Chapter 16 - The Palermo House
Isabella and Alessio were taken to separate hospitals under guard.
Domenico and Marco were placed in secure custody.
Vittorio could have stayed in Naples.
His wife might die.
His brother might die.
His organization was divided.
But dozens of children remained inside the network.
He chose Palermo.
Matteo traveled with him.
Renzo refused to remain behind.
Sophia and Luca were moved to a protected coastal residence with trusted women from Renzo’s family.
Before Vittorio left, Sophia handed him the cracked phone.
“You listen better when you have this.”
The Palermo house stood above the sea behind walls designed to resemble an old monastery.
Minister De Luca arrived there before dawn.
Government vehicles surrounded the property.
A direct assault would become a political disaster.
Vittorio used Isabella’s key to open a drainage gate beneath the cliffs.
He, Matteo, and Renzo entered through a tunnel flooded to their knees.
Beneath the house, they found records for forty-three children.
Some belonged to judges.
Some belonged to business owners.
Some belonged to men declared dead.
Every child had been used to force obedience.
The second ledger also named payments to Morelli captains.
Half of Vittorio’s organization had been preparing to remove him.
A television switched on inside the archive.
Minister De Luca appeared.
“Vittorio Morelli.”
“You have spent your life pretending you are different from the men you command.”
“You are not.”
Vittorio looked toward the camera.
“I never claimed to be innocent.”
“Only harder to purchase.”
De Luca smiled.
“Your father was purchased.”
The screen changed.
Old footage showed Salvatore Morelli meeting with Domenico Serra and De Luca.
They discussed the first hidden school.
Salvatore knew children were being used as leverage.
He allowed it because the arrangement protected Morelli routes.
Vittorio felt shame settle deeper than anger.
His father’s confession in the vault had hidden that part.
De Luca continued.
“Release the ledger.”
“Or the children leave Italy before sunrise.”
Renzo studied the archive map.
“There is another level.”
They descended.
Behind a reinforced glass wall, they found the missing children.
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A countdown controlled the ventilation system.
Ten minutes remained.
