Chapter 4 - The File With Elena's Name
Vincent took Elena to a secure townhouse before sunrise.
There were no cameras inside.
No hotel staff.
No strangers.
Just silence.
He gave her a bedroom.
She slept for four hours.
When she woke, the city was gray.
A tray waited beside her bed.
Tea.
Toast.
Medicine.
A note.
Eat.
She stared at the handwriting.
She smiled despite herself.
Downstairs, Vincent was in a meeting.
His men stood around a table.
Photographs covered the wall.
Grant Mercer.
Three council members.
A police captain.
A judge.
And an unfamiliar man with gray hair.
Elena entered.
The room went silent.
Vincent looked at her.
“You should still be sleeping.”
“I slept.”
“Not enough.”
“I need answers.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
He handed her a file.
Inside was her father's photograph.
She stared.
“My father.”
Vincent pointed to another picture.
The gray-haired man.
“You know him?”
Elena nodded.
“He worked with my father.”
“What was his name?”
“Victor Hale.”
Rafael looked up.
“That name is on the Mercer files.”
Elena's hands began shaking.
“What files?”
Vincent gave her another folder.
Her name was on the first page.
ELENA VALE — ASSET RELOCATION.
Her breath caught.
“What does that mean?”
Vincent looked at Rafael.
“It means she was supposed to disappear.”
She looked up.
“Why?”
“Because Grant believed you knew too much.”
Elena sat.
“He's been planning this?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Months.”
She turned the page.
There were photographs of her leaving work.
Entering stores.
Walking home.
Sleeping through her bedroom window.
She became sick.
“They watched me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You weren't ready.”
“I am now.”
Vincent looked at her.
“No.”
She frowned.
“You're still afraid.”
“I am.”
He came closer.
“Fear isn't weakness.”
She looked at him.
“Grant always said it was.”
“Grant is a liar.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be the first thing we agree on.”
For the first time, Vincent smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
Rafael entered.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found Elena's sister.”
Elena jumped up.
“Where?”
“Saint Vincent Clinic.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
She almost collapsed.
Vincent caught her.
She immediately pulled away.
“I'm fine.”
“I know.”
They drove to the clinic.
Her sister, Nora, had been badly beaten.
She woke when Elena entered.
“Elena…”
“I’m here.”
Nora cried.
“They wanted the file.”
“What file?”
Nora looked at Vincent.
“The one Dad hid.”
Elena froze.
“You found it?”
Nora nodded.
“Dad said if they ever came for us, we were supposed to trust someone whose last name was Moretti.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because he knew the family.”
Elena looked at him.
“My father knew your father?”
Vincent nodded.
“Apparently.”
Nora reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out a small brass key.
“He left this.”
Vincent took it.
“What does it open?”
Nora whispered:
“Blackthorn's old safe.”
Vincent's expression changed.
“The hotel.”
She nodded.
“Room 3107.”
Elena looked at him.
“That room doesn't exist.”
“It did twenty years ago.”
Vincent stared at the key.
Then at Elena.
“Your father wasn't hiding from Mercer.”
“What?”
“He was hiding something inside the hotel.”
Nora took Elena's hand.
“Dad said one more thing.”
“What?”
“He said never trust the man who tells you he owns you.”
Elena's eyes filled.
“My father hated control.”
Vincent looked away.
May you like
He understood.
Grant had chosen exactly the wrong woman.
