Chapter 4 - The Woman Behind the Black Thorn
Gabriel survived.
Barely.
They moved him to a secure location while Elena recovered in the hospital.
Ramon had too many questions.
But one came first.
Who was the woman Gabriel feared?
He didn't have to wait long.
At noon, a woman walked into the Ortega compound.
No guards stopped her.
Nobody knew how she got past them.
She wore a cream-colored coat.
Her silver hair was tied back.
Her face was elegant.
Almost grandmotherly.
She carried a cane topped with a black metal thorn.
Ramon met her in the entrance hall.
“Who are you?”
She smiled.
“Your father's oldest enemy.”
Ramon raised his gun.
She sighed.
“Still dramatic.”
“Name.”
“Clara Voss.”
The name meant nothing.
Until Gabriel, from the doorway behind Ramon, whispered:
“Helena.”
Ramon turned.
His father looked terrified.
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Gabriel.”
Ramon's blood froze.
“Who is Helena?”
Clara's smile disappeared.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Ramon stared.
His mother had died when he was three.
At least, that was what his father had told him.
Clara looked at him.
“Your father lied.”
Ramon turned toward Gabriel.
“Explain.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Your mother wasn't dead.”
Ramon felt something snap inside him.
“All these years?”
“She was taken.”
“By her?”
Gabriel nodded.
Clara tapped her cane.
“She was my sister.”
Ramon froze.
“What?”
Clara smiled.
“Now you understand.”
She had been protecting the Black Thorn.
Gabriel had fought her.
His wife had been caught in the middle.
“What happened to my mother?”
“She died.”
Ramon's face hardened.
“You said she wasn't dead.”
“She wasn't when I found her.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Gabriel spoke.
“She died because of me.”
Ramon looked at him.
“What?”
“I tried to expose the Black Thorn. Your mother discovered the truth. Clara used her to control me.”
Clara sighed.
“Families always make such terrible messes.”
Ramon aimed the gun directly at her.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Lia has something I need.”
“What?”
“The ledger.”
Ramon frowned.
“What ledger?”
“The one Gabriel hid.”
He understood.
The evidence in the underground cabin.
Clara smiled.
“Your father thought hiding it would protect everyone.”
“Where is it?”
“Not where you think.”
She turned toward Lia.
The little girl stood in the doorway.
Clara's expression softened.
“You look just like your grandmother.”
Lia's face tightened.
“Stay away from me.”
Ramon stepped between them.
“Leave.”
Clara smiled.
“You have no idea who she is.”
“She is a child.”
“She is the last person who can open the ledger.”
Ramon's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because the ledger belongs to her.”
He felt a chill.
Lia shook her head.
“My mom says I don't steal.”
Clara laughed.
“No, sweetheart. You inherited it.”
Then she looked at Ramon.
“Your father hid the ledger inside the first child's identity.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he never trusted a lock.”
She tapped her cane.
“He trusted blood.”
Then she turned and walked away.
Ramon's men surrounded her.
“Shoot,” Ramon ordered.
Clara stopped.
She looked back.
“Your mother is still alive.”
Ramon froze.
Clara smiled.
Then she disappeared through the gates.
Ramon turned toward Gabriel.
“Is she lying?”
Gabriel's face had gone white.
“No.”
“Then where is my mother?”
Gabriel whispered:
“She has been living five miles from your childhood home.”
Ramon felt dizzy.
“Why would she hide?”
Gabriel answered:
“Because she has been watching you.”
That night Ramon went alone to the address.
An old cottage stood at the edge of a lake.
The door opened before he knocked.
A woman stood inside.
Silver hair.
Gentle eyes.
A faded scar beside her mouth.
She looked at him.
He looked at her.
And somehow he knew.
“Mom?”
The woman began crying.
Ramon couldn't move.
For twenty-two years he had believed he had no mother.
Now she was standing three feet away.
He stepped forward.
She touched his face.
“Oh, my boy.”
Ramon broke.
He pulled her into his arms.
For the first time since he was a child, the feared Ramon Ortega cried without caring who saw.
His mother held him.
And then she whispered:
“I know where your father hid the ledger.”
Ramon pulled back.
“Where?”
She looked toward the lake.
“Inside the church where you were baptized.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because your father knew no one would look there.”
She paused.
“He also knew Clara would.”
Ramon's eyes hardened.
“Then why didn't she find it?”
His mother looked toward the window.
“Because she was looking for the wrong child.”
“Lia?”
His mother nodded.
“The girl was never the key.”
Ramon stared.
“Then who is?”
May you like
His mother whispered:
“Her mother.”
