Chapter 2 - The Black Book
Elsie spent the entire night trying to remember where she had seen the blue box.
She searched old photographs.
She searched the hall closet.
She searched every drawer in her apartment.
At 3:14 a.m., she found a photograph from her 19th birthday.
She was sitting on the porch.
Marissa was behind her.
Walter was holding a cake.
Diane stood beside the kitchen door.
Elsie zoomed in.
There.
Behind her mother’s elbow.
A sliver of blue metal.
The box.
It had been sitting on the washing machine.
Elsie stared at the image until the sun came up.
At 7:20, she called Roman.
“I remember it.”
“I’m listening.”
“My mother had a blue metal box.”
“Where?”
“Laundry room.”
“Do you know where it is now?”
“No.”
Roman paused.
“Who had access to that house?”
“My father. Marissa. Me.”
“Adrien?”
“Sometimes.”
“Anyone else?”
Elsie thought.
Then she remembered the backyard.
A man helping Walter move equipment.
A dark-haired man with a scar near his chin.
She had heard Adrien call him Vincent.
Roman went quiet.
“Vincent Moretti?”
“I don't know his last name.”
Roman exhaled.
“That's bad.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone who should never have been near your family.”
Roman sent a driver.
They went to Quincy at 8:30.
The Parker house looked smaller than Elsie remembered.
The hydrangeas her mother had planted were brown at the edges.
The front steps were cracked.
Inside, the furniture had barely changed.
Elsie walked through the laundry room.
The washing machine was gone.
The floor had been replaced.
But the wall still carried the faint outline of something rectangular.
She touched it.
“This was here.”
Roman crouched.
“Look at the tile.”
One tile was newer than the others.
Elsie stared.
“Mom repaired this.”
Roman pried it loose.
Behind it was a narrow opening.
Inside lay a brass key.
And a folded piece of paper.
Elsie opened it.
Her mother’s handwriting.
If the box is gone, the ledger is somewhere safer.
Do not trust anyone who tells you your father is innocent.
Elsie stared at the words.
Roman read them over her shoulder.
“My father?”
Roman nodded.
Elsie swallowed.
“What did he do?”
“That is what we need to find out.”
They searched the basement.
Nothing.
They searched the garage.
Nothing.
Finally, Elsie remembered the old construction yard.
It had been sold after Walter’s collapse.
Now an empty warehouse stood there.
Roman had access.
They entered through the rear at 10:47.
The building smelled of dust and old oil.
Elsie walked through the main room.
Memories came back.
Her father laughing.
Her mother bringing lunch.
Marissa sitting on a stack of lumber.
Adrien visiting.
She stopped.
“Here.”
There was an old office.
Inside stood a metal filing cabinet.
The third drawer was locked.
The brass key fit.
Inside was the blue box.
Elsie almost dropped it.
Roman did not touch it.
“You open it.”
She lifted the lid.
Inside were papers.
Receipts.
Property deeds.
Photographs.
Audio cassettes.
And one black leather notebook.
The ledger.
Elsie opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Offshore accounts.
Union contracts.
Political donations.
Judges.
Police officers.
Business owners.
Adrien Manuso appeared 17 times.
Walter Parker appeared twice.
Marissa Parker appeared once.
Elsie’s own name appeared once.
She froze.
“What?”
Roman looked.
Her name had been written in Diane’s handwriting.
Beside it were five words.
KEEP HER OUT OF THIS.
Roman looked at Elsie.
“She was protecting you.”
Elsie turned the page.
A final entry.
Dated three weeks before Diane died.
I know who took the first ledger.
It was never Walter.
Elsie read the next line.
Marissa knows.
Her hands went cold.
Roman saw it.
“Elsie.”
She closed the book.
“My sister knew.”
“Yes.”
“I think she still does.”
Roman stood.
“We need to leave.”
A car engine sounded outside.
Roman pulled Elsie behind the office wall.
Two vehicles stopped.
Men entered.
Adrien's voice echoed through the warehouse.
“She would come back here.”
Roman looked at Elsie.
Her breathing became shallow.
Adrien continued.
“Find the box.”
Elsie covered her mouth.
Roman leaned closer.
“Do not move.”
Footsteps approached.
A man opened the office door.
Roman stepped from the darkness.
The room exploded into motion.
The fight lasted less than a minute.
Roman's men disarmed two men.
Another fled.
Adrien escaped through the loading dock.
Roman did not chase him.
Instead he picked up the ledger.
“Now we know what this is about.”
Elsie stared.
“Why would my sister help them?”
Roman looked at her.
“We don't know that she did.”
“She knew.”
“That does not mean she chose them.”
Elsie wanted to believe him.
But the image of Marissa kissing Adrien refused to leave her mind.
Later that afternoon, Elsie sat inside Roman's office.
She had never been there before.
It occupied the top floor of Bellamy House.
There were no gold statues.
No flashy decorations.
Just bookshelves, city maps, and a large table.
Roman placed coffee in front of her.
“You should eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You haven't eaten since yesterday.”
“You keep track?”
“Yes.”
“That's unsettling.”
Roman almost smiled.
“You're allowed to find me unsettling.”
Elsie looked down.
“Why did you help me?”
“Because you asked.”
“I barely knew I was asking.”
“You came into my car.”
She looked at him.
“I thought you were going to save me.”
“No.”
Roman leaned back.
“I was waiting for you to save yourself.”
Elsie looked away.
Nobody had ever said that to her.
Her whole life, people had defined her by what she did for them.
Quiet daughter.
Reliable sister.
Good employee.
Easy bride.
Now this man was telling her she had always been more dangerous than she believed.
That evening, Roman drove her home.
Before she got out, he gave her a key.
“What is this?”
“A temporary office.”
“I don't need an office.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“So you have somewhere to work that doesn't belong to your father.”
Elsie stared at it.
“Roman.”
“Yes?”
“Did you know my mother?”
He became very still.
“I knew of her.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
He looked toward the windshield.
“She once helped me.”
“How?”
“Years ago, when I was still young enough to believe fear was the same thing as power.”
Elsie studied him.
“What did she do?”
“She testified.”
“Against you?”
“Against the men who worked for my father.”
Elsie blinked.
“Your father?”
Roman nodded.
“The Bellamy family was not always what I made it.”
“And my mother knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she ever tell me?”
“Because she wanted you to be normal.”
Elsie looked at him.
“Did it work?”
Roman smiled faintly.
“No.”
She stepped out.
Before closing the door, she turned.
“Roman?”
“Yes?”
“What did my mother testify about?”
His face changed.
“Your father.”
Elsie froze.
“She believed Walter didn't collapse because he was careless.”
“Then why?”
Roman answered quietly.
“Because someone destroyed his company from inside.”
Elsie's stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Roman looked at her.
May you like
“Your sister.”
Elsie stopped breathing.
