Chapter 16 - The Map Beneath the InkThe ledger burned.
Fortunately, Sheree had photographed every page.
Gabriel stared at her.
“You photographed it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“While you were loading enough guns to start a revolution.”
He kissed her.
Right there.
In front of everyone.
Sheree blinked when he released her.
“What was that?”
“Competence is attractive.”
Amelia covered her eyes.
“Gross.”
For approximately ten seconds, everyone remembered they were a family.
Then Anthony explained the map.
Certain numbers beside the financial entries were not amounts.
They were coordinates.
Marcus had discovered this years earlier.
The coordinates pointed to hidden vaults established by Vittorio and Alexander.
Inside were physical records, cash, blackmail material, and ownership documents.
One vault was different.
It contained something called The Covenant.
“What is that?” Sheree asked.
Anthony looked at Gabriel.
“A list of agreements between five families.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Criminal families?”
“Not exactly.”
Industrial dynasties.
Political donors.
Private intelligence contractors.
Families whose names appeared on hospitals, universities, foundations, and corporations.
The Morettis had been their unofficial enforcement arm.
Gabriel’s father had wanted out.
That was why Vittorio was murdered.
Salvatore thought he was protecting the old criminal empire.
In reality, he had been protecting people above it.
Gabriel stared at the photographed ledger.
“Where is the Covenant?”
Anthony pointed to coordinates.
Northern Wisconsin.
Elena went pale.
“I know that place.”
Everyone looked at her.
“A hunting lodge.”
Vittorio had taken her there once.
Gabriel made a decision.
“We destroy it.”
Sofia objected.
“No.”
“Those records have nearly destroyed this family three times.”
“They can also expose people who have never answered for what they did.”
Gabriel looked at Sheree.
She knew that look.
He wanted her judgment.
Sheree shook her head.
“You don’t get to burn history because it hurts.”
His jaw tightened.
“Marcus died because of it.”
“Marcus died trying to expose it.”
Silence.
Gabriel looked down.
She stepped closer.
“If we destroy the Covenant, we make his choice meaningless.”
Gabriel finally nodded.
“We turn it over.”
Anthony said, “To whom?”
Nobody had an answer.
They had trusted federal prosecutors before.
Richard Vale had nearly killed Gabriel.
Elena suggested releasing copies simultaneously to journalists, courts, and international investigators.
Sheree smiled.
“Now you’re speaking my language.”
Gabriel looked between them.
“That is deeply concerning.”
They left for Wisconsin the next morning.
Amelia stayed behind with Mrs. Alvarez and enough security to protect a small nation.
Before Gabriel left, Amelia hugged him.
“Come back.”
He crouched.
“Always.”
She looked at Sheree.
“You too.”
Sheree kissed her forehead.
“Obviously. Your father can’t survive unsupervised.”
Gabriel sighed.
On the drive north, something strange happened.
Nothing.
No gunfire.
No kidnappings.
No explosions.
They stopped at a roadside diner.
Gabriel ordered coffee.
Sheree ordered pie.
Sofia watched them.
“You two are weird.”
Sheree nodded.
“Yes.”
Gabriel added sugar.
“She dragged me through an alley.”
“He bought my hospital.”
“She threatened to remove my stitches with her teeth.”
“He proposed on terrible carpet.”
Sofia stared.
“That somehow explains everything.”
For the first time, Gabriel laughed with his sister.
Then Sheree noticed Matteo watching them.
Quiet.
Jealous, almost.
She sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“Gabriel spent his whole life protecting me.”
“And?”
“I kept Mom and Sofia from him.”
“You made the choice you thought kept them alive.”
“He won’t forgive me.”
Sheree looked toward Gabriel.
“He will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he forgave himself.”
Matteo looked at her.
“That took years.”
“Then buy comfortable shoes.”
They reached the lodge after dark.
Snow covered the roof.
Anthony found the vault beneath the fireplace.
The code came from Elena.
It opened.
Inside were hundreds of files.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Documents.
Then Gabriel found a sealed envelope.
His name was written across it.
In Vittorio’s handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was one page.
Gabriel read silently.
His face changed.
“What?” Sheree asked.
He handed it to her.
The letter contained a confession.
Vittorio had planned to dismantle the Covenant.
He had secretly chosen someone to inherit the legitimate Moretti businesses if Gabriel refused the criminal life.
Not Matteo.
Not Sofia.
Marcus Carter.
Sheree sat down.
Her brother.
Gabriel whispered:
“Marcus wasn’t just my informant.”
Anthony nodded slowly.
“He was supposed to replace you.”
Then lights appeared outside.
Dozens.
Vehicles surrounded the lodge.
A loudspeaker activated.
“Gabriel Moretti.”
Anthony looked through the window.
Armed men emerged from the forest.
The voice continued.
“You have something that belongs to us.”
Gabriel reached for his weapon.
Sheree grabbed the hard drives.
And Elena whispered the sentence nobody wanted to hear.
“The Covenant is here.”
May you like
She looked around the lodge.
“All five families.”
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