Chapter 4 - THE GHOST OF ST. HELENA
The infiltration of St. Helena took place three nights later. Carlo and a specialized team of my most trusted enforcers bypassed the hospital's security grids. I monitored the operation from the dockside safe house, a secure comms unit in my ear while I watched Leo sleep peacefully in a high-end crib we had smuggled in.
"Boss, we're in the basement archives," Carlo's voice crackled through the earpiece. "The digital files were wiped, just like you suspected. But these old-school institutions always keep paper backups."
"Find the birth records for Tuesday. And pull the Rossi file."
Ten excruciating minutes passed. The silence was agonizing. Finally, Carlo spoke, his voice tense. "You're not going to believe this, Boss. The Rossi file… Isabella didn't die in a car crash. She was pregnant twelve years ago. Matteo's child. But she miscarried, and the trauma nearly killed her. St. Helena's doctors saved her, but they faked her death certificate so she could disappear. Matteo paid them off."
"And Tuesday's records?"
"I have them. The attending physician, Dr. Sterling, signed off on a live birth. Healthy baby boy. Ten minutes later, a revised document was filed declaring infant death. The signature belongs to the hospital administrator, who we know is on Matteo's payroll."
"Bring the documents, Carlo. Burn the rest of the archive. Don't leave them anything to use against us."
As the feed cut off, I turned to the wall where I had pinned up photographs of my family, the captains, and the syndicate's key players. I drew a thick red X over the hospital administrator's face. Matteo thought he had erased the past, but the past was about to catch up with him.
But Matteo was not a fool. By the time Carlo's team returned with the documents, the safe house proximity alarms began to blare. Flashing red lights bathed the warehouse in an eerie glow.
"They found us," Maria screamed, clutching Sophia tightly.
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"Everyone, down to the bunker!" I ordered, drawing my tactical rifle. I grabbed Leo's carrier, securing him tightly to my chest with a specialized harness. "Carlo, secure the perimeter. We hold them off until the extraction boat arrives."
The heavy steel doors shuddered under the impact of breaching charges. Matteo's men were here, and they had come to finish the job they started in the trash shed.
