Chapter 38 - The Senator’s House
Senator Thomas Gaines opened his front door at 7:06 a.m.
He was wearing silk pajamas.
Federal agents stood on his lawn.
Roman Duca stood behind them.
Gaines stared.
“This is outrageous.”
Rhodes held up a warrant.
“This is Tuesday.”
Clara almost smiled.
Roman did not.
They entered.
Gaines’s residence looked less like a home than a museum of expensive ambition.
Photographs with presidents.
Military leaders.
Foreign dignitaries.
Family portraits.
Elena smiling beside him in nearly every frame.
Gaines read the warrant.
“Cybercrime? Kidnapping? Conspiracy? My wife was abducted yesterday.”
Roman laughed once.
“Creative.”
Gaines looked toward him.
“You have no right to be here.”
“I was invited.”
Rhodes said, “Unfortunately.”
Marcus led the technical team downstairs.
The signal trace pointed beneath the house.
Behind the wine cellar, they found a biometric door.
Gaines went pale.
Clara noticed.
“You know about it.”
“No.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Roman glanced at her proudly.
Gaines snapped, “This is absurd.”
Rhodes showed him the warrant again.
“Then absurdity is federally authorized.”
The door opened using Elena’s backup access code recovered from her phone.
Inside sat a server room.
Dozens of machines blinked.
Countdown:
00:47:13.
Marcus’s specialists went to work.
Roman scanned the walls.
One screen displayed financial transfers.
Another showed dossiers.
A third displayed photographs of targets.
Clara froze.
Her picture.
Sofia’s.
Antonio’s.
Adrian’s.
Leo’s.
Catherine’s.
Marcus’s.
Years of surveillance.
Roman saw them.
Something cold entered his face.
Gaines followed his gaze.
“I didn’t know.”
Roman turned.
“Your wife photographed my children for years inside your house.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Gaines looked genuinely terrified.
“Yes.”
Clara studied him.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
She walked toward a framed campaign photograph.
Gaines and Elena stood before a crowd.
Behind them, a campaign strategist whispered into Elena’s ear.
Clara recognized the man.
“Marcus.”
He looked.
“Who is that?”
Marcus searched.
“Elliot Crane. Gaines campaign chairman.”
Gaines frowned.
“Elliot has worked with us for fifteen years.”
Vincent, connected remotely from federal custody, saw the photograph.
His voice came through the speaker.
“Stop.”
Everyone turned toward the monitor.
Vincent leaned closer.
“That’s not Elliot Crane.”
Gaines stared.
“What?”
Vincent’s face drained.
“His name is Luca Moretti.”
Roman froze.
“Your brother?”
Vincent shook his head.
“My cousin.”
The server countdown reached thirty-nine minutes.
Rhodes asked, “Where is he?”
Gaines immediately pulled out his phone.
His hands began trembling.
“He left for New York last night.”
Roman’s stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Campaign event.”
Clara looked toward Marcus.
“Where?”
Gaines answered.
“Sofia House.”
Silence.
Roman turned slowly.
“The hospital?”
Gaines nodded.
“He’s giving a speech about healthcare funding.”
Adrian was there.
Leo was there.
Catherine had returned there after Antonio was rescued.
Roman called Adrian.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marcus called security.
No response.
Then Sofia House’s emergency alert system activated.
LOCKDOWN.
Roman’s face changed.
The Washington server countdown no longer mattered.
It had been bait.
Clara whispered, “Elena isn’t the end.”
Vincent’s voice shook through the monitor.
“Luca was the one Father feared.”
Roman looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Luca never cared about revenge.”
Vincent swallowed.
“He cared about becoming untouchable.”
Rhodes asked, “What does that mean?”
Vincent looked at Roman.
“He controls private-security contracts across half the East Coast. Hospitals. Courthouses. Ports.”
Marcus went pale.
“Duca Maritime uses subcontractors.”
Roman understood.
Luca had access everywhere.
For years.
He had hidden behind different companies while Roman dismantled the old empire.
The Moretti threat had not arrived five years later.
It had been growing beside them the entire time.
Roman turned toward the door.
Rhodes shouted, “Where are you going?”
“My brother is inside that hospital.”
“The jet takes—”
Roman was already moving.
Clara followed.
Rhodes grabbed her arm.
“You stay.”
Clara looked at the hand.
Rhodes released her.
“Right. I forgot.”
Roman looked back.
“Clara.”
She met his eyes.
Their children were safe at the estate.
Their family at Sofia House was not.
She stepped beside him.
“Rule three.”
Roman sighed.
“You stay.”
May you like
“Exactly.”
And together they ran toward the aircraft.
