Chapter 8 - The Secret in Nora's BloodAt first Nora thought Michael was delirious.
The stained-glass windows were broken.
Weeds grew through the front steps.
The city planned to demolish it the following spring.
Nora stood across the street wearing a bulletproof vest beneath her coat.
“This is a terrible plan.”
Matteo checked the pistol beneath his jacket.
“I agree.”
“You say that now?”
“You refused to stay behind.”
“Because Victor asked for me.”
“And that is why you should be somewhere secure.”
Nora turned on him.
“Your brother is tied to a chair because of something Mara gave me. I'm not hiding in your mansion while other people get hurt.”
Matteo stepped closer.
Rain had begun again.
“You are not responsible for Luca.”
“No. But somebody needs to remind your family that responsibility is not the same thing as guilt.”
For several seconds, Matteo said nothing.
Then he reached beneath Nora's collar and adjusted the edge of her vest.
His fingers brushed her neck.
Both of them went still.
The moment was small.
Unexpected.
Dangerously intimate.
Matteo stepped back first.
“Stay behind me.”
Nora's heart beat harder than it should have.
Detective Hale had officers positioned two blocks away.
Dominic's men covered the rear alley.
No one entered until Nora and Matteo did.
The church door creaked.
Inside, candles burned near the altar.
Someone was waiting.
Not Victor.
An elderly man sat in the front pew.
“Father Michael?” Nora asked.
He turned.
“No one has called me that in a long time.”
“You're not a priest.”
“No.”
He stood.
“Michael Vale.”
Nora stared.
“Mara's father?”
“Yes.”
Matteo's hand moved toward his weapon.
Michael noticed.
“If I intended to kill either of you, you wouldn't have made it through the door.”
“Where is my brother?” Matteo asked.
“Not here.”
“Victor sent a photograph.”
“Victor lies.”
Nora approached.
“Mara told me to ask you for Sofia's confession.”
Michael's eyes filled with sadness.
“So you found the box.”
“Yes.”
“Then Mara is truly gone.”
“She died fourteen months ago.”
“I know what the police said.”
“What do you mean?”
Michael walked to the altar.
From beneath a loose floorboard, he removed a recorder.
“Sofia came to me three weeks before she died.”
Matteo's face tightened.
“She thought I was a priest because Mara told her I was. It was safer that way.”
“Why?”
“Because Sofia was terrified of your uncle.”
Matteo clenched his jaw.
Michael pressed play.
Sofia's voice filled the empty church.
Matteo visibly flinched.
“I don't know how much time I have. Victor knows I found the accounts. He knows I told Luca.”
Nora looked at Matteo.
Sofia continued.
“Matteo doesn't know. I wanted to tell him. God, I wanted to. But Victor said if I did, Isabella would disappear.”
Matteo lowered his head.
“I believed him because he had already killed someone.”
Michael stopped the recording.
“Who?” Matteo demanded.
“There is more.”
The recording resumed.
“Mara found out Victor had used her identity to transfer money through the clinic. Celeste helped her copy the records. Luca promised to protect them.”
Nora whispered, “That's why Luca met Celeste.”
“Yes,” Michael said.
Sofia's voice continued.
“If anything happens to me, Victor did it.”
Matteo froze.
“Her aneurysm…”
Michael's eyes met his.
“Wasn't natural.”
For several seconds Matteo didn't move.
Nora saw something break behind his face.
His wife had not simply died.
She had been murdered.
Matteo turned away.
Michael continued.
“Victor controlled the physician who signed the death certificate.”
Matteo punched the wooden pew.
It cracked.
Nora reached for his arm.
He stopped.
Breathing hard.
“I buried her.”
His voice was almost unrecognizable.
“I stood beside her grave and thanked Victor for helping arrange the funeral.”
Nora's fingers tightened around his sleeve.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
For once, Nora didn't see a mafia boss.
She saw a widower realizing the man who comforted him at his wife's funeral had probably ordered her death.
A gunshot shattered the silence.
Michael jerked backward.
Blood appeared on his shoulder.
“Down!”
Matteo tackled Nora behind the pew.
Another bullet shattered stained glass.
Dominic's men fired from outside.
Michael crawled toward the altar.
Nora looked toward the balcony.
A shadow moved.
“Up there!”
Matteo fired.
The shooter disappeared.
Seconds later engines screamed behind the church.
Someone was escaping.
Matteo's phone rang.
Victor.
Matteo answered on speaker.
“You missed.”
Victor laughed.
“I wasn't aiming at you.”
Matteo's face darkened.
“Where is Luca?”
“Alive.”
“For now.”
“Touch him and—”
“You'll do what? Kill me?”
Victor sounded amused.
“You've wanted to since Sofia died. You simply didn't know it.”
Matteo went still.
Victor continued.
“Bring Nora Bennett to Pier Nineteen by midnight.”
Nora felt Matteo tense.
“No.”
“Then Luca dies.”
“Why Nora?”
“Because Mara made the same mistake everyone makes.”
“What mistake?”
“She believed ordinary people are invisible.”
Victor laughed softly.
“They aren't.”
The call ended.
Michael pressed a hand over his bleeding shoulder.
Nora crawled toward him.
“Stay still.”
He grabbed her wrist.
“Don't go to the pier.”
“We have to save Luca.”
“No.”
Michael pulled her closer.
“Victor doesn't want you.”
“What?”
“He wants what Mara hid inside you.”
Nora stared.
“Inside me?”
Michael's breathing grew shallow.
“Mara knew they would search your apartment.”
“What did she give me?”
“Nothing.”
He shook his head.
“She took something.”
Nora went cold.
“What?”
May you like
Michael looked directly at Matteo.
“Blood.”
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