Chapter 8
Arthur called Caleb a liar.
Then a coward.
Then stupid.
He did not call him wrong.
Gabriel noticed.
“What was the plan?”
Caleb looked at his father.
Arthur’s expression promised consequences.
Gabriel waited.
Caleb finally spoke.
“Not kill you.”
Arthur laughed.
“As if that helps.”
Gabriel ignored him.
“Continue.”
“You were supposed to discover this room.”
“Yes.”
“Then call three capos.”
“Which three?”
Caleb pointed to red pins.
Gabriel’s closest men.
“What happens?”
“They come downstairs.”
“And?”
“The doors lock.”
Olivia looked toward the corridor.
Caleb continued.
“Power cuts.”
“Then?”
“A message goes upstairs that Gabriel found a hidden room and attacked Arthur.”
Arthur smiled.
“Almost believable already.”
Gabriel stared.
Arthur had attacked first.
But upstairs?
Only their edited story would matter.
Caleb continued.
“Other capos hear gunshots.”
Olivia’s face went pale.
Gabriel looked at Arthur.
“Blank rounds?”
Arthur said nothing.
Caleb nodded.
“Mostly.”
Mostly.
That word hung.
Gabriel’s eyes hardened.
“And after?”
“You disappear through the service tunnel.”
“Alive?”
Caleb swallowed.
Arthur answered:
“Depends how difficult you became.”
Nero growled.
Arthur smiled.
“There he is.”
He looked toward Gabriel.
“Your real family.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
Arthur continued.
“No wife. No children. Just a dog and hired help.”
Olivia stiffened.
Arthur saw.
“Don’t look insulted. You’re paid.”
Gabriel said:
“She found your room.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
Gabriel continued:
“Nero found your device.”
Nothing.
“Caleb exposed your plan.”
Arthur looked at his son with disgust.
Gabriel finished:
“And you still think titles make people loyal.”
Caleb whispered:
“There’s more.”
Arthur snapped:
“Stop.”
Caleb ignored him.
“After Gabriel disappeared, Dad was going to say one of the three red capos killed him.”
Gabriel looked at Arthur.
“Which one?”
Caleb answered:
“Whichever survived the room.”
Silence.
Arthur had designed conflict where every outcome removed someone Gabriel trusted.
Then Olivia noticed something on the map.
A white pin.
Not red.
Not black.
Placed at the old Moretti mausoleum.
She touched it.
“What does white mean?”
Caleb went pale.
Arthur looked away.
May you like
And Gabriel knew the mausoleum was not marking a place.
It was marking a person everyone believed was dead.
