Chapter 17 - The Children Below the Sea
The lower chamber had no ordinary door.
The entry system required the biometric confirmation of Minister De Luca.
Renzo examined the wiring.
“If we cut power, the ventilation shuts down.”
“If we break the glass, the pressure system floods the room.”
Vittorio looked at the children.
Some were awake.
Others slept on narrow beds.
A little boy pressed his palm against the glass.
Vittorio pressed his hand to the other side.
Matteo searched the archive.
He found De Luca’s emergency authorization card.
It required a fingerprint.
Sophia’s cracked phone still contained the recording from the driveway.
During one frame, Isabella adjusted De Luca’s invitation folder before the wedding conspiracy began.
Her father had photographed every document.
Vittorio enlarged the image.
A partial fingerprint appeared on the glossy corner.
Matteo doubted it would work.
Vittorio had learned not to dismiss small observations.
They transferred the print image to the scanner.
The first attempt failed.
The countdown showed four minutes.
The second attempt failed.
Renzo examined the print.
“It is reversed.”
Sophia would have noticed.
They mirrored the image.
The door opened with seventy seconds remaining.
Fresh air entered the chamber.
The children were carried through the tunnels toward boats waiting beneath the cliffs.
Minister De Luca’s guards discovered the rescue.
Gunfire echoed above.
Matteo stayed behind with the last group.
Vittorio and Renzo climbed toward the main house.
They found De Luca inside the chapel, burning documents.
“You cannot arrest me,” the minister said.
“I do not arrest people.”
“That is the difference between us.”
“No.”
Vittorio looked toward the burning papers.
“The difference is that you hide behind law while using children.”
De Luca drew a pistol.
Before he fired, Italian anti-corruption officers entered through the side doors.
Their commander was Elena Bardi, a prosecutor Isabella had secretly contacted weeks earlier.
Isabella had not trusted Vittorio enough to confess.
But she had sent copies of the ledger to someone outside both families.
De Luca was arrested in his own chapel.
As officers led him away, he looked at Vittorio.
“Your brother already agreed to replace you.”
May you like
Vittorio’s phone rang.
Alessio had disappeared from the hospital.
