Chapter 6 - Sixty Minutes
The location arrived eleven seconds after Marco ended the call.
An abandoned freight terminal outside Milan.
Julian stared at the coordinates.
Adrian stood beside him beneath the bell tower.
“That place has been closed for twelve years.”
Julian put the flash drives into his coat.
“Which makes it perfect.”
“For an ambush.”
“Yes.”
Adrian studied him.
“You’re not actually going alone.”
“Marco told me to come alone.”
“And you plan to obey him?”
Julian looked toward the rain sliding down the chapel windows.
“No.”
Adrian smiled slightly.
“That’s better.”
Julian handed him one of the flash drives.
Adrian frowned.
“What is this?”
“Insurance.”
“You don’t even know what’s on it yet.”
“I know Marco is willing to kidnap a pregnant woman to get it back.”
Julian looked him directly in the eyes.
“That makes it valuable enough.”
Adrian slipped the drive into an interior pocket.
“What about the other two?”
“One stays with me.”
“And the third?”
Julian looked toward the chapel floor.
“Somewhere Marco will never find.”
Ten minutes later, they were in the helicopter.
Adrian opened his laptop while the aircraft lifted over Lake Como.
The first drive was encrypted.
Military-grade.
Multiple authentication layers.
Adrian cursed under his breath.
“Elena didn’t build this.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Julian thought of Elena photographing documents in his study.
“She must have had help.”
“That creates another problem.”
Julian looked at him.
“What?”
“Someone else knew what she found.”
Silence.
The helicopter banked over the lake.
Adrian continued.
“If that person helped her encrypt this evidence, they may still be alive.”
“Or dead.”
“Yes.”
Julian looked away.
His phone buzzed.
A new message.
A photograph.
Elena sat tied to a metal chair.
Her hands were bound behind her.
Her hair hung loose around her face.
One side of her cheek was bruised.
Her stomach was clearly visible beneath her uniform.
Julian’s vision narrowed.
Below the photograph was a sentence.
Fifty-three minutes.
Adrian saw the image.
“He wants you angry.”
“He succeeded.”
“No.”
Adrian closed the laptop.
“He wants you stupid.”
Julian said nothing.
“Those are different things.”
Julian stared at Elena’s face.
He zoomed in.
Her eyes were not looking at the camera.
They were looking slightly downward.
At something near the floor.
“Wait.”
Adrian leaned closer.
“What?”
Julian enlarged the bottom corner.
A painted yellow line crossed the concrete.
Beside it was a faded industrial marking.
3C-17.
Adrian immediately opened a satellite map.
“That terminal has five warehouses.”
“Can you identify the section?”
“Maybe.”
Julian received another message.
No police. No security. No games.
He typed back.
I want proof she is alive.
The phone rang immediately.
Marco.
Julian answered.
“Put her on.”
“You’re becoming demanding.”
“Put her on.”
There was movement.
Then Elena’s voice.
“Julian?”
His eyes closed for half a second.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t come.”
Marco laughed in the background.
Julian ignored him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is the baby moving?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Julian released a breath.
“Listen carefully.”
Marco interrupted.
“That’s enough.”
Julian spoke faster.
“Elena, I found the chapel.”
Silence.
Then Elena whispered.
“Did you find all three?”
Julian’s eyes sharpened.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Good.”
Marco grabbed the phone.
“You have forty-eight minutes.”
Julian stopped him.
“Marco.”
“What?”
“Elena asked whether I found all three.”
“So?”
“You never told her how many drives were there.”
Silence.
Julian smiled without warmth.
“But you knew.”
Marco hung up.
Adrian stared at him.
“That rattled him.”
“Good.”
“Did you notice something else?”
Julian looked over.
“Elena sounded surprised you found all three.”
Julian frowned.
Adrian continued.
“Maybe there weren’t supposed to be three.”
Julian took out the second drive.
“Then one of them was planted.”
The helicopter descended toward Milan.
Adrian looked at the drive in Julian’s hand.
“And if Marco planted it…”
Julian finished the thought.
“He wanted me to find something.”
They landed on the roof of a Rossi-owned office building twenty minutes from the freight terminal.
Adrian’s team was already waiting.
Six men.
No uniforms.
No marked vehicles.
Julian laid out the plan.
“You stay outside the perimeter.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Too risky.”
“If Marco sees you, Elena pays for it.”
“We can’t see inside.”
“You don’t need to.”
Julian handed Adrian his phone.
“You track this.”
“You’re giving me your phone?”
“I’ll carry the burner.”
Adrian understood.
“If they search you, the tracker stays outside.”
Julian nodded.
“And if I don’t come out?”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Then I stop following your rules.”
Julian reached for the car door.
Adrian stopped him.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“We cracked part of the drive.”
Julian turned.
“Already?”
“Only the directory.”
Adrian showed him the screen.
Hundreds of folders appeared.
Shipping companies.
Construction subsidiaries.
Offshore accounts.
Political donations.
Shell corporations.
Then one folder name froze Julian.
ALCAZAR.
He looked at Adrian.
“The hotel?”
“Maybe.”
Julian opened the folder.
Access denied.
Adrian pointed to another name.
BELLWEATHER.
Julian’s stomach tightened.
“We’ll decrypt it.”
“When?”
“As fast as possible.”
Julian looked at the clock.
Thirty-four minutes.
“No.”
He closed the laptop.
“Do it now.”
Adrian watched him.
“You’ll be late.”
Julian looked at Elena’s photograph.
“Marco needs those drives too badly to kill her before I arrive.”
“You’re gambling with her life.”
“No.”
Julian’s voice dropped.
“I’m finally gambling with his.”
Twenty-two minutes later, Adrian broke the encryption.
One document opened.
A corporate ownership chart.
Bellweather Capital sat at the top.
Below it were twelve holding companies.
At the bottom was the name of its controlling beneficiary.
Julian read it twice.
Then a third time.
It was not Marco Rossi.
It was not Henry Vale.
It was not anyone on the Rossi board.
Julian felt the room tilt beneath him.
Adrian looked at him.
“You know her?”
Julian stared at the name.
“Yes.”
May you like
He knew her very well.
Camila Vega.
