayed:
OVERRIDE ACCEPTED: M.A.T.
Marcus’s blood had canceled the device.
Vincent almost smiled.
Even unconscious, the young man had saved them.
The armored van crashed through the garage exit.
Elena ran toward a motorcycle left beside the wall.
Vincent climbed behind her.
She started the engine and accelerated up the loading ramp.
The van moved slowly on its damaged tire.
Elena approached from the driver’s side.
Tony fired through the window.
She swerved.
Vincent shot the side mirror and then the remaining front tire.
The van veered across the road and struck a drainage barrier.
Elena stopped the motorcycle.
They approached cautiously.
Tony crawled through the passenger door with blood on his face.
Vincent aimed at him.
“Where’s Dominic?”
Tony laughed.
“You think this ends with him?”
“Answer.”
“He’s going back to the mansion.”
“Why?”
“To burn the archive.”
Elena opened the rear van door.
Isabella lay on the floor, conscious but dazed.
Elena climbed inside.
“Mom.”
Isabella looked at her.
“Sofia.”
Elena held her carefully.
Vincent watched them, uncertain whether he had the right to approach.
Tony saw his hesitation.
“She remembers you.”
Vincent looked down at him.
“Be quiet.”
“She remembers everything.”
Tony’s smile widened.
“Elena should ask what her mother saw the night Luca died.”
Vincent pressed the pistol against Tony’s forehead.
“Who killed Daniel Rossi?”
Tony’s smile faded.
“Marcus told her?”
“He said he saw your car.”
“Marcus sees what he wants.”
“Did you kill him?”
“I followed Dominic’s order.”
Elena looked over her shoulder.
Vincent’s finger tightened.
Tony continued.
“Daniel had found Bellini’s private records. He knew the baby switch, the trust, and Isabella’s location.”
“Where’s Bellini?” Vincent asked.
“Still treating rich people who think he’s a respectable doctor.”
“Address.”
Tony gave them an apartment near the university district.
Vincent stepped back.
“Walk.”
Tony laughed.
“You’re letting me live?”
“I’m letting you show federal prosecutors the hospital.”
“You don’t work with prosecutors.”
“Tonight, I’ve developed new interests.”
Elena helped Isabella from the van.
Her mother could barely stand.
They returned to the hospital and released the remaining prisoners.
The former district attorney employee knew the number of an honest federal agent. Elena called and provided the location without identifying Vincent.
Sirens became audible in the distance.
They needed to leave before law enforcement arrived.
Vincent took Tony’s keys and placed him inside one of the locked rooms.
“You can explain your career choices to the FBI.”
Tony struck the door.
“You won’t survive Dominic!”
Vincent ignored him.
They found an old medical transport vehicle and placed Isabella inside.
Elena sat beside her mother.
As Vincent drove, Isabella stared at him through the mirror.
Her fear was unmistakable.
“Isabella,” he said.
She looked away.
Elena held her hand.
“You’re safe.”
“No,” Isabella whispered.
“Dominic can’t reach you now.”
Isabella looked toward Vincent again.
“It wasn’t Dominic.”
Vincent’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“What wasn’t?”
“The fire.”
Elena leaned closer to her mother.
“Who killed Dad?”
Isabella’s eyes filled with memories she had spent decades trying to escape.
“Luca was inside the car,” she said. “Vincent stood beside him.”
Vincent remembered the argument near the estate gate.
Luca had refused to surrender the federal evidence.
Vincent had struck him.
He had walked away while his soldiers blocked the road.
“I left before the explosion,” Vincent said.
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
“You were sedated.”
“I saw you.”
“What did you see?”
“You opened the trunk.”
Vincent felt cold.
He had opened it to remove Luca’s bags.
He had not known an explosive was hidden beneath them.
Isabella began trembling.
“You reached inside. Then you walked away.”
Elena stared at him.
Vincent forced himself to speak.
“I didn’t plant the device.”
May you like
Isabella’s voice became a whisper.
“You lit the fuse.
