Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Chapel
At two o'clock in the morning, a heavy autumn rain began to fall over the city. Thunder rolled across the dark sky, rattling the high stained-glass windows of Saint Jude’s Memorial Chapel—an abandoned stone structure located on the outskirts of the Bellandi territory.
An armored black sedan pulled up the gravel driveway of the chapel, its headlights cutting through the dense fog. Victor stepped out of the vehicle, wearing a long dark overcoat over his black shirt and trousers. Beside him walked Marcus, holding a heavy tactical case.
They pushed open the heavy oak doors of the chapel, stepping into the dark, quiet sanctuary. The air smelled of damp stone, old incense, and aged wood.
At the altar beneath a towering stained-glass window sat a heavy, antique oak chest bound in iron straps. It had belonged to the private medical board of Saint Jude’s before the facility was decommissioned.
Victor walked up the altar steps, pulling a heavy steel crowbar from Marcus’s tactical case. He inserted the steel edge beneath the iron latch, applying his massive physical strength.
With a loud metallic CRACK, the iron lock snapped open.
Victor lifted the heavy oak lid. Inside lay stacks of archived medical files, vintage intake ledgers, and a sealed metal canister stamped with an official registry code: PROJECT HYDRA - TWIN INTAKE 2018.
Victor pulled out the metal canister, unscrewing the threaded cap. Inside sat a thick folder containing the original birth certificates for both Ellie and her twin brother.
Victor opened the first page under the beam of Marcus’s tactical flashlight.
The boy’s name was listed as Leo. But what made Victor’s blood run cold was the legal guardianship document attached to the back of the file.
The document stated that forty minutes after delivery, the boy had been transferred to a high-security private estate in Boston—under the direct legal guardianship of Don Falcone, Victor’s deadliest rival in the eastern territory!
Marcus gasped, looking over Victor’s shoulder. "Falcone? Falcone has had your son for eight years?!"
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"Falcone didn't just take him, Marcus," Victor said, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet growl. "He raised the boy as his own secret heir. Falcone plans to use my son to claim the Bellandi trust when the Council of Nine meets tomorrow night."
Before Marcus could answer, the stained-glass windows above the altar exploded inward in a shower of crystal fragments as automatic gunfire erupted from the dark courtyard outside.
