The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 175: The Fugitive Father

Rose’s first birthday party ended abruptly.

One minute, we were celebrating with cake and laughter, our family gathered together, feeling safe.

Next thing, it was a security alert with Luca’s team mobilizing and guests being evacuated.

"What’s happening?" Katherine demanded as she held Rose protectively.

"It’s the FBI incoming for an emergency briefing."

In the family room, with the guests gone, only our immediate family and friends remained.

Bella, Susan, Elliot, Jeff, Katherine, Rose, and Me.

Timothy appeared via video conference, his face grim.

"Thomas Marvin escaped from a very high-security federal prison two hours ago. It was a professional operation with inside help being suspected."

A heavy silence. Faces frozen in shock.

"My father escaped?" I was still processing the info Luca told me earlier, and now hearing it from an FBI agent only made it real. I still couldn’t believe it.

"Yes. He had assistance. Probably guards were bribed or coerced; we can’t tell. The security systems were disabled, and we were informed that he walked out during a shift change."

Katherine held Rose tighter. "Is he dangerous to us?"

"To himself? Absolutely. To you?" Timothy hesitated. "We don’t think so, but he’s a federal fugitive now. Harboring him is a crime. If he contacts you, you need to report it immediately."

After the FBI left and the house grew quiet, an hour passed before I received an encrypted message on my phone.

It was routed through multiple servers, making it untraceable.

I recognize the pattern because Thomas taught me this years ago.

The message read:

Son, I didn’t escape to run. I escaped to survive. Someone in the prison tried to kill me; they poisoned my food. I have information about our family and threats you don’t know exist. I’m coming to you alone and unarmed. Trust me one last time. -Dad

I showed it to Katherine. When she read it, her face went pale.

"He’s lying," I said. "He has to be lying."

"What if he’s not? What if there really is another threat?"

"Then we let the FBI handle it instead of stepping in."

"And if they can’t?" Her voice was sharp and afraid. "If this enemy is targeting Rose or us?"

I didn’t have an answer to that.

Timothy reviewed the message remotely. "It’s authentic and definitely from Thomas."

"Can you trace it?"

"No. He’s using methods we taught him during his cooperation agreement. Which is ironic."

"What about the assassination attempt claim?"

"I’m checking prison records now. The medical reports and incident logs." He paused. "Actually - yes. Thomas was hospitalized three days ago from severe food poisoning, though initially attributed to contaminated kitchen supplies, but-"

"But what?"

"The toxicology shows something else. It showed arsenic, meaning it’s a deliberate poisoning."

Katherine gasped. "Someone really tried to kill him."

"Appears so."

The FBI launched a massive manhunt.

They were at the airports, borders, and transit hubs. Everywhere was monitored, and a BOLO was issued nationwide.

But Thomas was mafia for decades; he knew how to disappear.

"He has resources," Timothy admitted. "Contacts we don’t know about. Money hidden offshore in safe houses. He could be anywhere."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait. He’ll make contact with you, Tony. Soon. And when he does-"

"You want me to turn him in."

"He’s a fugitive. Yes."

But he was also my father. I thought to myself, and he was possibly trying to protect us.

We had a family discussion that evening with everyone weighing in.

Bella spoke first. "If Dad says there’s a threat, there’s a threat. He wouldn’t risk this for nothing."

Susan countered. "Or he’s manipulating you. Using fear to gain sympathy and get back into your lives."

Elliot was as logical as ever. "Statistically, prison assassination attempts on high-profile inmates are real. Especially those with extensive criminal histories and enemies."

Katherine was torn. "I don’t trust him. But I don’t trust ignoring a potential threat either. Not with our Rose to protect."

I made the decision. "We prepare for both possibilities. He’s telling the truth, or he’s lying. Either way, we stay vigilant and increase security. Everyone needs to stay alert."

Luca implemented strict protocols.

"If Thomas approaches, we need to be ready."

"To arrest him?"

"To protect you. From him or from whoever he claims is coming."

Rose was never alone. Katherine had round-the-clock protection, and the estate was fortified even further.

We waited.

Three days later, it was late at night when my phone rang from an unknown number, but I knew who it was.

"Son."

"Dad. Where are you?"

"Safe, for now. I need to see you alone. I have information you need."

"FBI is looking for you-"

"I know, but this is bigger than my freedom and bigger than prison. There’s an enemy. One we didn’t know about, and they’re coming for the Marvin family. For you, for Katherine, and for Rose."

My blood ran cold. "Who?"

"Not over the phone. Meet me tomorrow at noon. There’s an old warehouse on Blockhouse 1004. Come alone."

