Chapter 4 — The Gunshot Above Them
The gunshot shattered the silence.
Chloe screamed.
Beatrice covered her ears instinctively, even though the sound meant nothing to her.
Gabriel moved before anyone else.
He grabbed Chloe by the arm and pulled her behind him.
“Down.”
She barely had time to react.
Vincent drew his weapon.
The underground corridor exploded into movement.
Another sound came from above.
Not another gunshot.
A crash.
Then shouting.
Then the unmistakable sound of furniture being overturned.
Gabriel looked toward the staircase.
“Stay here.”
Chloe grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
He turned.
“I said stay here.”
“And I'm saying no.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You don't understand what's happening.”
“I understand enough.”
Another crash echoed overhead.
Chloe's voice dropped.
“Someone came here because they knew about the room.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Yes.”
“And they knew my brother's phone was down here.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“So they're not here for you.”
Gabriel looked toward the staircase.
“They're here for everyone who knows the truth.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“We have to move.”
Gabriel nodded.
“There's another exit?”
Vincent pointed toward the far wall.
“Service tunnel.”
“Where does it lead?”
“Two blocks east.”
Gabriel looked at Beatrice.
His mother was staring at the staircase.
Her hands moved.
Chloe watched.
“She says we can't leave.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Why?”
Beatrice pointed toward the ceiling.
Then toward the phone.
Then toward the photograph.
Chloe understood.
“She says Leo left something else.”
Gabriel looked at the phone.
“The video?”
Beatrice shook her head.
She signed again.
“Not the phone.”
She pointed toward the wall.
Then the floor.
Then touched the pearl necklace.
Chloe frowned.
“Something hidden.”
Gabriel looked around the corridor.
“Where?”
Beatrice walked toward the wooden table.
She knelt slowly.
Gabriel immediately moved to help her.
She pushed his hand away.
For the first time that night, Chloe saw Beatrice become angry with her son.
Beatrice signed:
“I am not helpless.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Then quietly stepped back.
Beatrice reached beneath the table.
Her fingers found something.
She pulled out a small metal box.
It was no bigger than a paperback book.
Covered in dust.
Locked.
She placed it in Gabriel's hands.
He stared at it.
“What is this?”
Beatrice pointed toward Chloe.
Chloe's heart sank.
“Me?”
Beatrice nodded.
Then she pointed toward the box.
Then made the sign for brother.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
“It's yours.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want it.”
“You need to open it.”
“I don't.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because every time something connected to my brother appears, someone starts shooting.”
Vincent glanced toward the ceiling.
“That is a reasonable concern.”
Chloe looked at him.
“You're funny now?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Another crash came from above.
This time, followed by a man's scream.
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“We're out of time.”
He examined the box.
No lock.
No keyhole.
Only a small circular indentation.
Beatrice touched the pendant around her neck.
Gabriel understood.
He took the pearl clasp.
The tiny metal piece fit perfectly into the indentation.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
A flash drive.
And a small photograph.
Gabriel picked up the photograph.
His face changed.
Chloe saw it.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
She took the picture.
Her hands began shaking.
It showed Leo standing outside a warehouse.
Beside him stood Gabriel.
Not present-day Gabriel.
A younger Gabriel.
Perhaps fifteen years earlier.
Chloe stared.
“That's impossible.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“I never met Leo.”
“But you're in the photograph.”
“I know.”
She turned the picture over.
A date was written on the back.
Fifteen years ago.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“My brother wasn't even old enough to drive.”
Gabriel didn't respond.
Vincent took the photograph.
He looked at it.
Then his face went pale.
“I've seen this.”
Gabriel turned.
“Where?”
“In your father's files.”
Gabriel stared.
“What was it doing there?”
Vincent swallowed.
“It wasn't supposed to exist.”
Chloe looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Vincent looked at Gabriel.
“It means your father knew Leo.”
Chloe's breathing stopped.
“No.”
Gabriel's voice was quiet.
