Chapter 5 - THE FOURTH BELLSt. Agnes Church had four bells.
Three hung inside the main tower.
The fourth had been removed decades ago after lightning cracked it from top to bottom.
According to the priest, the broken bell had been placed in the cemetery garden beneath a stone angel.
Dominic, Sofia, and I arrived before sunrise.
My mother was being treated at a private hospital guarded by Moretti men. Doctors believed she would recover, but Dominic refused to leave the church until he understood what she had tried to tell us.
Rain had stopped.
The eastern sky was turning gray.
Father Benedict waited near the cemetery gate with a lantern.
He was an old man with a bent back and clear blue eyes.
“I wondered when Mara’s daughter would come,” he said.
“You know me?” I asked.
“I baptized you.”
Dominic turned sharply.
“You knew who she was?”
Father Benedict met his stare.
“I knew enough to keep silent.”
“You let Mara raise her alone.”
“I gave Mara a room in the convent, money when she had none, and a place to hide documents.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You should have contacted me.”
“Mara believed your organization had been compromised.”
“She was right,” Sofia said.
The priest led us toward the stone angel.
A cracked bronze bell rested beneath its wings.
Moonlight cast the angel’s shadow across the ground.
“Follow the shadow,” I whispered.
The shadow pointed toward a row of old graves.
We followed it to a headstone engraved with Luca Moretti’s name.
Dominic stopped.
His brother had not actually been buried there. The warehouse fire had destroyed most of the remains, but the family had placed an empty coffin beneath the stone.
Father Benedict handed me a small shovel.
“The truth belongs to you.”
I looked at Dominic.
He knelt beside me.
Together, we dug where the angel’s shadow touched the earth.
Six inches below the surface, the shovel struck metal.
Sofia helped us lift out a narrow steel case.
The church key opened it.
Inside were dozens of original documents sealed in waterproof sleeves.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Bank transfers.
Names of judges, police commanders, lawyers, politicians, and organized-crime leaders.
At the bottom lay a small video camera.
Dominic pressed play.
Luca appeared on the screen.
He sat in what looked like a motel room.
His dark hair was longer than Dominic’s, but they had the same eyes.
My father looked directly into the camera.
“My name is Luca Moretti. If this recording is being watched, I am probably dead.”
Dominic turned away for a moment.
Luca continued.
“The Black Council has operated in Ashford City for at least twenty-three years. They create crimes, control investigations, and decide which organizations survive. They do not protect peace. They manufacture fear and then sell protection from it.”
He held up several pages.
“Deputy Commissioner Henry Rourke coordinates law enforcement. Prosecutor Celia Voss protects Council members from indictment and prosecutes anyone who refuses cooperation.”
Sofia whispered, “This is enough to destroy them.”
The video changed.
Luca’s expression softened.
“Mara, if you are seeing this, I’m sorry.”
My throat tightened.
“I should have left the city when you asked me. I thought I could protect both of you by finishing this. I was wrong.”
He looked down.
“When our daughter is old enough, tell her I knew about her. Tell her I loved her before I ever saw her face.”
Tears blurred the screen.
Dominic placed one hand on my shoulder.
Luca continued.
“Dominic, I know you will be angry that I did not trust you with everything. But there is someone near you who reports directly to the Council.”
Dominic leaned closer.
The video flickered.
“My greatest mistake was believing blood made betrayal impossible.”
The recording cut out.
“That’s it?” Sofia asked.
Father Benedict shook his head.
“There are additional files.”
We searched the case.
One memory drive was labeled:
THE MAN BESIDE DOMINIC
Dominic inserted it into Sofia’s tablet.
A photograph appeared.
The man standing beside Luca at the Belladonna warehouse was not Elias.
It was Dominic’s oldest friend and second-in-command.
Marco DeSantis.
Sofia went pale.
“No.”
Dominic did not move.
Marco had been at the restaurant when I first arrived.
He had been the man who ordered the doorman to bring me water.
He had also supervised the team that transported Warren Pike.
“Marco gave the Council access to Luca,” Sofia whispered.
Dominic’s voice was empty.
“He has been beside me for twenty-one years.”
Father Benedict looked toward the church.
“Then he knows you are here.”
The first bullet struck the angel’s stone wing.
Dominic pulled me behind the grave.
More shots shattered the steel case.
Sofia fired toward the cemetery gate.
Men moved between the headstones.
Dominic grabbed the documents and pushed them into a leather bag.
“How many?” he asked.
Sofia looked through the darkness.
“At least twelve.”
Father Benedict opened a narrow iron door built into the side of the crypt.
“Inside!”
We entered.
The priest closed the door behind us.
The crypt smelled of cold stone.
A tunnel led beneath the church.
“This was used during Prohibition,” Father Benedict explained.
Dominic spoke into his radio.
No answer.
“They’re jamming communications.”
We moved deeper underground.
I carried the video camera against my chest.
Footsteps echoed behind us.
Dominic looked at Sofia.