"That’s not happening-"

"Then Rose dies, Katherine dies, and you die. I’m trying to save you, but you have to trust me."

"I don’t trust you."

"Then trust that I love my granddaughter and I won’t let her die because of our family’s past. At noon, be at Blockhouse 1004. Alone."

The line went dead.

I told Katherine immediately.

She was furious. "You’re not going alone."

"I have to. If there’s even a chance he’s telling the truth-"

"Then we bring the FBI and Luca. A full security team."

"He said alone. If I show up with backup, he disappears. And we never know what threat he’s talking about."

"And if it’s a trap? If he kills you?"

"He can’t kill me. He’s my father."

"But what if he’s been compromised? Manipulated or controlled like before?" Katherine was thinking of Thomas’s drugging when he nearly killed me. "What if someone’s using him again?"

"Then you and Rose are still safe, and you’ll know not to trust him."

She was crying, now being frustrated and scared. "I can’t lose you."

"You won’t, I promise."

The next morning, we launched preparations. I was wired with a tracking device in my belt and an audio feed in my shirt.

Armed despite Thomas’s request with a concealed weapon just in case.

Luca was still adamant. "We’ll be half a mile out and close enough to respond. You’re not really alone."

"He’ll know."

"He’ll suspect, but he’ll talk. He always does. Your father loves the sound of his own voice."

Katherine helped me with the vest. The bulletproof vest was hidden under my shirt.

"Come back to me. To us."

"I will. I promise."

I kissed her one last time and looked at Rose, babbling in her playpen, oblivious to what was happening.

Then I left to meet my fugitive father to learn what new threat he’s warning about.

Soon, I arrived at Blockhouse 1004, an abandoned warehouse near the waterfront.

It was an industrial area, deserted, looking like the perfect location for an ambush.

I was there at noon, exactly as he specified.

I approach cautiously, my hand on my concealed weapon and scanning around with my eyes.

Thomas emerged from the shadows.

He looked older and thinner, shadows and worry cast into his face. The prison had aged and changed him.

But his eyes were alert, sharp, and aware.

"You came."

"You’re my father, I came. Now talk, what’s this about?"

Thomas wasted no time.

"There’s another branch of the Marvin family. One I never told you about."

"What?"

"My father, your grandfather, had a brother - Edward Marvin. They ran the empire together in the ’60s and ’70s until Edward supposedly died in 1985 in a car bomb. It was a very public news that everyone knew about then."

"But?"

"But he didn’t die, so we heard now. He faked his death and staged the whole thing. Started his own criminal operation in Europe while we thought he was dead."

I was confused, just staring at him, trying to process what he’d just said. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because Edward’s son, my cousin, also your cousin, is coming for revenge. For being cut out of the family business, being erased from history, and being forgotten."

"How do you know?"

Thomas pulls out a folder. It was weathered and full of documents and photos.

"Because he’s the one who tried to kill me in prison. He’s been funding some of our enemies over the years and has been waiting and building his own empire while ours crumbled."

He handed me the folder.

It was photos of a man in his 40s with sharp features that were familiar. I could see the unmistakable family resemblance, too.

"His name is Dante Marvin, and he’s been planning this for over twenty years."

I was flipping through documents to check for birth certificates, financial records, and intelligence reports.

"He’s the one who tried to poison you?"

"Yes. He had someone inside the prison, but I barely survived. That’s when I knew, I had to get out and had to warn you."

"Why now? Why after all these years?"

"Because you’re vulnerable now. You have Katherine, Rose... a life. Things he can take from you. Before, you had nothing to lose. Now you have everything."

The documents showed Dante’s operations in Europe, South America, and Asia. All tied to a massive criminal network.

"He wants the Marvin empire and what’s left of it. He’ll kill anyone in his way, including you and Rose."

"How do I know you’re not lying and making this up?"

Thomas’s face hardened. "Because he’s already here in New York watching you and waiting."

He pointed behind me. "And I think he followed you here."

I turned to scan around and saw nothing.

When I turned back, Thomas was gone... disappeared into the shadows.

But the folder remained at my feet.

Then I heard a gunshot. It was distant but close, like a sniper.

A bullet slammed into the warehouse wall, inches from my head.

"GET DOWN!" Luca’s team rushed in from their positions.

I heard more gunshots from multiple shooters, and I dived for cover, grabbing the folder and rolling behind rusted machinery.

The bullets pinged off metal, shattering glass.

Luca’s team returned the fire in a coordinated way.

But the shooters were very good.

So, this was real. Dante Marvin was real.

And he was already attacking us.