Chapter 7 - THE WOODEN ROSARY
The heavy wooden rosary rested perfectly in my palm.
Answer one: My father hadn't left behind bank account numbers or ledgers. He had hidden a Catholic rosary inside his coat—a deeply personal item that held the true key to finding Elena.
"A rosary?" Luca frowned, stepping closer to examine the dark, polished beads. "Why would he hide this?"
I ran my thumb over the silver crucifix. It wasn't a standard cross. The back of the silver piece was engraved with the name of a specific church.
St. Jude’s Parish, South Side.
"It's not just a rosary," I whispered, the puzzle pieces clicking together in my mind. "St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. My father used to volunteer at their rectory. If he needed to hide someone safely, where no syndicate soldier would ever look..."
"A convent," Luca finished, his dark eyes widening in realization. "He hid Elena in the church."
Open two: If Elena has been hiding in a convent for five years, why is Vanessa trying to flush her out now? And who is the New York contact pulling the strings?
Before Luca could mobilize his men, the heavy oak doors of the office rattled violently.
"Boss!" Daniel’s voice shouted from the hallway, panicked and urgent. "Open the door!"
Luca unlocked it. Daniel burst in, his suit jacket torn and a bloody scrape across his cheek.
"New York is here," Daniel gasped. "They hit the front gates. Three armored trucks. They breached the perimeter."
"How?" Luca roared, grabbing a tactical shotgun from the hidden compartment behind his desk. "We have forty armed men on the grounds!"
"They had inside help," Daniel coughed. "Victor. He wasn't just a hostage, Boss. He was the inside man. He opened the gates from the basement holding cell."
The reality crashed down on us. Vanessa and Victor hadn't failed. Their capture was part of the plan. They were Trojan horses meant to bring the New York syndicate directly into the heart of the Moretti estate.
"Secure Sophie and my mother in the panic room," Luca ordered, cocking the shotgun with a terrifying, smooth motion.
"They're already there," Daniel confirmed. "But Boss... the New York men aren't pushing for the panic room. They're surrounding the main foyer. They want a parley."
Luca’s jaw clenched. "Who is leading them?"
"Don Falcone," Daniel said. The head of the New York syndicate himself.
Luca looked at me. "Stay here. Lock the door."
"No," I said, stepping forward. I grabbed the heavy wooden rosary and put it around my neck. "My father died hiding a woman from these monsters. I'm not hiding in an office while they tear down this house."
Luca looked at the fierce determination in my eyes. He didn't argue. He just nodded once.
We walked down the grand staircase together.
The foyer was filled with twenty heavily armed men wearing dark trench coats. Standing in the center of the marble floor, leaning casually on a silver-handled cane, was Don Falcone.
"Luca," Falcone smiled, a cold, predatory expression. "Your security is slipping."
"You have exactly ten seconds to leave my house, Falcone," Luca said, leveling the shotgun at the older man's chest.
"I'm not leaving without my property," Falcone said smoothly.
He didn't look at Luca. He looked directly at me.
Falcone reached into his coat and pulled out a heavy, glittering object, tossing it onto the marble floor at my feet.
It was a solid gold necklace.
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And attached to the chain was a locket with a picture of my mother.
TITLE: THE GOLD NECKLACE
