Chapter 9 - The HeirsLeo had always been clever.
Sarah had once found him at four years old using a butter knife to remove the screws from a locked cabinet because Dominic had hidden birthday presents inside.
At five, he learned how to disable the nursery camera by hanging a sock over it.
At six, he discovered that Mateo’s security guards changed shifts at exactly fourteen minutes after every hour.
Sarah had been impressed.
Now she regretted praising him.
The tracking team found the taxi driver first.
“He picked up two boys three blocks from the estate,” Mateo said.
Dominic stared at him.
“How did they get through the perimeter?”
“Drainage tunnel.”
“There’s a drainage tunnel?”
Mateo looked uncomfortable.
“Apparently.”
Marco muttered, “Excellent fortress.”
Dominic glared.
The taxi had taken Leo and Gabriel to Navy Pier.
From there, security footage showed them boarding a public bus south.
Sarah watched the video.
Leo wore a backpack.
Gabriel carried the stuffed lion.
“They planned this.”
Marco rubbed both hands over his face.
“My son has known your son for twenty-four hours.”
“Yes.”
“And now he’s committing covert operations.”
Dominic looked almost proud.
Sarah gave him a warning stare.
“Do not encourage this.”
“I said nothing.”
“Your face did.”
The bus camera showed Leo talking to an elderly woman.
Mateo called transit security.
Ten minutes later, they learned the woman had given the boys directions to Pier Thirty-One.
“They told her they were meeting their grandfather.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Sarah almost laughed from sheer stress.
“Your son lies well.”
“Our son.”
“Not helping.”
They reached the pier at 4:12 p.m.
The industrial district stretched along the water in rows of storage yards and shipping containers.
Security teams spread out.
Sarah remained beside Dominic.
Marco walked ahead.
“Gabriel!”
No answer.
“Leo!”
Silence.
Then Sarah saw something tied to a fence.
A strip of red fabric.
Leo’s jacket.
“He left markers.”
Dominic touched the fabric.
“Smart.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Later.”
They followed the trail.
A candy wrapper.
A shoelace.
A piece of paper from Leo’s notebook.
It led toward Warehouse 317.
The door stood open.
Dominic raised his gun.
Marco did the same.
Mateo signaled his team.
They entered.
Empty.
Then a child whispered.
“Dad?”
Dominic spun.
Leo emerged from behind stacked crates.
Dominic crossed the distance in seconds.
He dropped his gun and grabbed his son.
Sarah reached them immediately.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What were you THINKING?”
Leo’s confidence vanished.
“I wanted to help.”
“You left the estate.”
“I know.”
“You crossed Chicago alone.”
“Gabriel was with me.”
“That does not improve it.”
Dominic buried his face in Leo’s hair.
Sarah saw his hands shaking.
Leo noticed too.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
Dominic held him tighter.
“Never do that again.”
“Okay.”
Marco looked around.
“Where’s Gabriel?”
Leo’s face changed.
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
“He went through the door.”
“What door?”
Leo pointed.
Behind several crates was a steel service entrance.
“We found the eagle symbol.”
Marco ran.
The door opened into a tunnel.
“Gabriel!”
They followed.
The tunnel descended beneath the pier.
Old maintenance infrastructure.
At the end stood another door.
Unlocked.
Inside was a room filled with computers.
Gabriel stood in the middle.
He was not alone.
A woman held a gun behind him.
Isabella.
Marco stopped.
“Let him go.”
Isabella smiled.
“He came to me.”
Gabriel looked terrified.
“I thought this was where they kept me.”
“It was,” Isabella said.
Marco’s weapon rose.
“You will not leave this room alive.”
“Perhaps.”
Isabella looked at Leo.
“Leonardo.”
Dominic immediately moved him behind Sarah.
Isabella smiled.
“You are more resourceful than predicted.”
Leo whispered, “I don’t like her.”
Sarah almost said neither do we.
Isabella pressed the gun lightly against Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Put down your weapons.”
Dominic obeyed first.
Marco stared at him.
“Do it.”
Marco slowly lowered his gun.
Mateo’s men followed.
Isabella nodded.
“Good.”
Sarah studied the room.
Computers.
Server racks.
Medical containers.
A ventilation system.
And one red emergency switch.
Isabella looked at the boys.
“Do you know why your fathers fear me?”
Leo answered.
“Because you’re mean?”
Dominic made a strange sound.
Marco almost smiled.
Isabella did not.
“Because I represent order.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You kidnapped me.”
“For preparation.”
“You drugged me.”
“To measure resilience.”
Gabriel frowned.
“My dad says people who need to hurt kids to feel powerful are cowards.”
Marco’s eyes widened.
Sarah looked at him.
He shrugged slightly.
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“You have inherited his insolence.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Isabella turned toward Leo.
“And you inherited Dominic’s sentiment.”
Leo looked at his father.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you care too much.”
