Chapter 9
Roman had no intention of going alone.
He also had no intention of admitting that immediately.
Morgana watched him spend the morning constructing three separate surveillance teams while pretending he was complying with the demand.
By noon, Hayes had vehicles positioned along Interstate 95.
By two, Miller had obtained architectural plans for the Philadelphia address.
An abandoned church.
Morgana stood beside Roman’s desk.
“You’re walking into a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You say that like it’s normal.”
“It is.”
“That isn’t reassuring.”
Roman looked at the floor plans.
“Reassurance is usually dishonest.”
Morgana could not argue with that.
“What happens if the person sees your men?”
“They won’t.”
“You hope.”
Roman looked up.
“I know what I’m doing.”
“So did the person who entered this house without appearing on camera.”
That silenced him.
Morgana leaned against the desk.
“Maybe whoever this is knows how you operate.”
“They definitely do.”
“So stop operating like yourself.”
Roman frowned.
“What are you suggesting?”
“You don’t go.”
“That’s not an option.”
“Why?”
“Because they have information about my mother.”
Morgana understood the emotional trap.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go.”
Roman stared.
“They know you’ll become irrational where she’s concerned.”
“I’m not irrational.”
“You drove to Boston at three in the morning.”
“That was efficient.”
“You wanted to leave without luggage.”
“I can buy clothes.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Roman’s mouth almost moved.
Almost.
Morgana stepped closer.
“Send someone they don’t expect.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You know what I’m going to say.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“No.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“This time I’m comfortable being controlling.”
“Roman.”
“Morgana.”
She placed both palms on the desk.
“They think I’m your weakness.”
Roman’s expression changed.
“You said you didn’t want to be bait.”
“I don’t.”
“Then we agree.”
“I want to be involved.”
“No.”
“Stop saying no before I finish.”
Roman closed his mouth.
Morgana continued.
“I don’t go inside.”
“That’s correct.”
“You go.”
“Yes.”
“I stay in a vehicle with Hayes.”
Roman considered.
“Armored vehicle.”
“Fine.”
“Two blocks away.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“One and a half.”
Roman stared at her.
“Are we negotiating your distance from a potential assassination?”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“One and a half.”
“Good.”
Hayes later described the agreement as the strangest tactical planning session he had attended in twenty years.
At 11:42 p.m., Philadelphia was wet and cold.
The abandoned church stood between warehouses near the river.
Roman approached alone.
At least visibly.
Morgana sat in the rear of an armored sedan with Hayes.
A radio rested between them.
Roman’s breathing came through the earpiece.
Steady.
Controlled.
“Entering.”
Hayes watched four monitors.
Thermal cameras showed Roman moving through the church.
“No visible movement.”
Morgana looked through the windshield.
The church tower rose above the buildings.
Something bothered her.
“What?”
Hayes asked.
“I don’t know.”
She studied the street.
One parked van.
Two dumpsters.
Streetlights.
Rain.
Then she saw it.
A laundromat sign.
Not operating.
Old.
Blue.
Her mind connected something.
Mrs. Park.
Brooklyn.
The storage box.
Daniel checking it every November.
“Hayes.”
“What?”
“What if Philadelphia isn’t the meeting?”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“What if it’s distraction?”
The radio crackled.
Roman entered the main sanctuary.
A spotlight came on.
Hayes focused on the screen.
A man stood near the altar.
Older.
Gray hair.
Morgana could not see his face clearly.
Roman stopped.
“Who are you?”
The man stepped forward.
Hayes swore.
“What?”
Morgana asked.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
“Victor Salvi.”
The name meant nothing to her.
Hayes looked stunned.
“He worked security for Salvatore.”
Roman clearly recognized him too.
“You disappeared after my father died.”
Victor smiled.
“I retired.”
“You stole eight million dollars.”
“No.”
Victor shook his head.
“I moved it.”
“Where?”
“To you.”
Roman frowned.
Victor held up a flash drive.
