Chapter 8 - The Secret Behind Their First Meeting
“You never told me everything.”
Josie's voice was quiet.
Elias sat across from her.
“No.”
“What happened the night you first saw me?”
“The diner.”
“Yes.”
“You already know.”
“I know what you told me.”
He looked down.
“That isn't everything.”
“Tell me.”
He took a breath.
“My father had just died.”
Josie waited.
“I was supposed to take control of the organization.”
“I know.”
“I hated the idea.”
She nodded.
“You told me you wanted out.”
“I did.”
He looked toward the window.
“There was a meeting that night.”
“With whom?”
“People who wanted me to become like my father.”
Josie listened.
“One of them wanted to kill me.”
She froze.
“Why?”
“Because I refused a shipment.”
“What shipment?”
“People.”
Her expression changed.
“People?”
“Smuggling.”
Josie felt sick.
“You stopped it.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“They came after me.”
He looked at her.
“I went to that diner because I needed somewhere nobody would look.”
“You were hiding.”
“Yes.”
She remembered.
The mourning band.
The black coffee.
The silence.
“You stayed until dawn.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I didn't know where else to go.”
Josie smiled faintly.
“You looked sad.”
“I was.”
“I told you the diner was staying open.”
“You did.”
“I told you to pay for coffee.”
He smiled.
“You did.”
She laughed softly.
“And that was why you came back.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after?”
“I started watching.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
She looked surprised.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
“Was that wrong?”
“Yes.”
He was honest.
“I wanted to know if there was anyone in the city who wasn't afraid of me.”
“And you found me.”
“Yes.”
“Then you married me.”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“You really are complicated.”
“I know.”
They were quiet.
Then Josie's phone vibrated again.
Another message.
Ask him about October 17.
She looked at Elias.
“What happened October 17?”
His face changed.
“That was the night your father died.”
Josie froze.
“What?”
“I didn't know who you were then.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why were you there?”
“I wasn't.”
“Then who was?”
He opened a file.
A photograph.
Josie's father.
Standing with Elias's father.
Beside a warehouse.
The date:
October 17.
Josie stared.
“That can't be.”
“It is.”
“My father died at home.”
“That is what the records say.”
She read further.
“Who was the witness?”
“Your mother.”
Josie stopped breathing.
“My mother is dead.”
“Yes.”
“She died before my father.”
“I know.”
“But the photograph…”
Elias looked at her.
“The dates are wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because the records were falsified.”
The truth unfolded.
Josie's father had discovered the original criminal network.
He planned to expose it.
Elias's father tried to protect him.
Then both were betrayed.
The person who betrayed them?
Salvatore.
But Salvatore was not acting alone.
He had a partner.
Someone whose identity had never been revealed.
Josie stared.
“Who?”
Elias answered:
“My mother.”
Silence.
“What?”
“My mother.”
Josie's face went pale.
“She wanted control.”
“She betrayed your father?”
“Yes.”
“And mine.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She believed women in our family were never given power.”
Josie closed her eyes.
“And she decided to take it.”
“Yes.”
“But your mother is dead.”
“No.”
Josie stared.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
Elias's voice lowered.
“She has been hiding for twelve years.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Then the phone rang.
An unknown number.
Elias answered.
A woman spoke.
“Hello, son.”
He froze.
Josie heard the voice.
Elias's mother.
“I knew you'd find the truth eventually.”
Elias stood.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere you can't reach.”
“What do you want?”
“The list.”
“You can't have it.”
The woman laughed softly.
“You always were stubborn.”
Josie took the phone.
“Why are you doing this?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because you were never supposed to survive.”
Josie felt cold.
“What?”
“You were supposed to die with your father.”
Elias grabbed the phone.
“Don't speak to my wife.”
His mother's voice softened.
“She is the reason you became weak.”
“No.”
“She made you soft.”
“She made me human.”
Silence.
Then the call ended.
Josie stared at Elias.
“We're not going after her.”
“I know.”
“We're going to protect ourselves.”
“Yes.”
“And the foundation.”
“Yes.”
“And Peg.”
“Yes.”
“And the children.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Then we're ready.”
Three days later, they received another message.
A location.
An abandoned church.
And one sentence.
Bring the sixteen quarters.
Josie laughed.
“What?”
“They don't know.”
“Know what?”
“They think the quarters are part of the key.”
“They aren't.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“They're the proof.”
“What proof?”
“That I stayed.”
Elias smiled.
“You always did know how to surprise people.”
They went to the church.
Elias's mother was waiting.
Older.
Elegant.
Cold.
She looked at Josie.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“You took everything from my son.”
Josie smiled.
“No.”
“I gave him a life.”
“He didn't have one before me.”
The woman looked at Elias.
“You would choose her over your family.”
“Yes.”
“Even after everything?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“You're exactly like your father.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I'm finally not.”
Police entered.
The evidence had been transmitted.
The final betrayal was recorded.
His mother surrendered.
The network collapsed permanently.
But before she was taken away, she looked at Josie.
“You won.”
Josie shook her head.
“No.”
She held Elias's hand.
May you like
“We lived.”
That was enough.