“That sounds good.”
Sarah watched Isabella losing control.
Not externally.
Internally.
Children refused to respect her mythology.
That was destroying the authority she expected.
Sarah moved one step.
Isabella pointed the gun toward her.
“Stop.”
Sarah stopped.
“You wanted me here.”
“I wanted all of you.”
“Why?”
“For the final decision.”
Sarah glanced at the servers.
“What decision?”
“The White Table has existed for one hundred and twelve years.”
“So?”
“It cannot continue as it has.”
Sarah laughed.
“You’re holding children at gunpoint to modernize corporate governance?”
Dominic murmured, “Sarah.”
“What? It’s ridiculous.”
Isabella’s face sharpened.
“You think this is amusing?”
“I think you built your entire identity around controlling people who are afraid of you.”
Sarah stepped another inch.
“And nobody in this room is afraid anymore.”
Isabella fired.
The bullet struck the floor beside Sarah.
Dominic moved instinctively.
Sarah shouted, “NO.”
Everyone froze.
Sarah looked at Isabella.
“You missed.”
“I chose to.”
“Exactly.”
Sarah saw it.
The woman did not intend to kill her.
Not yet.
Because Sarah was still part of the test.
“You need me.”
Isabella said nothing.
Sarah continued.
“You needed Dominic to prove leadership. Marco to prove resilience. Gabriel and Leo to prove adaptability.”
She looked around.
“And me?”
Isabella’s eyes gave the answer.
Sarah understood.
“You want me to lead the White Table.”
Dominic stared.
Marco whispered, “What?”
Isabella smiled.
“At last.”
Sarah felt sick.
“No.”
“You are uniquely qualified.”
“I’m a nurse.”
“You transformed the Moretti organization without officially holding rank. Revenues increased thirty-one percent after you took control of medical logistics. Internal violence declined. Legitimate holdings expanded. Political influence increased.”
Dominic looked at Sarah.
“You track her?”
“Constantly.”
Isabella continued.
“Men fear Dominic.”
Her eyes moved to Sarah.
“They trust you.”
Sarah laughed.
“You tried to kill my son to recruit me?”
“I tested what you would sacrifice.”
“You still don’t understand me.”
“I understand you perfectly.”
“No.”
Sarah’s voice softened.
“You think I saved Leo because I wanted power.”
Isabella said nothing.
“I saved him because he was a baby.”
Sarah pointed toward Gabriel.
“I saved him because he was a child.”
Then she pointed toward Dominic.
“I stayed because I loved him.”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“There is no governance in love.”
“There is no future without it.”
Isabella shifted the gun.
That was the moment Leo moved.
He slipped from behind Sarah.
“Leo!”
He ran toward the red emergency switch.
Isabella turned.
Dominic lunged.
Marco grabbed Gabriel.
Sarah hit the floor.
Leo slapped the switch.
Fire suppression erupted.
White foam blasted from ceiling vents.
Visibility disappeared.
Gunfire.
One shot.
Two.
Sarah crawled.
“LEO!”
A small hand grabbed hers.
“I’m here!”
She pulled him beneath her body.
Dominic shouted.
“Sarah!”
“WE’RE SAFE!”
The foam settled.
Marco held Gabriel behind a server rack.
Dominic stood over Isabella.
Her gun lay several feet away.
Blood spread across the shoulder of her cream suit.
She was alive.
Dominic aimed his weapon.
Isabella looked up.
“Do it.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Kill me.”
He stared.
Sarah knew what Isabella wanted.
Proof.
Proof that Dominic was the violent weapon she had created.
“Dominic.”
He did not look away.
Sarah stood with Leo.
“Come here.”
Isabella laughed.
“She commands you now.”
Dominic lowered the gun.
“Yes.”
Isabella’s smile vanished.
He walked toward Sarah.
Then he looked back.
“You were wrong.”
“About what?”
“You thought love made me weak.”
Dominic placed his arm around his son.
“It made me impossible to control.”
Police sirens sounded above.
Isabella frowned.
Sarah smiled.
“You thought we came alone?”
Mateo raised his phone.
“Anonymous package went to federal investigators twenty minutes ago.”
Marco looked impressed.
Dominic glanced at Sarah.
“You planned that?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“In the car.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You would have objected.”
“I do object.”
“We can discuss it later.”
Federal agents flooded the facility.
For once, Dominic Moretti willingly stepped aside.
Isabella was arrested.
The servers were seized.
The White Table was no longer invisible.
But as agents carried Isabella toward the exit, she stopped beside Sarah.
“This changes nothing.”
Sarah looked at her.
“It changes everything.”
“You still haven’t met Elena.”
Sarah froze.
Isabella smiled.
“She is worse than I ever was.”
Then she was taken away.
Marco heard it.
So did Dominic.
May you like
Their biological mother was alive.
And apparently waiting.
