Chapter 2 - THE DEAD MAN IN THE CHURCH
Sophia had never seen so much blood outside a hospital.
It soaked through Adrian’s white shirt beneath his jacket and spread between her fingers as she pressed both hands against his side.
“Stay awake.”
Adrian leaned against the stone wall of the abandoned church, his face almost colorless.
“I am awake.”
“You closed your eyes.”
“I was thinking.”
“You were unconscious.”
“That too.”
Under any other circumstances, his dry answer might have made her laugh.
Tonight, Sophia wanted to slap him.
The church stood twenty miles outside Bellhaven, forgotten between a dead textile town and miles of wet forest. Adrian’s driver, Nikolai, had brought them there after escaping the Laurent estate through a maintenance road Sophia had not known existed.
Now Nikolai guarded the entrance while another man named Roman tried to contact the few members of Adrian’s organization they still trusted.
Sophia knelt in front of Adrian.
“Take off the jacket.”
His eyes opened.
“That sounded almost romantic.”
“Take it off before I let you bleed to death.”
He obeyed.
The bullet had passed through his side.
At least that was what Nikolai believed.
Sophia tore open a medical kit.
Her hands shook.
Adrian noticed.
“Afraid of blood?”
“Afraid of discovering the man I hired for five thousand dollars is actually the head of a criminal empire.”
“Seven thousand.”
“What?”
“You offered seven.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything you say.”
Something about his voice made her pause.
Then anger returned.
“Good. Remember this. You used me.”
His expression changed.
Barely.
But she saw it.
“Yes.”
The simple admission hurt worse than an excuse would have.
“You knew Damian would be there.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Victor might come.”
“No.”
“You knew my family was involved with whatever happened to you.”
Adrian looked away.
Sophia grabbed his chin and forced him to face her.
“Look at me.”
Nobody touched Adrian Volkov that way.
Nikolai actually shifted near the doorway.
Adrian raised one hand, stopping him.
Sophia continued.
“What happened between you and my family?”
Adrian studied her for several seconds.
“One month ago, someone gave Victor Kane the route of a convoy carrying three of my men and information worth millions.”
“And?”
“The convoy was attacked.”
“How many died?”
“Five.”
Sophia swallowed.
“You said three men.”
“Two civilians were passing through the intersection.”
His voice hardened.
“A mother and her son.”
Sophia’s anger faltered.
“Damian sold the route?”
“I believed he did.”
“Believed?”
“Until tonight.”
Adrian reached into his torn jacket.
Sophia instinctively moved back.
Instead of a weapon, he removed a small silver flash drive.
Victor had thrown it toward Adrian during the confrontation at the mansion, moments before gunfire began.
Adrian held it between two fingers.
“Victor didn’t come tonight to kill me.”
“He surrounded my house with armed men.”
“He wanted us to think he came to kill me.”
Sophia frowned.
“What’s the difference?”
“A large one.”
Adrian looked toward the church doors.
“He wanted me to escape with you.”
A chill traveled through her.
“Why?”
“That is what I intend to find out.”
Roman approached from the shadows.
“Boss.”
Adrian looked at him.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Your penthouse was hit twenty minutes ago. Warehouse Seven too.”
Adrian’s expression went completely still.
“Casualties?”
“Unknown.”
“Who gave the orders?”
Roman hesitated.
“That’s the problem. They used your authorization code.”
Sophia looked between them.
“Someone inside your organization?”
Adrian stood despite the pain.
Sophia grabbed his arm.
“You can barely stand.”
“I’ve stood through worse.”
“That is not the impressive statement you think it is.”
His eyes met hers.
For one strange second, the gunfire, blood, betrayal, and ruined church disappeared.
Then Nikolai called from the entrance.
“Vehicles.”
Every person froze.
Headlights swept across the stained-glass windows.
Roman pulled his pistol.
Nikolai extinguished the lantern.
Darkness swallowed the church.
Sophia’s heart pounded.
“How did they find us?”
Adrian took her hand.
That frightened her more than the guns.
Because men like Adrian did not reach for someone unless they expected trouble.
“Behind the altar,” he whispered.
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“I’m not hiding while—”
“Behind the altar.”
The authority in his voice stopped her.
She moved.
Three vehicles stopped outside.
Doors opened.
Footsteps approached.
Adrian stood in the center aisle with Roman and Nikolai.
The church doors creaked open.
A man entered alone.
Sophia recognized him immediately.
Damian.
Her cousin raised both hands.
“I’m not armed.”
Adrian’s pistol remained pointed at his chest.
“You have ten seconds.”
Damian looked exhausted.
Blood stained his collar.
“Victor Kane is hunting me.”
“Nine.”
“He betrayed our agreement.”
“Eight.”
“I can prove who arranged the convoy attack.”
Adrian stopped counting.
Damian reached slowly inside his coat.
Roman cocked his weapon.
Damian removed a phone.
“There’s a recording on this.”
“Put it down.”
Damian placed the phone on the floor and slid it forward.
Adrian did not move.
Nikolai collected it.
Sophia stepped from behind the altar.
Damian’s eyes widened.
“Sophia.”
“You tried to hand me to Victor.”
“I was trying to survive.”
“You always are.”
“Sophia, listen to me.”
“No.”
“Your father wasn’t supposed to die.”
The church became silent.
Sophia stopped breathing.
“What did you say?”
Damian looked at Adrian.
Then back at her.
“Uncle Charles discovered what we were doing. He found payments, offshore accounts, shipping manifests. He was going to expose everything.”
Sophia walked toward him.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
Damian’s face collapsed.
“No.”
The word barely escaped him.
Sophia felt the world tilt.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?”
Adrian caught her before she reached Damian.
Damian backed away.
“I swear to you, I didn’t know Victor would go that far.”
Sophia stopped struggling.
Victor.
Her father.
The timing.
Three days before the inheritance clause activated.
Suddenly nothing felt accidental.
“What did Victor do?”
Damian’s voice dropped.
“He sent someone to your father’s house.”
Sophia stared at him.
“Why?”
“To find something Charles had hidden.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
Adrian spoke.
“What did Charles Laurent find?”
Damian looked at him.
“Something connected to you.”
Adrian’s grip on Sophia loosened.
Damian continued.
“Your father found an old ledger, Sophia. He called me the night before he died. He said if the information inside became public, Victor Kane would lose half his empire.”
He looked at Adrian.
“And Adrian Volkov would lose something much worse.”
“What?” Sophia whispered.
Damian’s eyes returned to her.
“His reason for trusting the people closest to him.”
A gunshot exploded.
Damian jerked backward.
Sophia screamed.
Blood appeared across his shoulder.
The stained-glass window behind them shattered.
“SNIPER!” Roman shouted.
Adrian threw Sophia to the floor.
More bullets tore through the church.
Wood splintered from the pews.
Nikolai dragged Damian behind a stone column.
Adrian covered Sophia with his body.
Then his phone vibrated.
Once.
He looked at the screen.
An unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Sophia’s father.
Alive.
The photograph had been taken three days after the date listed on his death certificate.
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Below it were six words.
ASK SOPHIA WHO SHE REALLY BURIED.
