Chapter 13 – The Man Who Never Died
The lobby fell silent.
Broken glass covered the marble floor.
The surviving attackers had fled.
Police sirens echoed in the distance.
Yet no one moved.
Alessandro stared at the silver-haired man standing a few feet away.
"Gabriel..."
The man nodded once.
"It's good to see you alive, nephew."
For a long moment, Alessandro simply looked at him.
The last time he had seen his uncle, he was twenty-six years old.
Then came the news.
A car had plunged into a mountain ravine.
The vehicle burned beyond recognition.
Everyone had believed Gabriel Duca was dead.
Including Alessandro.
Marco lowered his weapon—but not completely.
"If you're really Gabriel Duca..."
"...prove it."
The older man smiled faintly.
"When Alessandro was ten, he stole a bottle of his father's twenty-year-old Scotch."
Alessandro blinked.
Gabriel continued.
"He blamed the gardener."
"And your father grounded both of us for a week because I covered for you."
A reluctant smile crossed Alessandro's face.
"No one else knew that."
Gabriel shrugged.
"I've kept bigger secrets."
They relocated to one of the bank's secure conference rooms.
Federal agents had already begun interviewing witnesses.
Gabriel refused medical treatment for the small cut on his forehead.
He sat across from Alessandro.
"You have questions."
"A lifetime's worth."
Gabriel folded his hands.
"I disappeared because your father ordered me to."
Silence.
"He knew the Raven Society had infiltrated our businesses."
"He believed one of us had to vanish."
"So you faked your death."
Gabriel nodded.
"I spent twenty years gathering evidence."
Marco frowned.
"Why not expose them?"
Gabriel gave a bitter laugh.
"Expose them to whom?"
"The police?"
"They owned them."
"The courts?"
"They influenced them."
"The politicians?"
He looked at the photograph from Box 317.
"They were the politicians."
Sophia entered quietly with Emma.
The little girl looked curiously at Gabriel.
He smiled warmly.
"So you're Emma."
She nodded.
"You knew my daddy."
Gabriel's smile faded.
"I wish I'd met him."
Emma tilted her head.
"You look sad."
"I am."
She walked over and offered him Bunny.
Whenever Emma trusted someone, she shared her rabbit.
Gabriel accepted it carefully.
"Thank you."
Marco noticed something unusual.
The old soldier's hands were trembling.
Alessandro placed the Raven Accounts ledger on the table.
"We know Senator Charles Whitmore led the Society."
Gabriel looked at him.
"He did."
Alessandro frowned.
"Did?"
Gabriel took a deep breath.
"Charles Whitmore died three years ago."
The room fell silent.
Marco's eyes narrowed.
"Then who's giving the orders now?"
Gabriel answered quietly.
"His successor."
"Who?"
Gabriel looked directly at Alessandro.
"I don't know."
The answer disappointed everyone.
But Gabriel wasn't finished.
"I never learned the new leader's name."
"I only know one thing."
"They inherited something Charles always carried."
"What?"
"A signet ring."
"The Raven seal."
"The leader never removes it."
Marco immediately opened the ledger again.
He flipped through photographs attached to the back.
Hundreds of faces.
Business dinners.
Political fundraisers.
Charity galas.
Then Emma climbed onto a chair beside him.
She pointed to one picture.
"Bird ring."
Everyone leaned closer.
A man standing in the background wore a large black ring.
His face was partially turned away.
Only his profile was visible.
Marco enlarged the image on his laptop.
The quality improved just enough.
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"I know him."
"Who is it?"
Gabriel answered slowly.
"Judge Harold Mercer."
Alessandro frowned.
"The Chief Justice?"
Gabriel nodded.
"The most respected judge in the state."
Marco looked stunned.
"He spent years leading anti-corruption campaigns."
Gabriel's voice turned cold.
"Sometimes the safest place to hide..."
"...is at the front of the parade."
Just then, Marco's phone rang.
It was one of his security officers back at the Duca estate.
His face changed immediately.
"What happened?"
The officer sounded breathless.
"Sir..."
"Aunt Lucia is gone."
"What?"
"She escaped before the police arrived."
"And Isabella?"
"We found her."
Marco held his breath.
"Where?"
"In the greenhouse."
"Alive?"
There was a long pause.
"No."
"She was murdered."
The room became deathly quiet.
"How?" Alessandro asked.
The officer swallowed.
"One gunshot."
"Execution style."
"No fingerprints."
"No weapon."
Marco closed his eyes.
"They're cleaning up."
Gabriel nodded.
"That's how the Raven Society survives."
"When someone becomes a liability..."
"They disappear."
An hour later, Alessandro stood alone beside the river outside the bank.
Gabriel joined him.
"You blame yourself."
"I brought Sophia and Emma into this."
Gabriel looked out across the water.
"No."
"They were already targets."
Alessandro turned.
"What do you mean?"
Gabriel reached into his coat and removed an old photograph.
It showed Daniel Alvarez.
Standing beside... Gabriel.
Taken nearly five years earlier.
Alessandro stared in disbelief.
"You knew Daniel?"
Gabriel nodded.
"He wasn't just a maintenance worker."
"He was helping me investigate the Raven Society."
Alessandro looked at the photograph again.
"Then why didn't he tell Sophia?"
Gabriel's voice softened.
"Because the less she knew..."
"...the longer she and Emma would stay alive."
A heavy silence settled between them.
Daniel hadn't stumbled onto the conspiracy by accident.
He had chosen to fight it.
Knowing it might cost him everything.
Gabriel looked toward the skyline.
"The final battle is coming, Alessandro."
May you like
"And this time..."
"...the Ravens won't hide in the shadows."
