Chapter 5 - Elena Discovered Vincent Had Been Betrayed by the Man Standing Closest to HimThe next morning, Vincent confronted Owen.
They were aboard the yacht, moving north.
The sea was gray.
The sky was darker.
Vincent stood at the stern while Owen approached.
“You think I betrayed you.”
“I think someone did.”
“And you suspect me.”
“I suspect everyone.”
Owen nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Vincent handed him a photograph.
“Recognize him?”
Owen looked.
It was the former guard from the mansion.
“Yes.”
“He had access to our security network.”
“So do fifty people.”
“He knew the location of Elena’s apartment.”
Owen was silent.
Vincent watched him carefully.
“Who assigned him?”
Owen didn't answer immediately.
“That’s not a question you ask unless you already know.”
“Answer.”
“Your grandfather.”
Vincent frowned.
“What?”
“Anthony personally chose the man.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Why?”
Owen handed back the photograph.
“I don't know.”
Vincent studied him.
Then Owen said the words that changed everything.
“There were two security systems in the mansion.”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
“Explain.”
“The system you knew about.”
“And?”
“The one only Anthony and I knew about.”
Vincent went still.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather asked me to protect you from his own people.”
Vincent stared at him.
“You've known all this time.”
“I knew there was a hidden operation. I didn't know Elena was innocent.”
Vincent turned away.
“You should have told me.”
“Your grandfather ordered me not to.”
“Anthony is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then why keep silent?”
Owen's face tightened.
“Because I made a promise.”
Vincent looked back.
“You people have all been making promises while my life burned.”
Owen accepted the anger.
Then Elena appeared.
“I believe him.”
Vincent turned.
“How?”
“Because he saved Noah.”
Owen nodded.
Elena walked toward Vincent.
“There’s something else.”
She held a tablet.
On it was an old surveillance photograph.
Vincent recognized the location immediately.
The Caruso mansion.
The date was eight years earlier.
The night Elena disappeared.
He watched the image.
A figure entered Anthony's study.
Daniel Voss.
Twenty minutes later, another figure followed.
Vincent.
Then Elena.
Then—
A fourth person.
Vincent zoomed in.
His face went pale.
His uncle, Rafael Caruso.
He was supposed to have been in Florida that week.
Rafael was the man Vincent had trusted most after Anthony.
His uncle had become his adviser after Vincent took control of the family.
He had sat beside him at every negotiation.
Protected him.
Comforted him after Elena vanished.
And apparently had been standing in the middle of the conspiracy.
Vincent's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Where is he?”
Owen looked at the screen.
“Boston.”
“Get me his location.”
Rafael was meeting someone at a private club.
Vincent returned to the city that night.
He entered the club through the underground garage.
Owen stayed behind him.
Elena and Noah remained in a safe house.
Vincent walked into the private dining room alone.
Rafael looked up.
For half a second, surprise crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
“Vincent.”
“You lied to me.”
Rafael sighed.
“About what?”
“Elena.”
Rafael stopped.
“You need to leave Boston.”
“I've spent eight years believing she betrayed me.”
“She did.”
Vincent placed the surveillance photograph on the table.
“You were there.”
Rafael glanced at it.
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves you were there.”
Rafael leaned back.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You can't handle it.”
Vincent smiled without humor.
“You should ask whether you can survive it.”
Rafael's expression changed.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Vincent dropped.
Owen returned fire.
Rafael disappeared through a side door.
Vincent chased him.
They reached the alley.
Rafael got into a car.
Vincent fired at the tires.
The vehicle spun.
Owen dragged Vincent back as another vehicle approached.
“Sniper!”
They took cover.
The second car sped away.
Rafael was gone.
Vincent returned to the safe house furious.
Elena was waiting.
“He escaped.”
She nodded.
“Then we know he’s involved.”
Vincent sat down.
Noah approached with a small drawing.
“Dad?”
Vincent looked up.
The word still had the power to hurt him.
“Yeah?”
“I drew us.”
Three stick figures.
Elena.
Noah.
Vincent.
Underneath them was a crooked house and a yellow sun.
Vincent stared at it.
“It's beautiful.”
Noah smiled.
“You're supposed to put it on the fridge.”
Vincent laughed.
“I will.”
Elena watched.
Then she quietly said,
“You love him.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just truth.
Elena's eyes filled.
“I don't know whether I can forgive you.”
“I don't expect you to.”
“That makes it harder.”
“Why?”
“Because the man I remember would have demanded it.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“I don't want the woman I loved to forgive me because I demand it.”
Silence.
“I want her to forgive me because, someday, I deserve it.”
Elena looked away.
Then Noah shouted from the kitchen.
“The refrigerator is full!”
Vincent smiled.
“That's the most impressive thing anyone has said today.”
Elena laughed.
For a brief moment, the danger disappeared.
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Owen drew his weapon.
Vincent approached the monitor.
A woman stood outside.
Older.
Gray hair.
No weapon visible.
She held an envelope.
Vincent opened the door only after checking every angle.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Sophia Caruso.”
Vincent stared.
“My aunt.”
“Rafael's sister.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
She held out the envelope.
“To tell you your uncle isn't the most dangerous person in your family.”
Vincent took the envelope.
Inside was an old birth certificate.
Not Noah's.
Vincent's.
Something had been added to the back.
A handwritten note.
Your mother did not die in an accident.
Vincent looked up.
Sophia’s eyes were full of regret.
“She was murdered.”
“By who?”
Sophia whispered a name.
“Anthony.”
Vincent staggered backward.
Elena came to his side.
“No.”
Sophia nodded.
“Your grandfather ordered it.”
Vincent stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she was going to expose him.”
His world collapsed again.
His grandfather.
The man Vincent had mourned that morning.
The man who had manipulated Elena.
The man who had hidden billions.
Now possibly a murderer.
Sophia wasn't finished.
“Anthony did terrible things.”
She paused.
“But near the end, he regretted them.”
Vincent's voice shook.
“Then why should I believe you?”
Sophia handed Elena another envelope.
“Because your mother left this for her.”
Elena opened it.
Inside was a letter addressed to Elena Mercer.
The handwriting belonged to Elena’s mother.
And the first line read:
If Anthony ever dies, tell Vincent that I am sorry. His mother died trying to save us all.
Elena's hands trembled.
Then Noah walked into the room.
He looked at all of them.
“Mom?”
Elena quickly folded the letter.
“Yes?”
“Why is everyone crying?”
Vincent looked at his son.
“Because sometimes the truth hurts.”
Noah frowned.
“Then maybe we should find a better truth.”
Vincent smiled sadly.
“I'm starting to think you're smarter than all of us.”
Outside, a black sedan stopped across the street.
Inside sat Daniel Voss.
Beside him was Rafael.
And between them was a man Vincent had never seen.
Marcus Hale.
Hale watched the house.
“Tomorrow,” he said.
Rafael nodded.
“What happens tomorrow?”
May you like
Hale smiled.
“The Caruso heir disappears.”
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