Chapter 11 - MIDNIGHT BENEATH THE ALTAR
Dominic entered Saint Agnes Cathedral at eleven forty-seven.
He came alone through the front doors.
At least, that was what Nathan saw.
Daniel had survived the mill explosion.
He returned to the estate with burns along his left arm and a fractured shoulder.
Despite Doctor Russo’s orders, he joined Dominic’s plan.
Twenty loyal men entered the cathedral through old sewer tunnels.
Detective Reyes had once mapped them during an investigation into stolen church artifacts.
The map remained in Elena’s files.
Dominic walked down the center aisle wearing a black suit.
The silver bird pendant hung from his hand.
Candles burned along the altar.
No priest waited.
No wedding guests filled the pews.
Only Nathan stood beneath the cross.
“You came early,” Nathan said.
“You changed the date.”
“I changed many things while you were not looking.”
Dominic stopped before the altar.
“Bring them out.”
Nathan nodded.
A hidden door opened.
Mia appeared first.
Her wrists were tied.
Harper clung to her side.
Claire followed under guard.
Sofia Reyes was pushed from another passage.
She was thinner than the woman in the files.
Her hair had turned almost completely gray.
But her eyes remained sharp.
She looked at Dominic.
“Elena said you would be difficult to convince.”
Dominic’s throat tightened.
“Did she suffer?”
Sofia’s expression softened.
“She fought.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
“She did not die quickly.”
Nathan sighed.
“Must we begin with grief?”
“You built your life around mine,” Dominic said.
“You killed Elena.”
“You kept Sofia in a room for five years.”
“You locked Mia beneath my house.”
“And you still need me to bring you one small pendant.”
Nathan’s eyes moved toward the silver bird.
“Place it on the altar.”
Dominic did.
Nathan sent a guard to retrieve it.
The man opened the pendant and removed the memory card.
Nathan inserted it into a laptop.
A password screen appeared.
“Tell me the phrase,” he ordered.
Dominic looked at Mia.
She remained silent.
Nathan drew a gun and pressed it against Harper’s head.
Mia’s breath stopped.
Claire turned away.
Dominic spoke.
“The little bird returns where the river meets the stone.”
Nathan entered the words.
The ledger opened.
Names filled the screen.
Nathan smiled.
Then every file began deleting itself.
His smile disappeared.
“What did you do?”
“Elena’s system required two passwords.”
“The first opens the files.”
“The second prevents destruction.”
Nathan looked at Sofia.
“You knew.”
The detective smiled weakly.
“Elena was smarter than both of us.”
Nathan struck her.
Harper screamed.
At that moment, the cathedral lights went out.
Daniel’s men opened fire from the side passages.
Dominic crossed the altar in two strides.
He struck the guard nearest Mia.
Claire grabbed the man’s gun as he fell.
Nathan fired toward Dominic.
The bullet shattered a marble statue.
Mia pulled Harper behind a stone column.
Sofia kicked the laptop from the altar.
The memory card slid across the floor.
Nathan saw it.
So did Claire.
They moved at the same time.
Claire reached it first.
Nathan aimed his weapon at his own sister.
“Give it to me.”
Claire held the card between two fingers.
“You were going to kill me.”
“You always were slow.”
Claire smiled through her tears.
“Not tonight.”
May you like
She dropped the card into a burning candle.
Nathan shot her.
