Chapter 13 - THE WRONG SONG
Alessandro remained hidden beyond the chamber entrance.
Clara could not see him.
She trusted that Vittorio could not either.
At least not yet.
Vittorio motioned toward the console.
“Come closer.”
Clara stepped into the vault.
Ten armed men surrounded the circular room.
More stood on the upper platform.
Daniel knelt beside the metal table.
His wounded shoulder hung low.
Emma tried to reach for Clara.
A guard held her back.
“Let her go,” Clara said.
“When the accounts open.”
“She does not know the cipher.”
Vittorio smiled.
“She hummed it at the theater.”
“She hums many songs.”
“Then we will test each one.”
He held the microphone near Emma.
“Sing.”
Emma looked toward Clara.
Clara forced her face to remain calm.
“Do you remember the bedtime song?”
Emma sniffed.
“Mr. Bunny’s song?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Clara sharply.
She ignored him.
Vittorio raised the microphone.
“Sing it.”
Emma began humming.
The seven notes moved through the vault.
The computer accepted the sequence.
A green light appeared.
Vittorio’s smile widened.
“Again.”
Emma repeated the melody.
The first account unlocked.
Numbers appeared across the screen.
Hundreds of millions.
Vittorio’s men stared.
Greed distracted them.
Clara glanced toward Daniel.
He shook his head slightly.
The melody was correct.
That was not what Clara wanted.
She moved closer to Emma.
“Sweetheart, you missed the part Daddy always changed.”
Emma frowned.
“He changed it when it rained.”
Rain thundered against the mill roof.
Clara nodded.
“Sing the rainy version.”
Daniel understood.
He had taught Emma a false interval.
A hidden emergency variation.
Emma began again.
The first six notes remained the same.
The seventh dropped lower.
The computer screen flashed red.
Vittorio’s smile vanished.
“What did she do?”
An alarm sounded inside the vault.
Steel shutters began closing over the exits.
The account balances disappeared.
A message appeared.
TRANSFER LOCKED.
AUTHORIZATION COPIED.
Vittorio struck Daniel.
“You planned this.”
Daniel fell.
Clara grabbed Emma.
The nearest guard raised his weapon.
Alessandro fired from the passage.
The bullet struck the guard’s shoulder.
Chaos erupted.
Don Ricci’s men attacked from the eastern entrance.
Marco’s team entered through the upper platform.
Gunfire filled the vault.
Clara dropped behind the metal table with Emma.
Daniel crawled toward them.
“Take her.”
Clara pulled him behind cover.
“You are coming too.”
Vittorio fired toward them.
The bullet struck the table.
Metal rang beside Emma’s head.
Daniel shielded her.
Alessandro crossed the chamber, firing in controlled bursts.
Two Romano men dropped their weapons.
A third ran toward the closing exit.
Marco appeared on the upper platform.
Vittorio looked up.
“Help me!”
Marco aimed his weapon downward.
“For twenty percent?”
Vittorio’s face hardened.
“Vivian lied to both of us.”
“She is your daughter.”
“She is a mistake.”
Marco laughed.
“That seems to be a family tradition.”
He shot the control panel.
The shutters stopped halfway.
Vittorio grabbed one of the account seals.
Then he seized Emma by the back of her dress.
Clara caught her legs.
For one terrible second, Emma was pulled between them.
“Let her go!” Clara screamed.
Vittorio pressed his pistol against Emma’s shoulder.
Daniel lunged.
Vittorio shot him.
Daniel collapsed.
Clara screamed his name.
Alessandro reached Vittorio and struck the pistol away.
Emma fell into Clara’s arms.
Alessandro and Vittorio crashed against the console.
The older man pulled a hidden blade from his cuff.
He drove it toward Alessandro’s side.
Alessandro caught his wrist.
They struggled above the open vault mechanism.
The gears beneath the console continued turning.
Vittorio smiled.
“You think Clara will choose you after this?”
Alessandro forced the blade back.
“This is not about me.”
“It is always about men like us.”
“No.”
Alessandro looked toward Emma.
“It is about what men like us destroy.”
He twisted Vittorio’s wrist.
The blade fell.
Vittorio struck him with his free hand.
Marco jumped from the platform.
He landed behind Vittorio and pressed a gun against his head.
“Stop.”
Vittorio laughed.
“You could have ruled beside Vivian.”
“She planned to kill me.”
“Of course.”
Vittorio’s smile widened.
“That is what rulers do.”
Marco’s hand trembled.
Don Ricci entered the chamber.
“Move away from him.”
Marco looked toward the old man.
“You will kill me anyway.”
“That depends on what you do next.”
Marco stared at Vittorio.
Fourteen years of betrayal stood between him and Alessandro.
Years of lies.
Years of helping the Romanos enter Villa Moretti.
His finger tightened.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Do not become their final weapon.”
Marco’s expression broke.
He lowered the gun.
Vittorio moved instantly.
He grabbed Marco and pulled him against his body.
A second blade appeared in his hand.
He pressed it against Marco’s throat.
“You were always weak.”
Marco looked toward Alessandro.
“I am sorry.”
He drove his elbow backward.
The blade cut across his neck.
Don Ricci fired.
The bullet struck Vittorio’s leg.
He fell.
Marco collapsed beside him.
Alessandro kicked the blade away and restrained Vittorio.
Clara knelt beside Daniel.
Blood spread beneath him.
His eyes opened weakly.
“Emma?”
“She’s here.”
Emma crawled closer.
Daniel looked at her.
“You sang perfectly.”
“I sang it wrong.”
“That was perfect.”
She touched his face.
“Are you going to the sky again?”
Daniel looked at Clara.
Fear filled his eyes.
“No.”
Clara pressed both hands against the wound.
“You are not allowed.”
He tried to smile.
“You still sound like my wife.”
“I am not your wife right now.”
“What am I?”
“A problem.”
His smile became real for one second.
Alessandro knelt beside them.
“The bullet passed through.”
Daniel’s breathing remained shallow.
“He needs a hospital.”
The vault alarm changed pitch.
A mechanical voice began repeating.
“Emergency purge in three minutes.”
Don Ricci looked toward the accounts.
“The wrong cipher triggered destruction.”
“What kind?” Clara asked.
Daniel forced out the answer.
“Fire.”
May you like
Steel doors began sealing the upper exits.
The old silk mill had become a trap.
