Chapter 6 - Victor Crane Returned to Bellmont and Sent Me a Photograph From the Night I DisappearedVictor contacted us.
He sent a photograph.
It showed a three-year-old girl sitting in the back of a black car.
Me.
Beside me was my mother.
And standing outside the vehicle...
Victor.
On the back was a message.
You want the truth? Come alone.
Dante refused.
I understood why.
But I also knew Victor would keep hiding if we didn't force him out.
So we created a trap.
I became the bait.
We announced publicly that I would inherit my father's company.
Victor couldn't resist.
Within twenty-four hours, his people began moving money.
We tracked them.
The trail led to an abandoned warehouse.
Dante's men surrounded it.
But Victor had anticipated us.
The warehouse exploded.
Nobody died.
But Victor escaped.
Inside, we found files.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Documents proving I had been moved between foster homes.
Someone had deliberately erased my identity.
I found a photograph of myself at age seven.
On the back was written:
Subject stable.
I felt sick.
I hadn't merely been abandoned.
I had been monitored.
For years.
Someone had watched me grow up.
Someone had known where I lived.
Someone had known everything.
Then Marco found another file.
It contained a payment record.
Recipient:
Vanessa Vale.
Date:
Three months earlier.
Dante looked at his daughter.
"Why did Victor pay you?"
Vanessa cried.
"I didn't know what it was for."
Dante stared at her.
"You knew enough."
I expected him to disown her.
Instead, he said:
"You will help us stop him."
Vanessa looked shocked.
"Why?"
"Because you're my daughter."
Then he looked at me.
"And she's your sister."
For the first time, Vanessa lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
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I wasn't ready to forgive her.
But I wasn't ready to lose another family member either.
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