“Your mother’s money.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“Why now?”
“Because Daniel is dead.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“He kept us quiet.”
“Us?”
Victor looked around the church.
“The people who helped Elena.”
Roman became still.
“There were more?”
“Six.”
“How many are alive?”
“Two.”
Roman absorbed that.
“Who killed Daniel?”
Victor looked toward the windows.
“Thomas.”
Roman’s face changed.
“Vescari?”
“Yes.”
Hayes whispered, “Damn.”
Victor continued.
“Thomas discovered Daniel was moving the files.”
“Why would Daniel move them now?”
“Because Salvatore’s old accounts became active.”
Roman frowned.
“By whom?”
Victor’s face tightened.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Even Hayes looked confused.
Roman’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“My father has been dead for seven years.”
“I know.”
Victor threw the flash drive.
Roman caught it.
“Someone has been using Salvatore’s master codes.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Victor stepped backward.
“But Thomas thinks it’s you.”
Roman stared.
“Why would I use dead credentials?”
“To hide money.”
Victor looked toward the church entrance.
“Or to prepare a coup against the Commission.”
Hayes swore again.
Morgana understood enough.
Someone was creating evidence that Roman was moving money under his dead father’s identity.
Evidence powerful men might interpret as preparation for betrayal.
“Roman,” Hayes said through the radio.
“We need to leave.”
Victor heard something.
His face changed.
“Too late.”
Gunfire erupted.
The church windows exploded.
Morgana ducked instinctively.
Hayes grabbed the radio.
“CONTACT! NORTH SIDE!”
Roman disappeared behind a stone column.
Gunfire continued.
Hayes started the engine.
“What are you doing?”
Morgana shouted.
“Getting you out.”
“No!”
“That’s the order.”
“Roman is inside!”
“And my job is keeping you alive!”
The sedan accelerated.
Morgana looked backward.
The church disappeared behind rain.
“No.”
She grabbed Hayes’s shoulder.
“Turn around.”
“I can’t.”
“Hayes!”
He looked at her through the mirror.
Morgana saw conflict.
Then the radio crackled.
Roman’s voice.
“Get her out.”
Gunshots.
“Roman!”
Morgana grabbed the radio.
“Roman!”
“Morgana.”
His breathing was hard.
“Go.”
“No.”
“You promised.”
“I promised nothing.”
“You agreed to the vehicle.”
“I didn’t agree to abandon you.”
Hayes turned a corner.
Morgana saw another vehicle.
Black SUV.
No plates.
Moving toward them.
“Hayes.”
“I see it.”
The SUV accelerated.
Hayes swore.
“They knew about you.”
Morgana’s stomach dropped.
The church had never been the primary target.
She had been.
The SUV struck them from behind.
Metal screamed.
Hayes fought the wheel.
“Down!”
Another impact.
The armored sedan spun.
It struck a parked truck.
Airbags exploded.
Morgana’s head snapped sideways.
For several seconds, sound disappeared.
Then everything returned at once.
Hayes shouting.
Glass cracking.
Gunfire against armored panels.
Morgana reached for the radio.
“Roman.”
Static.
“Roman!”
A hand struck the outside window.
A man wore a mask.
Another approached.
Hayes drew his weapon.
“They can’t get through.”
The first man attached something to the door.
Hayes’s face changed.
“Except that.”
“What?”
“Charge.”
He grabbed Morgana.
“Floor!”
The explosion lifted the vehicle.
Morgana felt heat.
Then darkness.
When she opened her eyes, rain touched her face.
That was wrong.
She was outside.
Someone was carrying her.
Morgana tried to move.
Her hands did not respond properly.
A man’s voice.
“Vescari wants her alive.”
Another voice.
“Costa?”
“Leave him the church.”
Morgana forced her eyes open.
The last thing she saw before a hood covered her face was Hayes lying beside the ruined sedan.
May you like
Motionless.
Then the world disappeared.
