Chapter 6 - The Child in the Cathedral
Elena tried to climb into the first car leaving Dock Seven.
Marco blocked the door.
“You cannot come.”
“That is my daughter.”
“And Aldo expects Mr. Castellano alone.”
“I do not care what Aldo expects.”
I gripped the car roof to steady myself.
“Elena.”
She turned on me.
“If you tell me to stay behind, I swear—”
“I am telling you to listen.”
Her breathing was fast and uneven.
“We will bring Giulia home,” I said.
“You cannot promise that.”
“I can promise Aldo will not leave the cathedral with her.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No. It is not.”
For the first time since meeting her, Elena looked at me with genuine hatred.
“You brought this danger into our lives.”
“I know.”
“She is five.”
“I know.”
“She trusted you.”
“I know.”
Each word struck harder because it was true.
Camilla arrived under guard, carrying the brass key.
When she heard Giulia had been taken, she went pale.
“Aldo will kill her,” she said. “He does not leave witnesses.”
Elena lunged toward her.
Marco held her back.
“Then tell us how to stop him!”
Camilla looked at me.
“The old cathedral has tunnels beneath the altar. Aldo used them for smuggling years ago. He will have an escape vehicle waiting near the cemetery.”
“How many entrances?”
“Three. The front doors, the bell tower, and a tunnel opening behind the crypt.”
I turned to Marco.
“Send teams to the tower and cemetery. No lights. No sirens.”
“Aldo said alone.”
“He will see one car.”
I looked at Elena.
“You are coming with me.”
Marco objected.
“Sir—”
“He knows she will come whether we allow it or not.”
Elena said nothing.
We drove through freezing rain.
The abandoned cathedral stood on a hill beyond the city, its broken windows dark against the night. I carried the key in my pocket and used a cane to walk from the car.
Elena stayed close enough to catch me but did not offer her hand.
Inside, candles burned along the center aisle.
Giulia sat on the steps before the altar, still wearing her red scarf.
Aldo stood behind her with a gun against her shoulder.
Two armed men guarded the side aisles.
Giulia saw her mother.
“Mama!”
Elena moved forward.
The gun lifted.
“Stop,” Aldo ordered.
Elena froze.
I stepped into the light.
“You wanted me.”
“I wanted the key.”
“Release her.”
“Give me Camilla.”
“She is not here.”
Aldo smiled.
“You always were a poor liar when angry.”
Giulia looked up at him.
“You have the worst angry eyebrows.”
Aldo pressed the gun closer.
“Be quiet.”
“Do not touch her,” I said.
“Or what? You will walk over here and stop me?”
I took another step with the cane.
Aldo’s smile faded slightly.
“So the poison failed.”
“You failed.”
“I came closer than anyone ever has.”
“You poisoned a sleeping man and kidnapped a child.”
“I adapted.”
“You became a coward.”
His face tightened.
“Throw me the key.”
I removed it from my pocket.
“Let Giulia walk to Elena.”
“One step from her, then the key.”
“No.”
Aldo’s men shifted nervously.
He was losing patience.
So was I.
Giulia looked toward the stone floor beside her.
A small metal drain cover sat near the first pew.
She tapped her shoe twice.
Then she looked at me.
The tunnel.
She had heard something beneath us.
Marco’s team was already in position.
I dropped the key.
It struck the stone and slid beneath a pew.
Aldo swore.
“What are you doing?”
“My hand trembles.”
“Pick it up.”
“You pick it up.”
He motioned to one of his men.
The guard moved into the aisle.
The moment he bent down, a hand shot through the drainage opening and grabbed his ankle.
He fell with a shout.
Marco’s men erupted from the tunnel entrance.
Gunfire shattered the candles.
Elena ran toward Giulia.
Aldo seized the child and dragged her behind the altar.
I followed.
My cane slipped on the wet stone.
I nearly fell, caught myself, and kept moving.
Aldo reached the crypt door.
Giulia bit his hand.
He shouted and released her.
She ran toward me.
Aldo raised his gun.
I stepped between them.
The shot echoed.
For one second, I felt nothing.
Then heat spread across my side.
I fell to one knee.
“Dario!” Elena screamed.
Giulia stopped.
Aldo aimed again.
Camilla appeared from behind the crypt door.
She struck him with a stone candleholder.
Aldo collapsed against the wall.
Marco rushed forward and kicked the gun away.
Camilla stood over Aldo, shaking.
“You tried to have me killed,” she said.
Aldo laughed weakly.
“You were always disposable.”
Camilla raised the candleholder again.
“Enough,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Blood darkened my shirt, but the bullet had passed through the side without striking anything vital.
Camilla lowered the weapon.
Marco handcuffed Aldo.
Elena dropped beside me while holding Giulia against her chest.
“You were shot.”
“I noticed.”
“Why did you step in front of her?”
I looked at Giulia.
She was crying silently now, all her earlier bravery finally breaking.
“She told me not to fight ghosts alone.”
Giulia wrapped her arms around my neck.
“You’re not allowed to die.”
I winced.
“That is becoming a popular order.”
Elena pressed her hand against the wound.
“You need a hospital.”
Aldo was dragged past us.
He looked older than he had hours earlier.
“You think this changes who you are?” he asked me. “You are still a monster.”
I looked at Elena and Giulia.
Perhaps once, his words would have mattered.
May you like
Not anymore.
“No,” I said. “It changes what I choose to become.”
