Chapter 9 - The Monastery Without Bells
The abandoned monastery stood above the river beneath a sky heavy with rain.
Alex parked near the broken stone angel and stepped from the car with the memory card in his pocket.
Ruiz’s team remained two miles away.
A transmitter had been hidden inside the sole of Alex’s shoe.
Marcus would search his clothes.
He would not expect the shoe.
The monastery doors opened before Alex touched them.
Genevieve stood inside.
She wore dark trousers and a borrowed coat.
Her hair was tangled.
The woman who had walked down the wedding aisle beneath white roses had disappeared.
“Where is Sofi?” Alex asked.
Genevieve’s eyes shifted toward the chapel.
“She is alive.”
“Show me.”
Marcus stepped from behind a pillar.
The silver ring gleamed on his hand.
“You were always impatient when something mattered.”
Alex looked past him.
Sofi sat inside the old confessional with her wrists tied loosely in front of her.
Her face was wet with tears.
Benny lay beside her.
She tried to breathe through her mouth.
A masked man held the inhaler above her head.
Alex took one step forward.
Marcus raised a gun.
“The card.”
“Medication first.”
“You are not negotiating from a position of strength.”
“I walked into your building alone.”
“I am the only reason you still have a way out.”
Marcus smiled.
“You still think this is about escape.”
“It is about control.”
He explained that a backup of the original Ward Global accounting system remained beneath the monastery in the old renovation office.
The system contained transaction records tying him to dozens of shell companies.
He intended to destroy it.
But Javier’s card contained enough evidence to rebuild the case.
“Give me the card,” Marcus said.
“You receive the child.”
Alex removed it from his pocket.
Sofi wheezed harder.
The masked man lowered the inhaler toward her.
Marcus nodded.
Alex tossed the card across the stone floor.
Marcus bent to pick it up.
At that moment, Sofi kicked the wooden wall behind her.
The confessional door slammed into the masked man’s knees.
The inhaler fell.
Alex rushed forward.
A gunshot cracked through the chapel.
Stone exploded from the pillar beside his head.
Genevieve screamed.
Marcus aimed again.
Then Genevieve struck his arm with a brass candle stand.
The second bullet shattered a stained-glass window.
Alex reached Sofi and pressed the inhaler into her hands.
“Breathe.”
She tried.
Marcus seized Genevieve by the hair and dragged her toward the underground stairs.
“You foolish woman.”
“You just chose prison.”
Genevieve looked back at Alex.
“He has gasoline below.”
May you like
“He is going to burn everything.”
Then Marcus pulled her into the darkness.
