Chapter 9 - THE PRIEST’S CONFESSION
Emma’s face was wet with tears.
Father Matteo held her wrist tightly.
Two Romano gunmen stood behind him.
One carried the wounded Ricci guard who had been left to protect her.
The other aimed at Alessandro.
Clara’s body moved before thought.
“Let her go.”
Father Matteo pushed Emma behind his robe.
“Stay where you are.”
“You baptized her.”
“I have baptized many children.”
“You held her when she was six weeks old.”
“And now she holds something more valuable than innocence.”
Clara looked at the rabbit in Emma’s other hand.
Its torn body dragged against the floor.
“The recording is empty.”
“The recording was never the most valuable part.”
Father Matteo pointed toward the black envelopes.
“The seals.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
The priest laughed.
“We already had you.”
“I can decode the ledger.”
“So can the girl.”
Clara stared at him.
“She is three.”
“She remembers songs.”
Emma looked toward her mother.
“Daddy’s song.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“What did you say?”
Emma sniffed.
“The song in Mr. Bunny.”
The coin-shaped recording device had contained Daniel’s spoken message.
But Emma had called it a song before anyone played it.
Clara remembered.
Children repeated what they heard.
“What song?” Daniel asked.
Emma whispered a sequence of seven notes.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“The account cipher.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“You taught a child the cipher?”
“I hummed it while working.”
Daniel’s voice filled with horror.
“She memorized it.”
Father Matteo smiled.
“The ledger entries are arranged by musical intervals.”
“Without the sequence, the seals appear to implicate every family equally.”
“With the sequence, they reveal the altered authorizations.”
Clara’s fear became rage.
“You pointed a gun at a child for a melody.”
“I pointed a gun at the future of twelve families.”
“No.”
Clara took one step forward.
“You pointed it because you are a coward wearing holy clothes.”
The priest’s face hardened.
“Your husband came to me seeking forgiveness.”
“And you sold him to Vivian.”
“I preserved peace.”
“You preserved powerful men.”
Father Matteo raised the pistol.
“Another step and Emma dies.”
Clara stopped.
Daniel moved slowly toward the black envelopes.
“Take the seals.”
“Put them into the case.”
Daniel obeyed.
Alessandro watched the gunmen.
One stood slightly behind the priest.
The other favored his left leg.
Don Ricci still held a pistol at his side.
Father Matteo noticed.
“Place the weapon down.”
The old man did not move.
“Ricci.”
“You performed my daughter’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“You looked at me while I buried her.”
“I offered comfort.”
“You knew she had been killed.”
“I knew her death prevented a war.”
Don Ricci lifted his pistol.
Father Matteo pressed the gun against Emma’s hair.
Clara’s scream cut through the room.
“No!”
Don Ricci lowered his weapon.
The pistol touched the floor.
The second Romano gunman kicked it away.
Father Matteo nodded.
“Now Alessandro.”
Alessandro placed his pistol on the ground.
“Clara.”
She looked at him.
His eyes moved toward the overhead light fixture.
A loose wire hung beside the glass shade.
Clara understood nothing.
Then she saw water dripping from a cracked pipe above Father Matteo.
A puddle had formed beneath his shoes.
Alessandro looked at Daniel.
Daniel followed his gaze.
A maintenance switch stood near the cabinet.
If the exposed wire touched the water, the electrical shock might stop the priest.
It might also reach Emma.
Clara shook her head slightly.
Too dangerous.
Father Matteo saw the movement.
“What are you signaling?”
“Nothing.”
He pulled Emma closer.
“Sing the notes.”
Emma cried harder.
“No.”
“Sing.”
“No!”
The priest’s voice sharpened.
“Sing the song your father taught you.”
Emma looked toward Daniel.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Emma.”
She stared at the stranger who was also her father.
Daniel spoke gently.
“Sing the wrong song.”
Father Matteo turned the pistol toward him.
“What?”
Daniel lunged.
The shot exploded.
Clara screamed.
Daniel struck Father Matteo’s arm as the bullet entered his own shoulder.
Emma fell free.
Clara ran.
One gunman fired toward Alessandro.
Alessandro kicked his pistol from the floor and shot the man in the leg.
Don Ricci drove his shoulder into the second attacker.
The exposed wire snapped loose during the struggle.
Sparks fell into the puddle.
Father Matteo screamed as the current threw him backward.
Clara grabbed Emma before the water reached them.
Alessandro pulled the main switch.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Daniel groaned.
Clara knelt beside him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“You idiot.”
He gave a weak laugh.
“You always said that.”
“Do not pretend this is normal.”
Emma stared at him.
“Daddy?”
Daniel looked at her.
The years of absence seemed to settle across his face all at once.
“Yes.”
She touched the scar near his temple.
“You got old.”
Despite the danger, Clara almost laughed.
Daniel’s mouth trembled.
“I did.”
“Mommy said you were in the sky.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you fall down?”
He looked at Clara.
“Yes.”
Emma considered this.
“Mr. Alessandro said he would find you.”
Daniel glanced toward Alessandro.
“He did.”
Alessandro bound Father Matteo’s hands.
The priest remained unconscious but alive.
Don Ricci searched the Romano gunmen.
He found a radio.
Voices spoke through the static.
Vivian’s voice was among them.
“Has Matteo secured the child?”
Don Ricci pressed the transmitter.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Then Vivian answered.
“Bring her to Teatro Valenti.”
Don Ricci looked at Alessandro.
The abandoned theater stood near the old industrial quarter.
It had once belonged to the Romano family.
“When?” Don Ricci asked.
“Before midnight.”
Vivian’s voice sharpened.
“And make sure Clara is alive.”
Clara took the transmitter.
“Why?”
Silence answered.
Then Vivian laughed.
“Because you are going to confess to every death your husband planned.”
Clara tightened her grip.
“I planned nothing.”
“The truth is whatever frightened people hear first.”
“You already tried blaming Alessandro.”
“And it worked.”
Vivian’s satisfaction came through clearly.
“Seven families have left Villa Moretti believing he created the Circle.”
“Three have declared him an enemy.”
“By sunrise, his accounts will be frozen.”
“His allies will disappear.”
“And you will stand on a theater stage and tell Milan that Daniel Bennett acted under Alessandro’s orders.”
Clara looked toward him.
He did not react.
“What happens if I refuse?”
Vivian’s voice became soft.
“We begin with Emma’s left hand.”
Clara nearly crushed the radio.
“You will never touch her.”
“Then come to the theater.”
The transmission ended.
Daniel struggled to sit.
“She wants the families gathered.”
“Why?”
“To make the false confession public.”
Alessandro closed the document case.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She wants more than that.”
He stared at the account seals.
“The theater sits above the Romano emergency vault.”
“If she gets the seals and Emma’s cipher, she can transfer every Circle account.”
Don Ricci’s face tightened.
“How much?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“More than four billion euros.”
Clara looked toward Father Matteo.
“This was never about preventing war.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It was about stealing everything while the families destroyed each other.”
Alessandro lifted the radio.
“Then we give Vivian what she asked for.”
Clara stared at him.
“You are not bringing Emma.”
“No.”
His eyes moved toward Father Matteo’s robes.
“We are bringing a priest.”
Father Matteo opened his eyes.
And smiled.
“You still think I am the only priest working for her.”
A church bell rang somewhere above the tunnel.
May you like
Then twelve bells across Milan began ringing at the same time.
Every family had received Vivian’s invitation.
