Chapter 10 - The Boy Who Went Looking for a Ghost
The estate transformed instantly.
Every gate locked.
Every vehicle checked.
Every camera reviewed.
Victor stood in the security room looking more frightened than Serena had ever seen him.
“When did anyone last see him?”
“Twenty-three minutes ago,” Enzo said.
“Vehicle exits?”
“None.”
“Then he’s still inside the perimeter.”
A guard shook his head.
“North maintenance gate opened for fourteen seconds.”
Victor turned.
“Why?”
“Electrical fault.”
“No.”
Serena understood.
“Someone opened it.”
Enzo was already typing.
Camera footage appeared.
Tommy.
Tiny.
Blue jacket.
Stuffed dinosaur beneath one arm.
Walking through the gate.
A dark sedan waited beyond the trees.
Serena covered her mouth.
Victor went white.
The passenger door opened.
A man stepped out.
Gabriel.
Tommy hesitated.
Gabriel crouched.
Then the child willingly took his hand.
Victor punched the desk.
“Track the car.”
“No plate.”
“Traffic cameras.”
“Working.”
Serena forced herself to think.
“Why would Tommy trust him?”
Victor looked at the medal.
“Because Gabriel told him he knew Adriana.”
“And Tommy thinks he can stop him from making people leave.”
Serena’s guilt hit viciously.
Her decision to move had triggered it.
Victor saw her face.
“No.”
“I was packing.”
“This is Gabriel’s fault.”
“If I hadn’t—”
“No.”
Victor gripped her shoulders.
“Do not take responsibility for a grown man manipulating a six-year-old child.”
The certainty in his voice steadied her.
A guard shouted.
“Got them.”
A traffic camera showed the sedan entering Brooklyn.
Then another.
Then it disappeared near an abandoned Moretti social club.
Victor was already moving.
Serena followed.
“No.”
She glared.
“Try harder.”
“This could be a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“You’re staying.”
“Tommy went after Gabriel because he thought I was leaving him.”
“Serena.”
“I’m going.”
Victor looked ready to explode.
Then Lucia entered the security room holding Marco’s hand.
“Mom?”
Serena knelt.
Lucia’s face was frightened but determined.
“Bring Tommy back.”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
Serena hesitated.
Victor answered.
“We promise.”
They left.
The old Moretti club sat between abandoned warehouses near the river.
Victor’s men surrounded the block.
No police.
Serena did not ask why.
Inside, Gabriel sat at a dusty table with Tommy.
The boy was eating cookies.
Serena almost laughed from relief.
Gabriel had not harmed him.
Yet.
Victor entered first.
“Tommy.”
The child turned.
“Dad!”
He started running.
Gabriel stopped him gently.
“Not yet.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Let him go.”
Tommy looked confused.
“I came to tell Uncle Gabriel Serena can’t leave.”
Gabriel looked toward Serena.
“He thinks you belong there.”
Serena’s eyes filled.
“Tommy, baby, come here.”
Gabriel sighed.
“You’re good with them.”
“They’re good children.”
“They’re Rinaldis.”
“They’re six.”
Gabriel’s expression tightened.
“You don’t understand what Victor’s name means.”
“I understand what yours means.”
His eyes darkened.
Serena continued.
“You paid Anthony. You threatened Lucia. You manipulated Tommy.”
“I never intended to hurt children.”
“Then stop using them.”
Gabriel glanced at Victor.
“I wanted him to suffer.”
Victor lowered his weapon slightly.
“I have.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Not enough.”
“Adriana was my wife.”
“She was my sister.”
“And I loved her.”
“You got her killed.”
Victor’s face broke.
“Yes.”
Serena stared.
Gabriel did too.
Victor continued.
“I didn’t order her death. But my world put her in danger. My war. My people. My orders. I have lived with that every day.”
Gabriel’s anger faltered.
Victor took another step.
“If killing me would bring her back, I’d hand you the gun.”
“Victor,” Serena whispered.
“But it won’t.”
He looked at Tommy.
“And now you’re doing exactly what you accused me of doing.”
Gabriel froze.
“You’re dragging children into a war because grief feels better when someone else is bleeding.”
Tommy started crying.
Gabriel looked down at him.
For the first time his face changed.
Not criminal.
Not avenger.
Uncle.
He released Tommy’s shoulder.
The child ran.
Victor dropped his weapon and caught him.
He held Tommy against his chest.
Serena nearly collapsed from relief.
Then a shot exploded.
Gabriel jerked backward.
Blood spread across his arm.
Victor spun.
“Down!”
More gunfire shattered the windows.
Someone outside was shooting into the building.
Enzo yelled through the radio.
“Second team! South side!”
Victor pulled Serena and Tommy behind the bar.
Gabriel stared toward the doorway.
“They found me.”
“Who?” Victor demanded.
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“The man who changed Adriana’s order.”
Victor went still.
“Mateo.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Your uncle has been paying me for years.”
“What?”
“To stay dead.”
Serena stared.
Gabriel pressed a hand over his wounded arm.
“I discovered the truth after the warehouse explosion. Mateo offered me a choice—disappear or die.”
“Then why come back?”
“Because he stopped paying.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“And the trust?”
“Mateo wants it.”
“Through Lucia?”
Gabriel nodded.
“He used me to create chaos. Told me you had found Serena first. Told me you planned to claim the Moretti trust through her.”
Serena shook her head.
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Gunfire continued.
Victor radioed his men.
“How many?”
“Six minimum.”
Gabriel looked at Victor.
“Mateo won’t stop.”
“Neither will I.”
A voice suddenly boomed through an old speaker system.
“Victor!”
Victor froze.
The voice continued.
“Send Gabriel out with the girl.”
Serena looked at Victor.
“What girl?”
Gabriel went pale.
“Lucia.”
Serena’s heart stopped.
Lucia was at the estate.
Victor grabbed his radio.
“Estate team, status!”
Static.
“Enzo!”
Nothing.
Victor tried again.
No response.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Mateo Rinaldi’s voice came through.
“Your security is impressive, nephew.”
Victor’s eyes emptied.
“But everybody watches the front gate.”
A photograph arrived.
Lucia.
Marco.
Nico.
Alessandro.
All four children sitting together in the Rinaldi safe room.
A man with a gun stood behind them.
Serena made a sound she did not recognize.
Mateo spoke through the phone.
“Bring me Gabriel and Serena.”
May you like
A pause.
“Or I start with the little girl.”
