The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 190: Going Underground

We left Ashford’s office building with the FBI escort surrounding us, but I knew he would retaliate.

Timothy’s face was grim and dangerous. "Ashford has deep government connections, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement contacts. He’ll come after you hard and fast."

"What do we do?"

"You disappear tonight. Take your family underground until we can build a new case properly."

Katherine’s hand moved to her stomach. She was six weeks pregnant and at high risk. "I’m on bed rest, and you know it’s a high-risk pregnancy. I can’t be moving around constantly."

"Then we find one secure location. You hide there with the kids and wait while we build the case."

I called Susan, Katherine’s best friend since high school, to explain the situation.

"I have an inherited property in upstate New York. It’s remote and off-grid, different from the other one you’ve stayed at before. My late uncle Albert bought it years ago, and almost nobody knows about it."

"Susan, that’s incredibly generous-"

"Katherine is family. You’re all family. So use it and stay as long as you need."

"This could put you in danger."

"Katherine is my best friend. We’ve been through everything together since we were teenagers. Let me help, please."

That night, we packed only our essentials, trying to move fast. Hector and Rose were confused.

"Where are we going?" Hector asked perceptively, already worried.

"On an adventure. It’s a safe place where we can rest for a while."

Rose was excited, obviously oblivious and innocent. "Adventure! Like camping?"

"Exactly like camping, sweetheart."

But Hector knew better as he saw the fear, the urgency, and the weapons being packed.

"Are bad people coming again?"

I kneeled at his eye level. "We’re being cautious to protect our family. That’s what we do, and that’s what Marvins do, okay?"

"Will we be safe?" He asked.

"Yes, I promise. We’ll be safe."

We arrived at the compound of Susan’s late uncle in upstate New York. It was deep in the mountains and isolated - a very beautiful and secure place.

A large house with self-sufficient systems, solar power, well water, and advanced security systems.

Susan was already there, having prepared everything. "Welcome. You’re all safe here."

Katherine was exhausted, looking stressed and pale. She needed immediate bed rest.

Dr. Stephens had an emergency video call with her. "Your vitals are extremely concerning. Please be on complete bed rest. There are no exceptions to this."

Susan and I got Katherine settled in the bedroom with the monitors, equipment, and everything medical she needed.

Luca dug deep into Ashford’s background to check for financial records, associates, and personal history.

He found something later and called for me. "Tony, Ashford has a significant weakness."

"What weakness?" I asked carefully.

"His daughter, Sadie Ashford. She’s 26 and an environmental activist. She has been completely estranged from her father for years."

"Why are they estranged?"

"Because she discovered his corruption five years ago. His environmental crimes and the companies he’s been protecting. They were the major polluters. She had tried to expose him publicly, but he buried the story, destroyed her credibility, and made her look like a conspiracy theorist."

"You think she might help us?"

"She might, if we approach carefully and respectfully. She hates what her father represents."

We had a video conference, it was like a war council with everyone involved.

Bella, James, Elliot, Jeff, Susan, Luca, and Timothy, who was unofficially participating.

The strategy session was on how to take down a U.S. Senator without getting killed in the process.

Bella spoke first. "I still have contacts in investigative media. Journalists who aren’t afraid of powerful politicians and who actually want to expose corruption."

James added too. "I have architecture colleagues who worked on government contracts that Ashford influenced. Bribes, kickbacks, and zoning violations, they have physical evidence."

Elliot offered from his end."I can provide a psychological profile to analyze his vulnerabilities and predict his behavioral patterns and likely moves."

Susan also contributed. "I have my family wealth and resources, whatever you need financially. No limits."

Timothy was being cautious but committed. "I can’t officially help due to my career and position. But unofficially... I’ll share what intelligence I can safely access."

We were building an army of coalition, an alliance against one corrupt senator.

That night, Katherine’s blood pressure was spiking dangerously, the monitors alarming.

We called Dr. Stephens for an urgent video call. "You need immediate hospital monitoring. This is severe pre-eclampsia."

"I can’t go to a hospital. Ashford will track hospital admissions and find us."

"Then you’re risking losing the baby and possibly your own life. This is genuinely life-threatening."

That was my absolute terror. "We’ll figure it out. Get medical equipment here, private nurse... whatever it takes to keep her safe."

We arranged everything rapidly, with Luca’s contacts; the medical equipment was delivered, and the monitoring systems were installed. A vetted, discrete, and trusted private nurse was enlisted.

Katherine’s and our baby’s lives were in the balance.

Hector stepped up. Even at seven years old, he was mature far beyond his years.

He constantly helped Rose, keeping her entertained, quiet, calm, and away from the stress of adults.

