All Chapters of Blood and Badge : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elena ran through the pre-dawn streets, the black ledger pressed against her ribs like a second heart. Her lungs burned. Her legs screamed. But she couldn't stop. Not until the evidence was safe. Not until Dante's sacrifice meant something.She found an all-night diner on the edge of Little Italy, the same greasy spoon where she'd made contact with Chen weeks ago. The booth in the back corner was still sticky with syrup, the jukebox still playing sad old Sinatra. She slid in, ordered black coffee she wouldn't drink, and pulled out the prepaid phone.Her fingers trembled as she typed.Proof secured. Full operation details. Ledger photos attached. Need extraction and warrant for Salvatore Moretti. This is the kill shot. Rossi.She attached the images of the lab, the powder, the shipping manifests, Salvatore's crown symbol on millions in illicit profit, and hit send.The response came three agonizing minutes later.Received. The Bureau is mobilizing. Hold position. Do NOT engage. Extract

Villa Isabella, Sabine MountainsNightfallThe dining table could seat twenty people.Today there were only six.Elena sat between Dante and the void, observing the other diners as one observes snakes in a terrarium. Matteo the Elder presided at the head of the table in Salvatore's place, the place of the head of the household. To his right, Luca ate with the leisurely pace of someone in no hurry. To his left, Alessia sipped red wine with the confidence of someone who had won a game no one else knew was being played.And at the end of the table, opposite Elena, sat little Matteo.The seven-year-old boy cut his meat with unsettling precision. Each movement measured, each bite brought to his mouth with the ceremony of an adult. His gray eyes were the same ones they all occasionally used to look up and meet Elena's, and then he would offer a small, polite, terrible smile.No one spoke.The only sounds were the clinking of silverware against china and, outside, the wind rustling through t

Villa Isabella, Montes Sabinos6:23 a.m.The light of dawn filtered dusty rays through the half-open curtains. Elena watched Luca as he spoke, searching for a lie in every word, a tremor that would betray a trap.But Luca spoke with the calm of someone who has nothing left to lose."Marco promised me freedom," he said, his gray eyes fixed on some indefinite point on the wall. "He said that when Salvatore died, I would be released from the asylum. That we would live together, like siblings. That he would take care of me."Dante stood by the window, watching the garden. "And he didn't keep his promise.""He locked me up here. In the same house where Salvatore hid me. He traded one asylum for another." Luca smiled, but it was an empty smile. "The difference is that here I have a view."Elena approached slowly. "Why now? Why are you choosing to betray him now?"Luca looked at her. For a moment, his face showed a glimmer of humanity."For the child." He gestured down toward where little Ma

Villa Isabella, Montes Sabinos8:23 a.m.The morning sun streamed through the library windows as if nothing had happened.But everything had.Elena sat in Salvatore's armchair, the monster's throne, a steaming cup of coffee clutched in her hands, unable to drink it. Across from her, Dante stared blankly at Isabella's portrait. Luca stood in the doorway, watching over an empty hallway. Marco sat in a chair by the unlit fireplace, his face buried in his hands.And little Matteo slept upstairs, watched over by Alessia.No one spoke.It was Marco who broke the silence."I knew it." His voice was a broken whisper. "Deep down, I always knew. When he spoke, when he plotted, when… when he smiled." He raised his head, his eyes red. "But I didn't want to see him. Because if I saw him, I'd have to accept that my nephew is a monster. And that means it's my fault."Dante turned slowly. "It's not your fault.""Isn't it?" Marco laughed bitterly. "I got him out of the asylum. I taught him to hate Sal

Rome, ItalyTwo weeks laterThe Church of San Lorenzo was empty on a Tuesday morning.Elena entered slowly, the echo of her shoes resonating against the centuries-old stone walls. The scent of incense and candles transported her back to her childhood, to Sunday masses in Calabria, to her mother's hand holding hers.At the back, seven women awaited her.Seven mothers.Seven stories of pain.Ferrara had arranged the meeting in secret, far from prying eyes, far from the bosses, far from everything. Only the mothers. Only the truth.Elena sat down opposite them on a worn wooden pew. The oldest was about eighty, dressed in black from head to toe. The youngest, fifty, her eyes dry from tears.No one spoke.It was Elena who broke the silence."Thank you for coming. I know it's not easy."The older woman's name was Signora Fontana; she knew from the files. She practically spat out, "Thirty years of waiting. Thirty years without knowing what happened to my daughter. And now a federal agent com