“Apparently he did.”
“No.”
Chloe shook her head.
“My brother never mentioned him.”
“Maybe he was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Vincent answered.
“From this.”
He pointed to the flash drive.
Gabriel picked it up.
There was a single handwritten word on it.
FATHER.
Gabriel stared at it.
“My father.”
Vincent nodded.
Chloe looked at the stairs.
“We need to leave.”
Gabriel didn't move.
She grabbed his sleeve.
“Gabriel.”
He looked at her.
“If whoever fired that shot finds us down here, this evidence disappears.”
His eyes hardened.
“And so do we.”
“That too.”
For the first time, Gabriel almost smiled.
“Come on.”
They moved toward the service tunnel.
Beatrice followed.
Vincent went last.
Halfway down the corridor, Gabriel stopped.
He looked at Vincent.
“Who fired the gun?”
Vincent listened.
“I don't know.”
“Guess.”
Vincent thought.
“Someone who wanted us to know they're here.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Chloe looked at him.
“Why announce yourself?”
Gabriel's expression became cold.
“Because they don't want us dead yet.”
She stared at him.
“That's supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
“Good.”
They continued.
The service tunnel was narrow.
Old pipes ran along the ceiling.
Water dripped somewhere in the darkness.
Chloe followed Gabriel closely.
She had never been underground with armed men before.
She had never been involved in organized crime.
She had never held evidence that might explain her brother's death.
And yet tonight she had somehow managed all three.
She looked at the flash drive in Gabriel's hand.
“What if it doesn't contain anything?”
“It does.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Salvatore wanted us to find it.”
Chloe frowned.
“Then why would he leave it?”
Gabriel stopped walking.
“That's the question.”
Vincent answered from behind them.
“Because he wants you to know he's alive.”
Gabriel turned.
“Why?”
Vincent looked at Chloe.
“Because he wants Gabriel angry.”
Chloe stared.
“Why?”
“To make him reckless.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Vincent continued.
“Salvatore never attacked when people were calm.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“He waited until emotions took over.”
“And then?”
“He made people make mistakes.”
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“That's what he's doing now.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes.”
“So don't give him what he wants.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You're learning quickly.”
“I've had a bad night.”
“So have I.”
They continued walking.
Then Chloe heard something.
A faint sound.
Behind them.
Footsteps.
She stopped.
Gabriel immediately noticed.
“What?”
“Someone's following us.”
Vincent turned.
The corridor was empty.
Gabriel listened.
Nothing.
Then—
A metal pipe fell somewhere behind them.
Clang.
Chloe jumped.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“Move.”
They hurried forward.
Another sound.
Closer.
Vincent turned.
“I'll stay behind.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“Someone needs to slow them down.”
“No.”
Vincent stared at him.
“Gabriel.”
“You're staying with us.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Because if you're the traitor my mother warned me about, I want you where I can see you.”
Vincent's face tightened.
“Fair.”
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“You trust him?”
“No.”
“You think he's guilty?”
“I don't know.”
Vincent gave a bitter smile.
“Good answer.”
They reached the end of the tunnel.
A steel door blocked their path.
Vincent pulled out a key.
Chloe stared.
“You had a key?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“How long have you known about this tunnel?”
“Years.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was following your father's instructions.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Vincent unlocked the door.
Cold night air rushed inside.
They emerged behind an abandoned warehouse two blocks from Il Canto.
Sirens could be heard in the distance.
Chloe looked back.
Smoke was rising from the restaurant.
Her heart dropped.
“Il Canto…”
Gabriel stared at the smoke.
“They started a fire.”
Vincent nodded.
“To destroy the room.”
Chloe suddenly understood.
“The evidence.”
Gabriel looked at the flash drive.
“No.”
He held it tightly.
“They didn't destroy everything.”
He looked at the photograph.
“They wanted us to find this first.”
Chloe stared at him.
“Why?”
Gabriel didn't answer.
His phone rang.
He checked the screen.
Unknown number.