“Take Leora to the convent exit.”
“No,” Sofia said.
“That is an order.”
“You are injured.”
“And you are faster.”
He handed her the leather bag.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“You promised to stay with me.”
His face tightened.
“I promised to protect you.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“It may have to be.”
“No!”
He crouched.
“Leora, listen to me. Marco knows every escape route I use. He knows my people, my houses, my defenses. The only advantage we have is that he does not know Father Benedict’s tunnels.”
“Then come with us.”
“If all of us go the same direction, he follows all of us.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I already lost my father.”
Dominic’s expression broke.
“You are not losing me.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Morettis are very difficult to kill.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
He touched my bracelet.
“Go with Sofia.”
I threw my arms around his neck.
He held me tightly.
Then he gently pushed me toward the tunnel.
Sofia took my hand.
We ran.
Behind us, Dominic fired twice.
Men shouted.
The tunnel divided.
Father Benedict pointed left.
“The convent stairs.”
Sofia stopped.
“What about you?”
“I will take the documents another way.”
She gave him the leather bag.
He disappeared into the right tunnel.
We continued left.
A metal ladder led upward.
Sofia climbed first.
She opened a trapdoor.
Cold morning air entered.
We emerged inside an abandoned greenhouse behind the convent.
A black car waited outside.
Marco DeSantis stood beside it.
He smiled.
“Good morning, Sofia.”
She pushed me behind her.
“You killed Luca.”
Marco sighed.
“Luca killed himself by believing the city wanted freedom.”
Sofia aimed her gun.
Marco’s men appeared behind the greenhouse glass.
Too many.
“Put it down,” he said.
She did.
Marco searched us.
“Where are the files?”
Sofia said nothing.
He looked at me.
“Leora, I knew your father.”
“You betrayed him.”
“I tried to educate him.”
“You helped murder him.”
Marco’s smile faded.
“Children should not use words they do not understand.”
“I understand murder.”
He slapped me.
Sofia lunged at him.
Two men restrained her.
My cheek burned.
Marco crouched.
“Where are the files?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is the ledger?”
“I don’t know.”
He pulled the video camera from my hands.
“This?”
“It’s only a message.”
He turned it on.
Luca’s face appeared.
For the first time, Marco lost his composure.
He smashed the camera against the ground.
“You are too late,” I said.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did you say?”
“Dominic already sent copies.”
It was a lie.
But he believed me.
He grabbed my coat.
“To whom?”
“Everyone.”
Marco lifted his hand again.
A gunshot echoed.
One of his men collapsed.
Another shot shattered the greenhouse wall.
Dominic emerged through the fogged glass.
Blood covered one side of his face.
He held a weapon in each hand.
“I warned you,” he told Marco, “never to touch her.”
Chaos erupted.
Sofia pulled free and tackled one of the guards.
I crawled beneath a table.
Bullets shattered clay pots and glass panes.
Dominic moved through the greenhouse like a shadow.
Marco fired toward him.
Dominic disappeared behind a stone planter.
Sofia dragged me toward the rear exit.
A man blocked us.
Before he could raise his gun, Father Benedict struck him with a shovel.
The man dropped.
The priest looked at me.
“Forgiveness does not require foolishness.”
We ran outside.
Moretti vehicles raced toward the convent.
Marco’s men began retreating.
Marco reached the black car.
Dominic followed.
They fought beside the open door.
Marco struck Dominic’s wounded shoulder.
Dominic fell to one knee.
Marco aimed his gun.
“You were always weaker than Luca,” he said.
Dominic looked up.
“No.”
He smiled.
“I was always more patient.”
Police sirens filled the street.
Marco laughed.
“You think the police will save you?”
The first police vehicles stopped.
Federal agents stepped out.
Behind them came news vans.
Cameras pointed toward the greenhouse.
Marco’s smile vanished.
Father Benedict held up his phone.
“I transmitted Luca’s first recording to every major news station fifteen minutes ago.”
Marco turned toward the convent.
The priest lifted the leather bag.
“And the original evidence is already in federal custody.”
Marco raised his gun toward Father Benedict.
Dominic fired first.
The bullet struck Marco’s hand.
His weapon fell.
Federal agents surrounded him.
Marco looked at Dominic with hatred.
“You have no idea how many Council members remain.”
Dominic walked closer.
“Then you can give us their names.”
“I will die first.”
Dominic glanced toward the news cameras.
“Not quickly enough to preserve your reputation.”
Marco was handcuffed.
As agents led him away, he looked at me.
“Celia still has your mother.”
My blood turned cold.
“She is in the hospital,” I said.
Marco smiled.
“Are you certain?”
Dominic grabbed his phone.
He called the medical team.
No one answered.
Another vehicle raced into the cemetery road.
One of Dominic’s men jumped out.
“The hospital convoy was attacked.”
Dominic’s face became deadly.
“Where is Mara?”
May you like
The man looked at me before answering.
“Celia Voss took her.”
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