Chapter 9 - Shadows Beneath the Altar
St. Jude’s Cathedral had stood in the historic district since 1888, its towering stone spires casting long shadows over the city's corrupt political heart. To the public, it was a sanctuary of prayer. To the Moretti bloodline, it was the ultimate fortress.
Descending three flights of damp stone stairs into the catacombs beneath the altar, Julian led the way with a tactical flashlight. Allison walked beside him, holding her mother’s handwritten diary—the diary that had exposed Elena's poison during the engagement feast. Behind them, Elliot and four heavily armed loyalists guarded the rear.
The crypt was lined with cold marble tombs of long-dead clergy and Moretti ancestors. At the very end of the corridor stood a vault door made of solid bank-grade steel, completely out of place among the ancient stonework.
"Vincent built this after the 2008 crash," Elliot noted, scanning the biometric keypad. "He never trusted banks. He always said when the world falls apart, gold and leverage are the only gods people worship."
Julian pressed his thumb to the scanner. The red light flashed green. He entered a six-digit cipher, then turned the heavy iron wheel. The pneumatic seals hissed open with a deep, echoing groan.
Inside, the room was not filled with gold bars or cash stacks. Instead, walls of black server racks hummed with soft green indicator lights, alongside rows of transparent security boxes containing thousands of microfiche sheets and physical stock certificates.
In the center of the room sat a steel interrogation table. Strapped to the chair, battered but alive, was Elena Vance.
Standing behind her with a gun pressed to her temple was a man with slicked-back silver hair, dressed in an immaculate naval trench coat.
"You're late, Julian," the man said smoothly.
"Marco Salieri," Julian said, his weapon raised, perfectly leveled between the older man's eyes. "I thought dead men didn't draw breath."
"Only foolish men stay dead when a hundred and twenty million dollars is floating on the wire," Salieri chuckled, his eyes glinting with ruthless amusement. Elena was sobbing, her makeup ruined, her once-flawless face bruised and swollen.
"Julian, please!" Elena gasped, her voice raw with terror. "I didn't know! He told me he would help Michael and me leave the country! He said you were going to kill Michael anyway—"
"Shut your treacherous mouth," Elliot snapped, raising his weapon. "You fed Allison cyanide, Elena. You forfeited your right to mercy the second that glass hit the banquet table."
Salieri dug the barrel deeper into Elena’s skull. "She’s a shallow little socialite who wanted to play with wolves. But she did her job. She brought Michael into the trap, and she secured the secondary ledger. Now, Don Julian, lower your weapons, or her brains decorate this holy sanctuary."
Julian didn't flinch. His grip remained steady as granite. "You killed my father, Marco."
Salieri’s smile faded into something vicious. "Vincent was getting soft. Talking about legitimizing the business. Giving away harbor contracts to unions. He forgot who built the docks with blood. So yes, I put him in the water. And tonight, I wipe out the rest of his bloodline."
Suddenly, Allison stepped into the light, her voice ringing clear and authoritative through the vault.
"You won't kill her, Captain Salieri," Allison said.
Salieri scoffed, glancing at the young woman. "And who is this? The maid who wouldn't die? What do you know about power, girl?"
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"I know that the ledger in your coat pocket is useless without the salt-cipher," Allison said calmly, holding up a small, weathered leather notebook. "My mother wasn't just Vincent’s housekeeper. She was his confidential record keeper for thirty years. You have the account numbers, Salieri. But the offshore bank in Zurich requires the handwritten algorithmic key. And I'm the only person in this room who can translate it."
Salieri’s gaze snapped from Elena to Allison, greed visibly warring with caution in his hardened eyes. "Hand it over, girl. And maybe you walk out of here alive."