Vincent said:
“Don't answer.”
Gabriel answered.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Hello, nephew.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
Chloe could see the change in his face.
Vincent whispered:
“Salvatore.”
The voice continued.
“You've grown.”
Gabriel's hand tightened around the phone.
“Where are you?”
A quiet laugh.
“Still asking the wrong question.”
Gabriel's voice became deadly.
“You killed Leo.”
Silence.
Then:
“No.”
Chloe's heart stopped.
Gabriel looked at her.
Salvatore continued.
“Leo died because he trusted the wrong person.”
Chloe grabbed the phone.
“Who?”
Gabriel didn't stop her.
Salvatore laughed softly.
“Ah.”
His tone changed.
“So you're Chloe.”
She froze.
“How do you know my name?”
“I've known your name for a very long time.”
“Why?”
“Because your brother talked about you constantly.”
Tears burned Chloe's eyes.
“You knew Leo?”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Another pause.
Salvatore said:
“Ask the man standing behind you.”
Chloe slowly turned.
Vincent stood several feet away.
His face was unreadable.
Gabriel looked at him.
“Vincent.”
Vincent didn't move.
Salvatore's voice came through the phone again.
“Your brother knew the truth about him.”
Chloe's heart pounded.
“What truth?”
Salvatore laughed.
“Ask him what happened the night Leo died.”
The call ended.
Silence.
Chloe stared at Vincent.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“What happened that night?”
Vincent didn't answer.
Chloe stepped closer.
“You were there.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her face went white.
“You were there when Leo died.”
“I arrived afterward.”
“That's not what he said.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Gabriel stepped between them.
“Tell me.”
Vincent looked at Gabriel.
“I went to the warehouse.”
“Why?”
“To stop Leo from doing something stupid.”
“What?”
“He had the recording.”
Gabriel's voice dropped.
“What recording?”
“The one from your father.”
“And?”
“Someone else was already there.”
“Who?”
Vincent looked toward the burning restaurant in the distance.
“Clara.”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
Vincent nodded.
“She confronted Leo.”
“What happened?”
“I arrived when they were arguing.”
“And then?”
Vincent swallowed.
“Leo ran.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara told him someone was coming.”
“Who?”
Vincent looked at Gabriel.
“Salvatore.”
Gabriel's face became hard.
“Then where is the proof?”
Vincent reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a second phone.
“This.”
Chloe stared.
“What's that?”
“The phone I took from the warehouse that night.”
“You had it all this time?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You?”
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“Yes.”
The phone's screen lit up.
A recording file appeared.
Timestamp.
Two years ago.
11:43 p.m.
Chloe stared at the number.
“Leo died at 11:57.”
Vincent nodded.
“I know.”
“Then this happened fourteen minutes before he died.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel took the phone.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then voices.
Leo's voice.
Angry.
“You told me he was dead.”
A woman's voice answered.
Clara.
“You were never supposed to find out.”
Leo:
“You lied to everyone.”
Clara:
“I protected them.”
Leo:
“You protected yourself.”
A pause.
Then another voice.
Male.
Older.
Cold.
Salvatore.
“Enough.”
Chloe covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
Leo whispered:
“You're alive.”
Salvatore laughed.
“Obviously.”
Leo:
“Gabriel needs to know.”
Salvatore:
“Gabriel doesn't need to know anything.”
Leo:
“He deserves the truth.”
Salvatore:
“Truth is a luxury for people who survive.”
A loud sound.
Then Leo's voice.
“Stay away from my sister.”
Silence.
Salvatore answered:
“That's exactly why I can't.”
The recording ended.
Chloe stared at the phone.
Tears rolled down her face.
“He knew about me.”
Vincent nodded.
“He knew everything.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Why didn't you give me this?”
Vincent's voice cracked.
“Because I was ordered not to.”
“By whom?”
Vincent didn't answer.
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“Who ordered you?”
Vincent finally whispered:
“Your father.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“My father died fifteen years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then how could he order you two years ago?”
