Chapter 4 - Matteo's Warning
Alex couldn't stop staring at the page.
“My brother wrote this?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don't know.”
Sarah turned the paper over.
There was a date.
Six weeks ago.
Alex's expression hardened.
“Matteo has been alive?”
Sarah didn't answer immediately.
“I thought he was dead.”
“You said that.”
“I was wrong.”
The words seemed to cost her something.
Sarah explained that twelve years ago, Matteo had been part of a covert investigation into an organization called Meridian.
Meridian didn't sell drugs.
It didn't run casinos.
It sold information.
Private schedules.
Bank movements.
Security weaknesses.
Family secrets.
The wealthy paid them to destroy competitors.
Criminals paid them to remove obstacles.
Politicians paid them to make problems disappear.
Matteo had discovered that Meridian had infiltrated several powerful families.
Then he disappeared.
Sarah had been ordered to stop searching.
She refused.
That was when she became Sparrow.
Alex sat down.
“Why did my brother leave me?”
“He didn't.”
Sarah placed another photograph in front of him.
Matteo was standing beside a woman.
Alex recognized her.
His face changed.
“That's my mother.”
Sarah nodded.
“Your mother wasn't just a victim.”
Alex looked up sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“She was investigating Meridian before Matteo disappeared.”
Alex stared at the photograph.
His entire childhood had suddenly become uncertain.
His mother had always told him his father died protecting the family.
His brother had supposedly died years later.
Now both stories looked false.
Before Sarah could explain, the warehouse lights flickered.
She immediately reached for her weapon.
Alex whispered, “They're here?”
Sarah looked toward the ceiling.
“No.”
She heard footsteps.
One person.
Slow.
Familiar.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Sarah.”
She froze.
The voice was older.
Weaker.
But unmistakable.
“It's been twelve years.”
Sarah's face went pale.
Alex stood.
“Who is that?”
Sarah whispered one word.
May you like
“Matteo.”
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