Something settled over his face—old violence, new purpose.
“No one takes her,” he said.
Caleb stared at his brother. “You don’t understand. Novak won’t stop. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
Roman’s mouth curved slightly, but there was no humor in it.
“Then he should have stayed afraid of me.”
A crash exploded through the side entrance.
Shouts filled the church.
Dominic fired first.
Emma screamed and dropped behind a pew with Lily as wood splintered above her. Roman moved like a shadow made of knives, dragging one attacker down before the man fully crossed the threshold. Caleb grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled her toward the sacristy.
“Move!”
She fought him. “Don’t touch me!”
“Emma, please!”
A bullet struck the stone pillar beside them, spraying dust.
Roman’s voice thundered across the nave. “Get them out!”
Caleb shoved open a narrow door behind the altar.
“This way.”
Emma ran.
Lily wailed against her chest.
Behind them, gunfire cracked through holy silence.
The passage was dark and freezing, leading down a set of old stone steps. Father Michael hurried ahead, keys shaking in his hand. Mrs. Alvarez limped behind, breath harsh. Dominic came last, firing once before slamming the door.
They emerged into a basement lined with shelves of candles, donation boxes, and forgotten Christmas decorations.
Father Michael unlocked a metal door at the back.
“Tunnel goes to the rectory garage.”
Roman arrived a second later, blood on his knuckles, eyes scanning Emma first, then Lily.
“You hurt?”
“No.”
His gaze moved to Caleb, who still had a hand near Emma’s back.
Caleb removed it.
Dominic bolted the door behind them. “We don’t have long.”
They ran through the tunnel, breath fogging in the cold air. Emma’s legs burned. Lily sobbed until her cries turned hoarse.
At the garage, Father Michael lifted the door just enough for them to see the alley beyond.
Empty.
Roman looked to Dominic. “Car?”
“Two blocks west.”
Caleb shook his head. “Too obvious.”
Roman turned slowly. “You have a better idea?”
“Yes.”
He pulled a key from his coat.
Roman stared at it. “What is that?”
Caleb looked at Emma.
“My car is under the rectory. I kept it there in case I ever had to get them out.”
Emma laughed once, a cracked and bitter sound. “You planned for everything except being a father.”
Caleb’s face crumpled again.
Roman took the key from him. “You’re not driving.”
They piled into an old black sedan hidden beneath a tarp. Roman drove. Emma sat in the back with Lily. Caleb sat beside her, not touching, not speaking. Dominic rode in front, checking the gun in his lap.
The car slid into the night.
Behind them, St. Agnes glowed with red and blue light that did not yet belong to police.
Emma looked at Caleb.
He seemed older than thirty. There were scars near his hairline, one across his lower lip. His hands were the same, though. The same hands that had once built a crib from mismatched wood because they could not afford a new one.
“You were alive,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And you let me hate myself for not being enough to make you stay.”
His eyes filled. “It was never you.”
“But you let me think it was.”
He had no answer.
Roman’s eyes met Emma’s in the rearview mirror.
For one second, the strange bond between them returned. Not trust. Not comfort. Something more dangerous because it had been born too quickly under fire.
Understanding.
Then Lily stopped crying.
Not gradually.
All at once.
Emma looked down.
Her daughter was staring at Caleb.
The baby’s wet lashes clung together. Her lower lip trembled. Then she reached one small hand toward him.
Caleb broke.
A sound came out of him that was almost a sob. He covered his mouth, turning his face away.
Emma should not have felt anything.
But she did.
That made her angrier.
Roman looked away from the mirror.
The sedan turned onto a quiet street near the river, where warehouses stood dark against the snow. Dominic’s phone buzzed.
He answered, listened, then looked at Roman.
“Call came in from the club. Novak’s people hit the office after we left.”
Roman’s face hardened. “Casualties?”
“Two wounded. No dead.”
“And?”
Dominic hesitated.
Roman glanced at him. “Say it.”
“They took the diaper bag.”
Emma’s stomach dropped.
“The diaper bag?” Caleb whispered.
Roman swore.
Emma clutched Lily. “Why would they take that?”
No one answered.
Then Caleb looked at her with horror dawning in his eyes.
“What?” she demanded.
“The lamb was only the decoy,” he said.
Roman slammed the brakes so hard the car fishtailed.
Dominic braced against the dash.
Emma’s heart leapt into her throat.
Roman turned in his seat. “What did you say?”
Caleb’s face had gone white. “I couldn’t risk the real ledger being found. Not in the charm. Not where Novak would look.”
Roman stared at him.
Caleb looked at Lily.
Emma’s voice went thin. “Where is it?”
Caleb swallowed.
“In the lining of the diaper bag.”
The silence that followed was worse than gunfire.
Dominic looked like he might kill him himself.
Roman’s voice was almost calm. “You used your infant daughter’s diaper bag to hide Novak’s ledger.”
“I didn’t know where else to put it.”
Emma slapped him.
The sound cracked through the car.
Caleb did not defend himself.
Lily startled and began to cry again.
Emma shook with fury. “Everything that has happened to her tonight is because of you.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. You still think this is a war story. It’s not. It’s her life.”
Roman turned back to the wheel.
“Where would Novak take it?” he asked.
Caleb wiped blood from his lip. “If he has the bag, he’ll go to the exchange point.”
“What exchange point?”
Caleb’s eyes met Roman’s in the mirror.
“The old Callahan house.”
Roman stopped breathing.
Dominic muttered, “Oh, hell.”
Emma looked between them. “What house?”
Roman did not answer.
His hands tightened on the wheel until his knuckles blanched.
Caleb’s voice was quiet. “Dad’s house.”
The car seemed to grow colder.
Roman stared through the windshield at the falling snow.
Then his phone rang.
No one moved.
Roman answered.
A man’s voice came through on speaker, smooth and amused.
“Roman. I hear you finally found your niece.”
Roman’s eyes turned black.
Novak.
Emma knew without being told.
The voice continued. “Beautiful child. Caleb always did have expensive taste in weaknesses.”
Roman said nothing.
Novak chuckled. “Come home, Roman. Bring the girl, bring the mother, bring your little runaway brother. Midnight. No police, though I know you prefer solving family matters privately.”
Caleb leaned forward. “You have the ledger. Let them go.”
Novak’s tone brightened. “Caleb. Still alive. Still disappointing.”
Emma held Lily tighter.
Roman spoke at last. “Touch anyone in my family, and I’ll burn your world down.”
A pause.
Then Novak laughed softly.
“Your family?” he said. “Roman, that’s why I called.”
The line crackled.
When Novak spoke again, his voice lost its amusement.
“Ask Caleb who Lily really belongs to.”
The call ended.
Emma looked at Caleb.
Roman looked at Caleb.
Even Dominic looked back.
Caleb’s face had gone ashen.
Emma’s voice was barely a whisper. “What does he mean?”
Caleb closed his eyes.
Roman reached slowly into his coat.
“Answer her.”
Caleb opened his eyes, and in them Emma saw the last secret, the one darker than abandonment, darker than lies, darker than the men hunting them through the snow.
“I was going to tell you,” he said.
Roman’s voice was lethal. “Tell us now.”
Caleb looked at Lily, then at Emma.
“I’m not her father,” he whispered.
Emma could not move.
The world became soundless.
Caleb’s mouth trembled.
“Roman is.”
…If you want to know what happened next, please type “YES” and like for more
