Chapter 7 - The Fire Of Truth
The chapel erupted into a wall of roaring orange flame.
The heat was instantaneous, blistering the air and sucking the oxygen from the massive room.
“Move!” Luca roared.
He sprinted forward, grabbing his brother by the collar and hauling Matteo away from the expanding pool of fire.
Elena scrambled backward, laughing hysterically as the flames licked at the dry wooden pews. The fire was spreading impossibly fast, climbing the ancient tapestries hanging from the stone walls.
I held Sofia tightly against my chest, coughing as thick black smoke began to fill the vaulted ceiling.
“Luca, the door!” Matteo yelled, pointing to the rear exit.
We ran for the heavy oak doors, but the heat had already warped the ancient wood. Luca threw his massive shoulder against it, but it wouldn’t budge.
We were trapped.
We had an answer. Valentina hadn’t just financed the kidnapping; she had supplied Elena with the family’s own accelerants and heirlooms to burn the evidence if things went wrong.
But it opened the ultimate panic: How were we going to get a five-year-old out of a burning stone fortress?
“The catacombs!” Elena screamed over the roar of the fire. She was standing on the altar, surrounded by flames, looking like a terrifying angel of death. “There’s a tunnel beneath the altar! But you’ll never reach it in time!”
She turned and dove through a hidden hatch behind the cross, disappearing into the dark.
“She’s right,” Luca coughed, his eyes watering. “The old bootlegger tunnels. They lead to the river.”
“The fire is too hot!” I yelled, shielding Sofia’s face from the blistering heat. “We can’t cross the altar!”
Matteo looked at the flames, then at his daughter in my arms.
His battered, bruised face suddenly filled with a heartbreaking resolve.
“Yes, you can,” Matteo said softly.
Before Luca could stop him, Matteo grabbed the heavy, water-soaked tapestry that had fallen from the wall. He threw it over himself like a cape and charged directly into the wall of fire.
He didn’t run for the hatch.
He ran to the massive, wooden crucifix burning at the center of the altar.
With a guttural scream of absolute agony, Matteo pushed the blazing structure forward.
The burning timber crashed down over the pool of gasoline, creating a narrow, temporary bridge over the flames.
“Go!” Matteo roared, falling to his knees on the other side, his clothes smoking.
Reversal.
Matteo wasn’t the weak, pampered little brother Elena had claimed he was. He was a father willing to burn alive to save his child.
Luca didn’t hesitate. He grabbed my arm, forcing me forward.
We ran across the blazing timber bridge, the heat searing my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying my grip on Sofia wouldn’t fail.
We cleared the flames, collapsing onto the cool stone floor beside the hidden hatch.
Luca immediately grabbed his brother, dragging Matteo away from the fire. Matteo’s hands were badly burned, but he was alive.
“I’ve got you,” Luca promised, his voice cracking with emotion.
We scrambled down into the dark, damp catacombs, slamming the heavy iron hatch shut above us.
The roar of the fire was instantly muffled, replaced by the sound of dripping water and our own ragged breathing.
It was pitch black.
“Elena went this way,” Luca said, pulling a small penlight from his pocket.
The narrow beam of light illuminated the ancient brick tunnel.
But it also illuminated something else.
Lying on the muddy floor of the tunnel was a silver bracelet.
I recognized it instantly. It was the charm bracelet I had bought for Valentina’s birthday last month.
I picked it up, my hands shaking.
“Luca,” I whispered.
He turned the light toward me.
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“Valentina didn’t stay at the mansion,” I said, staring down the dark tunnel. “She’s down here.”
TITLE: The Sister's Final Play
