Chapter 4 Echoes in blood

With my hands trembling, I read the message again, slower this time, as though the message would change.

"She still breathes. But not for long. One more step, and we finish what we started."

There was no signature. No number to trace. Just words.

Threats that carried the weight of history. My family's history.

I was no longer asking questions out of curiosity.

I was running out of time now.

I called Luca.

"Track this number. I don't care how deep you have to dig. Use contacts, favors-bribes, if you have to. Just find it."

"Alright. Are you okay?"

"No. She's alive. But they're threatening to end her."

"I'm on it."

I ended the call and looked down at the paper in my hand again.

Rossy Moretti Edmond.

My cousin. My family. And no one ever told me.

She had rights to the Edmond charitable trust. A trust that had been quietly restructured the same year the orphanage burned.

It wasn't just about hiding her. It was about stealing what belonged to her. And covering it with ashes.

I slipped the letter into my coat and left the vault.

The old Edmond Hall smelled of cold marble and polished lies. It had always been a symbol of power. Now it just felt like a tomb.

Back in my apartment, I shut the door behind me and tossed my phone on the bed. I didn't want more messages. I just wanted to think.

But I couldn't.

My mind was a storm-images of Rossy's face, the orphanage picture, the fire, my cousin's smile... and that quiet goodbye in the staff lounge, like she already knew this would happen.

I sat down, hands in my hair.

Then I saw it-her necklace.

It was sitting on my shelf. I didn't even realize she'd dropped it.

A thin, silver chain with a single, flat charm. Worn from years of touch.

I held it tight.

Something inside me hardened.

Luca called two hours later.

"I got something. The burner phone that sent the message was last active near the outskirts of Milan. South side. Industrial zone."

"Exact address?"

"Working on it. But get this-one of Dario's old business fronts used to be registered to a warehouse in that area."

I stood. "Send me the coordinates. Now."

"You're not going alone, are you?"

"I don't have time to wait."

"Ethan."

"I'll call you when I get her back."

I hung up.

Slipped the necklace into my pocket.

And left.

The drive to the industrial zone was quiet. The kind of quiet that wraps around your body like cold, giving goosebumps.

Streetlights flickered in and out as I passed empty containers and shuttered buildings.

The coordinates led to an old warehouse. Rusted metal. Broken fence. No security cameras.

Perfect for hiding something-or someone.

I parked the car a few blocks away and approached on foot.

No guards. No lights. Just silence.

I found a side door partially open.

Slipped inside.

Darkness swallowed me whole. It made it easier to sneak in.

Inside, the air smelled like rusting iron and oil. My footsteps echoed.

I moved slowly, checking each corner, each crate, each stairwell.

Nothing.

Then I heard it.

A faint creak-metal shifting.

Voices.

I moved toward the sound, following a narrow hallway to a locked metal door.

I pressed my ear to it.

"Boss says she's not our problem anymore. As soon as the message was sent, we waited for the call."

A second voice: "What if the guy shows up?"

A dry laugh. "Then we clean the house again."

A pause.

"He seems too soft to do anything anyway."

I stepped back, rage pulsing through my chest.

They thought I was soft?

Good.

They wouldn't see me coming.

I waited until they moved.

Heard footsteps fade.

Then I picked the lock. Basic.

The lock clicked open, and I slipped inside. Trying not to make any sound.

A small room.

One chair.

A figure slumped in it.

Rossy.

Hands tied. Eyes closed. A bruise on her jaw.

My heart stopped.

"Rossy," I whispered.

Her head stirred. She blinked.

"E-Ethan?"

I moved closer and knelt in front of her. "I've got you. You're safe now."

She blinked again, and slower this time. "They said you wouldn't come."

"I am here now."

I pulled out a pocket knife and cut off her ropes.

She fell into my arms.

For a second, I just held her.

She was real. Warm. Breathing.

But we weren't safe yet.

I helped her to her feet. "Can you walk?"

She nodded weakly.

We staggered down the hallway. Every step felt like a countdown, as we moved with vigilance.

On getting outside, I led her to my car and laid her gently in the backseat.

I was about to get in the driver's seat when headlights flashed behind me.

A black car.

Same as the one in the footage.

Doors opened.

Four men stepped out.

And behind them...

Dario.

He adjusted his cufflinks like this were just another boardroom meeting.

"I warned you, cousin," he said calmly.

"You kidnapped her."

"I saved her," he said coldly. "From destroying everything this family built."

"She is family."

"No," he snapped. "She's a stain. A leftover from a woman who betrayed us. If that truth gets out-"

"I'll make sure it does."

He sighed. "Then this ends here."

He nodded once.

The men reached inside their coats.

I ducked fast-grabbed my pistol from the glove box and fired a warning shot.

"GET BACK!" I shouted.

They paused.

Rossy sat up behind me, weak but alert.

Dario's expression shifted. "You won't shoot, Ethan. You never had it in you."

"Try me."

He raised his hand again.

And that's when another sound broke through the night:

Sirens.

Loud. Close. Coming fast.

I didn't call the cops.

Which meant-

Luca.

Dario cursed and waved his men off.

"Fall back!"

The black car peeled away.

Gone.

Rossy leaned against me, shivering.

"They were going to kill me," she muttered.

I looked down at her bruised face and tightened my grip on the steering wheel in rage.

"No," I said.

"They're going to try again."

And as the police lights flashed behind us, I knew-

If I didn't expose the Edmond family's secret soon...

They'd make sure we both disappeared.