"Papa Tony, is Mama Katherine going to be okay?"

"Yes. She’s very strong and a survivor."

"Like when my papa - like when Dante - tried to hurt her but she survived?"

I paused long, choosing my words carefully. "Yes, exactly like that. Your Mama Katherine is the strongest survivor I know."

"I’m glad she’s my mama now. I’m not glad about what happened with Dante. But I’m glad she’s my mama."

I hugged him. This brave, traumatized, resilient little boy. "She’s glad you’re her son, too. We both are."

Late at night, Katherine was on complete bed rest, and I was beside her, the monitoring equipment beeped steadily.

"I’m so scared. What if I lose this baby or if Ashford wins? What if everything we’ve fought for-"

"Stop. We focus on right now and this moment, okay? This is about you and our baby staying healthy and alive."

I held her hand gently and carefully. "I love you more than anything in this world. We’d survive this, just like we’ve survived everything before."

No physical intimacy was possible yet since she was on bed rest and doing anything would be high-risk; however, our emotional intimacy was deeper than ever.

"Tell me about our future. When this is over and when we’re finally safe."

"We’ll have three beautiful children living together in a beautiful house and living our normal life. There will be real peace and genuine happiness. Everything we’ve fought so hard for."

Luca arranged a secure meeting with Sadie Ashford in a small coffee shop. It was a neutral public location.

Luca and I met with her. She was a young, idealistic woman, deeply passionate. She was visibly angry when discussing her father.

"You’re Tony Marvin. My father tried to destroy you."

"He’s still trying, that’s why we desperately need your help."

"Why would I help you? I don’t know you."

"Because we have a common enemy. Your father. And together - we can actually stop him."

Sadie considered carefully before making her decision. "What exactly do you need?"

"Evidence or testimony, anything that proves his corruption."

"I have recordings. However, they’re from five years ago. It was of him admitting to environmental crimes, covering up massive corporate pollution, and accepting bribes. I tried to use them, but he destroyed my reputation completely and made me unemployable."

"We won’t let him destroy you this time, we promise. We’ll protect you."

Sadie joined our cause, providing her recordings, documents, and years of collected evidence.

This was combined with James’s architecture evidence, Bella’s media contacts, and Timothy’s intelligence access. It took us four months to gather all this together, but now we’re more confident of our plan.

It helped us build a comprehensive, multi-pronged case that Ashford can’t fight on all fronts simultaneously.

As I realized the strategy, I pointed out. "We don’t fight him alone. We build a coalition to make him fight everyone at once, thus overwhelming him."

Late in the evening, Susan and I were in the kitchen, having coffee and having a private conversation.

"Tony, I need to tell you something. About why I’m helping so much."

"You’re Katherine’s best friend since high school. That’s reason enough."

"It’s more than that. My late uncle Albert... he was one of Thomas’s associates years ago with your father and their criminal organization. I just found out recently when I was going through his estate documents."

I froze completely. "What?"

"Albert worked for Thomas, and he helped with money laundering operations. I didn’t know until after he died. I recently found the documents, evidence, and bank statements. I’ve been carrying that guilt ever since."

"Susan-"

"This is my redemption. Helping you and Katherine to fight against corruption instead of having unknowingly benefited from it my entire life."

By morning, the Nurse checked Katherine; her vitals were finally stable, and our baby was okay. It was brief relief before we watched Ashford’s press conference on television, live.

"I’m announcing a federal investigation into Tony and Katherine Marvin for criminal conspiracy, attempting to entrap a United States Senator, evidence of wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy."

The TV displayed photos and video footage from our meeting that had been edited and manipulated.

"The Marvins are dangerous criminals attempting to destroy public servants who threaten their criminal enterprises.

Arrest warrants will be issued immediately at the federal level, with a national scope, with immediate effect."

"We’re wanted fugitives now," I said quietly. "He’s officially declared war."

Katherine spoke softly from her bed, sounding weak but fierce. "Then we finish this. We release everything to expose all the evidence, the recordings, and Sadie’s testimony. Everything will be released simultaneously before he can spin the narrative."

"That’s our nuclear option. Once we do that, there’s no going back. We either destroy him completely or he destroys us." I said, feeling determined.

"Then we destroy him. For our children, our baby, and for our future. This is for everything."

We held a family war council with everyone present - Susan, Bella, James, Elliot, Jeff, and Luca.

"We coordinate simultaneous release. The media, the FBI, Congress, and the Justice Department. Every outlet should release simultaneously, overwhelming informational force."

We planned the coordinated attack within 48 hours to ensure everything was in order, then we would strike.

Ashford versus the Marvins and their entire alliance.

The winner takes everything, and the loser loses everything.

The war just officially began.