Chapter 10 - The Name Behind the Photograph
Georgia stared through the warehouse glass.
The man behind it did not move.
He simply held the photograph against the window.
Her childhood face stared back at her.
Eight years old.
Two missing front teeth.
Her father’s arm around her shoulders.
Her mother standing beside them.
And someone else had written across the back:
Ask your mother who I am.
Damiano stepped beside Georgia.
“Stay behind me.”
She barely heard him.
“That photograph…”
Richard looked toward the glass.
“We need to leave.”
“No.”
Georgia turned toward him.
“I’m done running.”
“Georgia.”
“My father died because everyone decided I was too young to know the truth.”
She pointed toward the photograph.
“My mother lied to me. Martin lied. Nathaniel lied. Your father lied. Everyone decided they could protect me by turning my entire life into a lie.”
Her voice shook.
“I’m not leaving until I know who he is.”
Richard looked at her.
“You may regret that.”
“I already regret not knowing.”
A gunshot shattered the glass.
Damiano grabbed Georgia and pulled her down.
The photograph disappeared from the window.
Another shot struck the metal frame.
“Move!” Damiano shouted.
Everyone scattered.
Richard dragged Nathaniel toward a concrete pillar.
Georgia crawled behind a stack of wooden crates.
Damiano fired toward the upper office.
“Marco!”
No answer.
“Marco!”
Static crackled through the radio.
Then a voice.
“Sir, we have men entering from the east side.”
Damiano looked at Georgia.
“How many?”
“Six that I can see.”
Richard shook his head.
“More are coming.”
Georgia looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because this isn't an arrest.”
“What is it?”
“An execution.”
The word chilled her.
“Whose?”
Richard looked directly at her.
“Everyone who knows about the ledger.”
Damiano fired again.
A man fell behind the warehouse door.
Another retreated.
Georgia looked at the photograph still lying outside the glass.
Someone had risked an armed assault just to show it to her.
Why?
She crawled toward the edge of the crates.
Damiano caught her.
“Don't.”
“I need the photograph.”
“You need to stay alive.”
“It has something written on the back.”
“I know.”
“And I need to know who that man is.”
Damiano stared at her.
“I'll get it.”
He moved.
Georgia watched him cross the open floor.
Two shots rang out.
Damiano reached the photograph and dropped behind a concrete barrier.
He picked it up.
Then stopped.
His face changed.
Georgia knew immediately.
“What?”
He didn't answer.
He turned the photograph over again.
There was something else written beneath the first sentence.
Something Georgia hadn't seen.
Damiano read it.
His eyes lifted toward her.
“Georgia.”
“What does it say?”
He walked back.
His face was pale.
She took the photograph from him.
Beneath Ask your mother who I am was another sentence.
He was there the night you were born.
Georgia stared.
She looked at Richard.
“Who?”
Richard said nothing.
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Damiano's voice was quiet.
“Your mother knows.”
“My mother isn't here.”
“She may be.”
Georgia looked toward the warehouse entrance.
The gunfire had stopped.
Too suddenly.
Damiano noticed it too.
“Everyone stay down.”
Silence spread through the building.
Then a loudspeaker crackled.
A man's voice echoed across the warehouse.
“Georgia Flynn.”
She froze.
“You have ten minutes.”
The same voice from the messages.
“If you want your mother alive, bring me the ledger.”
Georgia looked at the black book in her hands.
The voice continued.
“And bring Damiano Fontana.”
Damiano looked at her.
“Don't answer.”
Georgia stood anyway.
“Where is my mother?”
A pause.
Then the voice replied.
“Closer than you think.”
Georgia's blood went cold.
A door behind them opened.
Everyone turned.
Evelyn stood there.
Alone.
Her hands were raised.
“Mom?”
Georgia rushed toward her.
Damiano caught her before she could cross the room.
Evelyn looked exhausted.
Her hair was disheveled.
There was dried blood on her sleeve.
But she was alive.
“Georgia.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where were you?”
“I was trying to stop this.”
“Stop what?”
Evelyn looked at the ledger.
“That.”
Georgia held it tighter.
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
“You knew about Nico.”
Evelyn's face collapsed.
Damiano stepped forward.
“My brother.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You're his mother.”
“Yes.”
Damiano's voice became almost a whisper.
“Where is he?”
Evelyn looked toward the warehouse office.
“He's alive.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Damiano stared.
“You don't know where your own son is?”
“I haven't seen him in twenty years.”
Georgia felt the pieces moving again.
“Why was he hidden?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Because Salvatore wanted him protected.”
“From whom?”
“From the same people who wanted your father dead.”
Georgia held up the photograph.
“Who is this man?”
Evelyn looked at it.
Her face changed.
She took one step backward.
“No.”
Georgia knew.
“You know him.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“No.”
“Who is he?”
Evelyn looked at Damiano.
Then Richard.
Then Nathaniel.
Finally, she looked directly at Georgia.
