Chapter 12 — The Man Buried Twice
Chapter 12 — The Man Buried Twice
The room remained silent.
Every eye stayed fixed on the frozen frame.
Tony finally spoke.
"Who is he?"
Vincent answered without taking his eyes off the monitor.
"Anthony Bellucci."
One of the bodyguards frowned.
"The old enforcer?"
"The first man who ever worked for me."
Tony looked stunned.
"He died in the warehouse explosion in 1982."
"So everyone believed."
Vincent slowly sat down.
"I identified the body."
"You were certain?"
"I was told to be."
Those words hung heavily in the room.
Someone had manipulated evidence decades ago.
Someone powerful enough to convince even Vincent Torino that Bellucci was dead.
The bank manager suddenly interrupted.
"Mr. Torino..."
"What?"
"The surveillance system."
He pointed toward a monitor showing live security footage.
Every camera outside the vault had gone black.
One after another.
Static swallowed each screen.
Then one camera suddenly came back online.
Only one.
The underground parking garage.
A black armored truck rolled slowly into view.
Its windows were completely dark.
Behind it came another.
Then another.
Six vehicles in total.
The bodyguard counted quietly.
"They're surrounding every exit."
Tony loaded a fresh magazine into his pistol.
"This wasn't a trap."
Vincent shook his head.
"No."
"This is an execution."
Suddenly every speaker inside the bank crackled.
A familiar voice echoed through the underground corridors.
"Vincent..."
The voice sounded older.
Calmer.
Almost amused.
"I've spent thirty years waiting for you to discover the truth."
Vincent's face hardened.
"Anthony."
Soft laughter echoed through the speakers.
"You finally remember me."
Tony whispered,
"He's alive..."
The voice continued.
"I wasn't the one who killed Maria."
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
A pause.
"The man who gave the order is still alive."
Silence.
"And he's standing much closer to you than you realize."
The speakers went dead.
Every person in the vault slowly looked at everyone else.
May you like
For the first time...
No one knew whom to trust.
