Chapter 4 - The House Turned Into a Trap
Elena's face lost its color.
“My mother is dead.”
Tony laughed.
“No.”
She stepped toward him.
“My mother died eight years ago.”
“You saw a coffin.”
“I saw her body.”
“Did you?”
Elena stopped.
Tony knew he had her attention.
“She disappeared because your father told her what he'd discovered.”
“Where is she?”
“Find the ledger, and maybe you'll find her.”
I crouched beside Tony.
“You're going to tell us everything.”
“No.”
“You seem confident.”
“Because you've forgotten something.”
“What?”
Tony smiled.
“This house still belongs to us tonight.”
The power died.
Complete darkness.
Then we heard men moving through the hallways.
Tony's backup.
I grabbed Elena.
“Basement.”
Marcus followed.
We entered the wine cellar and locked the reinforced door.
Marcus looked at me.
“You trust me now?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
Elena checked her weapon.
Marcus stared at her.
“You really are a maid?”
“Yes.”
“And you carry a gun?”
“New York is unpredictable.”
Despite everything, Marcus laughed.
I didn't.
“You tried to have me killed.”
His smile vanished.
“I thought you let my father die.”
“So you decided to become exactly what you thought I was?”
That landed.
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I wanted the truth.”
“You wanted revenge.”
“Yes.”
Elena interrupted.
“You can hate each other tomorrow.”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“They're coming.”
I opened a hidden cabinet.
Inside was an old telephone.
Marcus stared.
“You have a landline?”
“I’m old-fashioned.”
I dialed one number.
A man answered.
“Boss?”
“Daniel.”
“Where are you?”
“My house.”
“We lost communication with the property forty minutes ago.”
“I know.”
“What do you need?”
“Everyone I still trust.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
Daniel paused.
“We're coming.”
I hung up.
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Daniel was one of the men I told Tony to remove.”
I stared at him.
“Then you should probably apologize before he gets here.”
Elena suddenly noticed something on the wine rack.
A small carved symbol.
She touched it.
“What is that?”
Marcus came closer.
“My father's initials.”
B.M.
Benjamin Moretti.
My brother.
I moved one bottle.
Behind it was a small metal key.
Marcus whispered, “Dad put that there?”
Elena took the key.
“My father's files mentioned a deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Grand Central.”
I looked at the key number.
317.
The ledger.
Tony hadn't been lying about everything.
Elena closed her fingers around it.
Marcus said quietly, “He wanted us to find this.”
“No,” I said.
“He wanted someone trustworthy to find it.”
Elena looked at me.
“And apparently he didn't mean either of you.”
For the first time that night, all three of us laughed.
Then someone started cutting through the cellar door.
We stopped.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“I'll hold them.”
I looked at him.
“You've done enough stupid things tonight.”
“This one isn't stupid.”
“Debatable.”
“Uncle.”
It was the first time he'd called me that since the betrayal began.
“I brought them here.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“Let me fix something.”
Before I could answer, Elena stepped between us.
“Nobody is sacrificing himself.”
Marcus frowned.
“Do you always order people around?”
“Only rich men with terrible survival instincts.”
The cutting stopped.
Silence.
Then—
A crash upstairs.
Shouting.
Footsteps.
Marcus looked at me.
“Daniel?”
I smiled.
“Daniel.”
Minutes later, someone knocked on the cellar door.
“Boss?”
I opened it.
Daniel stood there with six loyal men.
“The house is secure.”
“And Tony?”
Daniel frowned.
“Gone.”
My smile disappeared.
Marcus cursed.
Elena looked at the key in her hand.
“He'll go after the ledger.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He'll go after the person who can identify it.”
“Who?”
I looked at her.
May you like
“Your mother.”
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