“He was the reason your father trusted nobody.”
“His name.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Anthony.”
Georgia waited.
“Anthony who?”
Her mother whispered the surname.
“Fontana.”
Damiano froze.
“My uncle?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father's older brother.”
Georgia stared at Damiano.
“You have an uncle?”
“I was told he died before I was born.”
“He didn't,” Richard said.
Evelyn shook her head.
“Anthony survived.”
“Then where is he?”
Evelyn looked toward the dark warehouse office.
“He has been looking for the ledger for twenty years.”
Georgia's heart pounded.
“And now?”
“He finally knows where it is.”
A slow clap echoed from the upper level.
Everyone turned.
A man stepped onto the balcony.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Elegant black coat.
His face resembled Damiano's, but harder.
Colder.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Damiano stared.
“Anthony.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, nephew.”
Damiano raised his gun.
Anthony laughed.
“You always did inherit your father's temper.”
“You killed him.”
Anthony's smile disappeared.
“No.”
“You ordered his death.”
“No.”
“Then tell me why he died.”
Anthony looked at Georgia.
“Because Patrick Flynn discovered what he wasn't supposed to discover.”
Georgia stepped forward.
“What?”
Anthony looked directly at her.
“The truth about your birth.”
Her mother gasped.
Georgia's face went cold.
“My birth?”
Anthony nodded.
“Your father believed you were his daughter.”
Georgia stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Anthony looked at Evelyn.
“Tell her.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Mom?”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
Evelyn began crying.
Anthony's voice was calm.
“Patrick loved you.”
Georgia's breathing stopped.
“But he wasn't your biological father.”
The warehouse seemed to disappear.
Georgia stared at her mother.
“Is that true?”
Evelyn couldn't speak.
Damiano looked between them.
“Who is Georgia's father?”
Anthony smiled.
“You really want to know?”
Georgia's voice shook.
“Yes.”
Anthony stepped closer to the balcony railing.
“Then ask the man standing beside you.”
Damiano's expression changed.
“No.”
Anthony laughed.
“Salvatore never told you.”
“Told me what?”
Anthony looked at Georgia.
“The reason your father protected you was not because you were Patrick Flynn's daughter.”
He paused.
“It was because you were Salvatore Fontana's.”
Silence.
Georgia couldn't breathe.
Damiano looked at his mother.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at Georgia.
“No.”
Anthony continued.
“Your mother was carrying Salvatore's child when she married Patrick.”
Georgia's knees weakened.
“That child was me?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Yes.”
Damiano stepped backward.
Georgia looked at him.
Their eyes met.
Neither knew what to say.
Anthony smiled.
“And that is why your father was willing to die for you.”
Georgia's voice broke.
“Patrick knew?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
She turned toward Evelyn.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Patrick asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because Salvatore had enemies.”
Anthony laughed.
“Not just enemies.”
He looked down at Damiano.
“He had a son.”
Damiano stared.
Anthony continued.
“And he had a daughter.”
Georgia's heart pounded.
“Two heirs.”
Anthony nodded.
“Two children who could one day expose everything.”
Damiano's voice was cold.
“You're lying.”
Anthony looked at him.
“Then ask your mother why she gave Nico to Patrick.”
Georgia turned sharply.
“What?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Patrick raised Nico for the first three years.”
Damiano looked devastated.
“He was my brother.”
“Yes.”
“And you gave him away?”
“I was trying to save him.”
“From who?”
Evelyn looked at Anthony.
“From him.”
Anthony smiled.
“That was a mistake.”
Georgia stared at the man above them.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“Why?”
“Because page 114 contains the only proof of who controls the network.”
“And that's you?”
Anthony didn't answer.
Georgia lifted the ledger.
“If I give it to you, you let everyone go?”
Anthony smiled.
“No.”
Damiano stepped closer to Georgia.
Anthony raised a gun.
“Don't.”
Georgia stopped.
Anthony pointed toward the ledger.
“Open it.”
She looked down.
“What?”
“Open the ledger.”
Georgia slowly opened it.
Pages of numbers.
Names.
Transactions.
Anthony's voice echoed above.
“Turn to page 113.”
She did.
“Now turn it over.”
Georgia flipped the page.
There was a handwritten message.
Her father's handwriting.
If Georgia ever finds this, tell her the truth.
Georgia's eyes filled with tears.
Underneath were four words.
Patrick was never alone.
She turned the page.
Page 114.
Missing.
Anthony smiled.
“You finally understand.”
Georgia looked at him.
“What?”
“The missing page was never destroyed.”
Anthony raised his hand.
A second figure stepped onto the balcony.
Georgia's breath caught.
The person held a single sheet of paper.
Page 114.
And the face beneath the hood was someone Georgia had trusted her entire life.
Someone who had supposedly died years ago.
Someone who should never have been standing there.
May you like
The hood slowly fell back.
And Georgia whispered the name of the person holding her father's missing page…
