Chapter 19 – The Enemy Inside His Home
The roar of Catherine Rossi's helicopter faded into the darkness.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Julian remained kneeling beside Gabriel's body, the tiny brass key still clenched in his fist.
The old man's final words echoed in his mind.
"Not... a vault. A future."
He gently closed his grandfather's eyes.
"I promise," he whispered.
"I'll end this."
Across the cliff, emergency lights illuminated the shoreline.
Italian Coast Guard boats approached from the sea.
Military helicopters circled overhead.
Interpol agents fast-roped onto the landing platform.
For the first time in thirty years...
The secret empire hiding behind the Blood Agreement was collapsing in plain sight.
An Interpol commander approached cautiously.
"Mr. Rossi?"
Julian nodded.
"I'm Commander Henri Dubois."
"We've secured the hospital and arrested everyone who survived inside."
Julian looked around.
"What about Catherine?"
Dubois lowered his head.
"She escaped before we established the perimeter."
Julian wasn't surprised.
People like Catherine always prepared an escape.
Marco emerged from the tunnel entrance moments later.
His uniform was torn, his forehead bleeding, and his left arm hung in a makeshift sling.
But he was alive.
Julian embraced him without hesitation.
"I thought I'd lost you."
Marco smiled weakly.
"You almost did."
He handed Julian a rugged encrypted tablet.
"I downloaded everything before the servers self-destructed."
Julian looked at the screen.
One folder remained unopened.
PROJECT LEGACY
Below it was a warning.
ONLY FOR JULIAN ROSSI
Julian hesitated.
Then tapped the file.
A video appeared.
The recording began in Antonio Rossi's private study.
Antonio looked older than Julian remembered.
Exhausted.
As though he hadn't slept in weeks.
He looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
"...I'm already dead."
Julian's chest tightened.
Antonio smiled sadly.
"My son..."
"I'm sorry."
"I failed to protect you."
Elena quietly slipped her hand into Julian's.
He squeezed it tightly.
Antonio continued.
"The greatest mistake I ever made..."
"...was believing the enemy lived outside our family."
He slowly opened a thick folder.
Inside were photographs.
Bank transfers.
Phone records.
Surveillance reports.
One photograph appeared on screen.
Julian's blood froze.
It was his own mansion.
Taken from across the street.
The date...
Nine months before Elena disappeared.
Antonio spoke again.
"I discovered someone had been living inside our home..."
"...reporting every conversation."
Julian whispered,
"Who?"
Antonio looked into the camera.
"I couldn't believe it either."
The video ended abruptly.
A new document automatically opened.
At the top appeared a single name.
Julian stopped breathing.
MARGARET HAWTHORNE
Position:
Chief Housekeeper – Rossi Estate
Employment History:
Thirty-two years.
Recruitment Sponsor:
Catherine Rossi.
Elena gasped.
"Margaret?"
Julian felt sick.
Margaret had worked for the Rossi family since before he was born.
She had tucked him into bed as a child.
She had comforted him after Antonio's funeral.
She had prepared dinner every Christmas.
She knew every room.
Every safe.
Every private conversation.
Every weakness.
Marco quietly said,
"She wasn't the servant..."
"...she was the observer."
Julian remembered.
The missing security footage.
The forged letters.
The empty closet.
The anonymous phone calls.
Every single event...
Margaret had been in the house.
Every time.
He looked at Elena.
"The night you disappeared..."
Elena nodded slowly.
"She made me tea."
Julian's eyes widened.
"You never finished it."
"I woke up in the hotel."
Marco quickly searched the recovered files.
"There it is."
He opened a laboratory report.
Sedative identified in Elena Rossi's bloodstream.
Administered approximately...
Twenty minutes before her disappearance.
Julian slammed his fist against a nearby rock.
"She drugged my wife."
Emily quietly tugged Elena's sleeve.
"Mama..."
Elena knelt beside her.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
Emily reached into the pocket of her little sweater.
"I forgot."
She pulled out a tiny silver music box.
"I found it in the old lady's room."
Julian frowned.
"What old lady?"
"The one who always watched everyone."
Marco carefully took the music box.
"It's heavier than it should be."
He examined it closely.
Then pressed one hidden latch.
A false bottom opened.
Inside...
Was a miniature memory card.
Julian stared at it.
"Another recording?"
Marco inserted it into the tablet.
Audio only.
The date:
Eight Months Ago
A woman's voice filled the speakers.
Calm.
Gentle.
Unmistakably Margaret's.
"She's unconscious."
Another voice answered.
Catherine.
"Good."
Margaret continued.
"Julian believes she's upstairs asleep."
Catherine laughed softly.
"When he wakes tomorrow..."
"...his wife will already be gone."
Julian closed his eyes.
Every terrible suspicion...
Every sleepless night...
Every moment of doubt...
Had been carefully manufactured.
Elena had never abandoned him.
She had been taken from their home.
By someone they trusted.
Suddenly...
One of the Interpol agents ran toward Commander Dubois.
"Sir!"
Dubois turned.
"What happened?"
"We've identified the helicopter's destination."
Julian looked up.
"Where?"
The agent swallowed.
"The Rossi Estate."
Silence.
Marco looked at Julian.
"Boss..."
Julian already understood.
Margaret wasn't running.
She was returning home.
Because there was still something inside the mansion worth protecting.
Julian looked at Elena.
"Can you travel?"
She glanced down at the sleeping baby.
Then back at him.
"I've already lost eight months."
"I'm not losing another day."
Julian nodded.
He looked toward the waiting helicopter.
"Then we're going home."
As the helicopter lifted into the night sky, none of them noticed one final notification appearing on Marco's tablet.
A hidden file had just unlocked automatically.
Its title consisted of only six words.
DNA RESULTS – CHILD: CONFIDENTIAL
And beneath it...
May you like
A single line flashed red.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: NO MATCH FOUND.