Vincent looked at Chloe.
Then at Gabriel.
“He didn't.”
Gabriel went still.
Vincent continued.
“Someone used his name.”
“Who?”
Vincent stared at the burning restaurant.
“The person who has been controlling everything.”
Chloe whispered:
“Salvatore?”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at Gabriel.
“Someone even closer.”
Gabriel's phone rang again.
Unknown number.
This time, Chloe could see a message appearing beneath the call.
One sentence.
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Gabriel slowly turned.
Across the street, beneath a broken streetlamp, stood a woman.
Elegant.
Dark coat.
Perfect posture.
Watching them.
Clara Moretti.
She smiled.
Then raised one hand.
Not waving.
Pointing.
Directly at Chloe.
Chloe's blood turned cold.
Gabriel stepped in front of her.
Clara's smile disappeared.
Then she mouthed four words from across the street.
He knows about Leo.
A car suddenly pulled up behind her.
The passenger door opened.
Clara stepped inside.
The car sped away.
Gabriel stared after it.
Vincent whispered:
“She wanted us to see her.”
Gabriel nodded.
“She did.”
Chloe wiped her tears.
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at the flash drive.
Then at Leo's photograph.
Then at the empty street.
“Because this isn't a warning anymore.”
He looked at Chloe.
“It's an invitation.”
Chloe frowned.
“To what?”
Gabriel's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
This time there was no number.
Only a location.
An abandoned church on the edge of the city.
And beneath it:
MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
Chloe read it over his shoulder.
“Come alone?”
Vincent shook his head.
“He means Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No.”
He handed the phone to Chloe.
“He means me.”
Chloe looked at him.
“Then you're not going.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“Because that's exactly what he wants.”
Gabriel stared at her.
She stared back.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Beatrice stepped forward.
Her hands began moving.
Chloe watched.
The older woman's face had changed.
There was no fear anymore.
Only determination.
Chloe translated:
“She says you're going.”
Gabriel looked at his mother.
“Mom…”
Beatrice continued signing.
“But you're not going alone.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Who comes with me?”
Beatrice pointed toward Chloe.
Chloe's eyes widened.
“No.”
Beatrice pointed at her again.
Gabriel stared at his mother.
Then at Chloe.
Vincent looked away.
Chloe shook her head.
“I am not walking into a midnight meeting with a man who is supposedly dead and wants your family destroyed.”
Gabriel's expression remained serious.
“You're right.”
Chloe blinked.
“You agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you're coming anyway.”
Chloe stared at him.
“You're impossible.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“So I've been told.”
He looked toward the distant city.
The church.
The fire.
The photograph.
The flash drive.
Leo's final message.
Everything was leading toward midnight.
And for the first time, Gabriel understood what his mother had been trying to tell him.
The enemy wasn't outside the family.
It had been inside for years.
Maybe decades.
And somewhere in the darkness, a man who was supposed to be dead was waiting for them.
But Salvatore wasn't the only person waiting.
Someone else already knew Chloe's name.
Someone else knew what Leo had discovered.
And someone else had been watching her long before she ever walked into Table Seven.
At 11:02 p.m., Chloe's phone suddenly received a message from an unknown number.
She opened it.
There was no text.
Only a photograph.
A photograph of Leo.
Taken the night he died.
He was standing outside the warehouse.
And beside him—
stood Chloe.
She was sixteen years old.
Impossible.
Because Chloe had never been there.
She looked at Gabriel.
Her voice trembled.
“Gabriel…”
He took the phone.
His eyes fixed on the photograph.
Then he whispered:
“That's not possible.”
Behind them, Beatrice suddenly began signing frantically.
Chloe watched.
Her face drained of color.
Beatrice was saying:
That isn't Leo's photograph.
Chloe frowned.
“Then whose is it?”
Beatrice pointed toward Chloe.
Then toward the girl in the photograph.
May you like
Then she signed one final sentence.
That's your sister.
