Chapter 9 - The Account That Shouldn't Exist
Sadi tackled Roman.
The chapel window shattered.
The bullet struck stone.
Marcus returned fire toward the tree line.
No target.
Roman rolled over.
“You okay?”
“You're asking me?”
“You landed hard.”
“You were being shot.”
“Still rude not to ask.”
She laughed once.
Half hysteria.
Half relief.
They left through the rear.
Sadi now had one goal.
Mateo.
She studied the photograph.
Metadata had been stripped.
But reflections remained.
A fluorescent sign.
A numbered loading bay.
Roman recognized the location.
An abandoned vehicle auction facility once owned by Victor.
They prepared carefully.
No police.
Not yet.
Too many leaks.
Sadi used the stolen account network to create a false transfer.
Three hundred million appeared to move into an account Victor controlled.
Bait.
Victor responded within four minutes.
Coordinates.
Roman smiled grimly.
“He's impatient.”
“Greedy.”
“Same weakness with better tailoring.”
They reached the auction facility.
Inside, Mateo was alive.
Arturo wasn't there.
Only a recorded image.
Victor had fabricated the photograph.
Mateo apologized.
Sadi hugged him so tightly he laughed through tears.
“You're crushing me.”
“You were dead for five years. Deal with it.”
Roman turned away, giving them privacy.
Mateo noticed.
“So that's Roman?”
“Don't.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You were about to.”
Mateo's smile vanished.
“There's something you need to know.”
He handed Sadi a drive.
Arturo had contacted Mateo a year earlier.
Their father was dying.
He wanted to expose Victor before his death.
Mateo agreed to help.
But Arturo vanished again.
“Is he alive now?”
“I don't know.”
Roman joined them.
Mateo looked at him.
“I was wrong about you.”
Roman shrugged.
“Common experience.”
They opened the drive.
A list appeared.
Names.
Judges.
Executives.
Police officers.
Accountants.
Dealership employees.
Victor's network.
Then Sadi saw Gina Holloway.
Below her name:
RECRUITED — COERCED.
Gina hadn't joined willingly.
Victor had threatened her daughter.
Sadi felt a painful shift.
Gina's cruelty was still hers.
But her crimes belonged to a larger cage.
Then another name appeared.
MARCUS VALE.
Roman stopped.
Status:
ACTIVE.
Roman stared at Marcus.
Marcus read it.
His face went blank.
“Roman.”
Roman stepped away.
“Explain.”
“I can't.”
“Try.”
Marcus reached slowly inside his coat.
Roman tensed.
Marcus removed his phone.
One message.
From Victor.
BRING ROMAN ALIVE AND YOUR SON WALKS FREE.
Marcus closed his eyes.
“I have a son.”
Roman's anger disappeared.
“You told me he died.”
“I thought he did.”
Sadi understood immediately.
Same method.
Same weapon.
Victor collected people through grief.
Mateo.
Marcus's son.
Gina's daughter.
Everyone had been manipulated with someone they loved.
Roman asked, “Where is your son?”
“I don't know.”
Sadi turned back to the ledger.
A hidden field linked every hostage.
One location.
Monza Motors.
She stared.
“The dealership.”
Roman frowned.
“What about it?”
“There's another level.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She showed architectural records.
A basement existed beneath the showroom.
It wasn't on modern plans.
They drove back.
At 3:12 a.m., Monza was dark.
Sadi entered through the cash cage.
The place where everything started.
Her chair remained crooked.
Her resignation keys still sat on the counter.
It felt like another lifetime.
She found the access panel beneath Gina's office.
Roman inserted the black card.
A staircase appeared.
They descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Sadi heard voices beyond it.
One was Gina.
Another was a child.
Marcus stopped breathing.
“My son.”
Roman reached for the handle.
Then the speaker above them activated.
Victor's voice filled the stairwell.
“Before you open that door, Roman, you should know who built the room.”
A screen illuminated.
One name appeared.
LUCA COSTA.
May you like
And beneath it:
AUTHORIZED USER CURRENTLY INSIDE.
