The Vatican Connection

The Mayflower’s back alley still smelled of rain and gasoline, the pavement slick under Jessica’s boots. She turned the small white pawn over in her fingers, rolling it between her thumb and forefinger. A message. A warning. A game piece moved by someone else’s hand.

Mr. Black had always been careful, always just beyond reach. But this? This was different. This was personal.

Olivia exhaled, glancing toward the dimly lit street. “This was meant for you.”

Jessica nodded slowly. “And he knows I won’t walk away.”

Leanna folded her arms, her gaze sharp. “Then we use it.”

Jessica pocketed the pawn and the note, pushing away the irritation curling in her chest. If Mr. Black thought he still controlled the board, it was time to prove him wrong.

“Cross’s trail didn’t end here,” she murmured. “We need to find where it leads.”

* * *

The team set up in a rented office space in Georgetown, a nondescript second-floor suite above a bakery that smelled of coffee and fresh bread. Olivia sat alone in the kitchen, staring at her laptop. The screen glowed with paused footage of the President’s face, mid-sentence.

Jessica entered quietly. “You okay?”

“No,” Olivia said without turning. “I used to think data was clean. Neutral. If you traced the lines far enough, you’d find the truth.”

Jessica waited.

Olivia finally turned. “But what if the truth doesn’t matter? What if nobody wants to hear it?”

“Then we make them listen.”

Olivia gave a thin smile. “Yeah. But I didn’t sign up to be the one yelling into the void.”

Jessica nodded slowly. “None of us did. We just ended up here.”

Olivia sighed and went back to work on the Cross lead. She worked her usual magic, pulling security footage, phone records, and anything that could give them a lead.

Jessica watched over her shoulder, arms crossed as Olivia sifted through footage of the Mayflower’s entrance from three weeks ago.

“There.” Olivia pointed at a grainy frame. Cross, stepping outside.

Jessica leaned in. His posture was tense, head down, moving quickly. But he wasn’t alone.

A tall man wearing a dark suit flanked him. tall, His face was partially obscured by the angle of the camera.

Leanna frowned. “That doesn’t look like an abduction.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes. “No. It looks like he was going willingly.”

Olivia worked her keyboard, tracking the feed forward. Cross and the unknown man got into a black SUV.

Jessica’s pulse quickened. “Can you get the plate?”

Olivia rewound, enhancing the frame as much as the poor quality would allow. She typed a few quick commands, running the plate against public and private databases. One hit.

She glanced at Jessica. “Registered to a diplomatic fleet.”

Jessica’s stomach turned cold. “Which embassy?”

Olivia’s fingers flew across the keyboard. The result popped up, stark and unmissable.

The Vatican Embassy.

Silence stretched between them. Jessica barely breathed.

Leanna was the first to break it. “You have got to be kidding me.”

* * *

Jessica leaned back, processing. Why would an intelligence analyst investigating Dominion end up at the Vatican’s embassy in D.C.?

Leanna pulled up her own files, scanning documents as she spoke. “It makes sense if Dominion isn’t just political.”

Jessica met her gaze. “Meaning?”

Leanna tapped the screen. “Every government has been compromised by Dominion at some level. But what’s the one institution that operates above politics? That exists outside of national boundaries?”

Jessica’s mind caught up instantly. The Vatican.

Religious influence had always been a quiet form of control, shaping societies long before politicians ever sat in their chairs. If Dominion had infiltrated that level of power, if they were using faith as a tool the same way they used government, then this was even bigger than Jessica had imagined.

“We need to find out what Cross knew,” Jessica said.

Olivia nodded. “Then we go to Rome.”

Jessica exhaled slowly. Rome.

This wasn’t just about Edward Cross anymore.

* * *

The team gathered their gear, moving quickly. They had to leave D.C. before Dominion realized what they were after.

But as they stepped onto the quiet Georgetown street, Jessica’s instincts flared.

Something was wrong.

The bakery had closed early. No cars passed. The air felt… held.

Jessica slowed her pace. “We’re not alone.”

Leanna tensed. Olivia shifted her stance just before a black SUV rounded the corner fast. Jessica barely had time to react before men in dark suits stepped out, moving with precision.

This was not the police. Not the FBI. It was Dominion.

The lead man, sharp-jawed and cold-eyed, stepped forward, hands raised as if in peace.

“Ms. Sanchez,” he said smoothly. “You need to come with us.”

Jessica felt the weight of the white pawn still in her pocket. Her fingers curled. She wasn’t going anywhere.

The first blow came fast, slamming into Jessica’s ribs before she had time to brace.

Everything went dark.