Chapter 4 - My Father's Last Message
The envelope contained one page.
Nothing more.
Hannah,
If you are reading this, the people I feared are finally close enough to find you.
Trust Luca only when he stops protecting himself and starts protecting the truth.
Behind the old train station is a locker.
Number 214.
The key is inside the music box.
Never let Arthur take the emerald.
Your mother knew why.
My mother.
Not Elena.
Mine.
I read the message three times.
Luca read it once.
Then looked at me.
"Your father expected us to find this."
"He knew you'd be involved."
"Maybe."
Daniel entered.
"The car is empty."
"Arthur?"
"He's gone."
Luca folded the note.
"We're going to the station."
"No."
Luca looked at me.
"I'm coming."
"It's dangerous."
"So is staying here."
He almost smiled.
"You're stubborn."
"You noticed."
We left through the underground garage.
Two SUVs.
Four security men.
Luca drove himself.
I sat beside him.
For several blocks, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked,
"Why did my father trust your family?"
"He trusted my mother."
"Not your father?"
"No."
"Why?"
"My father became cruel after Arthur disappeared."
"How?"
"He wanted everything Arthur had."
"Money?"
"Control."
We stopped at a red light.
Luca glanced at me.
"Your father may have been trying to protect my mother."
"From Arthur?"
"From my father."
I looked out the window.
"Then why did they die?"
"We're going to find out."
Locker 214 contained a leather box.
Inside was an old cassette tape, a photograph, and a key.
Luca picked up the tape.
"There aren't many devices that play these anymore."
Daniel had brought one.
The tape hissed.
Then a man's voice filled the car.
John Parker.
My father.
"If you're hearing this, Elena was right."
I covered my mouth.
"Arthur isn't the only person who wants the ledger."
Static.
"Someone inside the Moretti organization has been selling names."
Luca's expression hardened.
"The ledger contains every payment."
Another voice appeared.
Elena.
Her voice was calm.
"John, you must destroy it."
"No."
"You know what happens if it gets into the wrong hands."
"I know."
"Then why keep it?"
"Because if they kill me, Luca needs to know who his father really was."
Silence.
Then John spoke again.
"Elena, I'm asking you to trust my daughter."
I looked at Luca.
"My daughter."
My father continued.
"Hannah doesn't know what happened the night of the crash."
Elena replied,
"She was there."
I stared at the player.
"What?"
Luca turned toward me.
"What does he mean?"
The tape continued.
"She was inside the car."
My breathing stopped.
"She survived because the back door opened."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Her mother died."
My eyes filled.
"And my daughter saw Arthur."
The tape ended.
I couldn't speak.
Luca reached for my hand.
I pulled away.
Not because I didn't trust him.
Because I suddenly didn't trust my own memories.
I remembered rain.
Glass.
My mother's scream.
A man's hand.
And a silver scar under his eye.
Arthur.
The same scar I'd seen in Vanessa's photograph.
"He was there," I whispered.
Luca nodded.
"Yes."
"He killed my parents."
"We don't know yet."
"My father said I saw him."
"Seeing him doesn't prove he caused the crash."
"He was there!"
My voice broke.
Luca moved closer.
"I believe you."
That sentence did something to me.
For years I'd wondered whether my memories were wrong.
Whether grief had invented them.
Now someone believed me.
We returned to the mansion.
Vanessa was waiting.
"You found the locker."
Luca narrowed his eyes.
"How did you know?"
"Arthur told me."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"No."
She looked at me.
"Arthur wants the emerald."
"The emerald isn't real."
"Not the stone."
She looked at Luca.
"The setting."
Luca frowned.
"What setting?"
Vanessa walked closer.
"Your mother's necklace contains a compartment."
We froze.
"I knew it," Luca whispered.
Vanessa nodded.
"Elena hid something inside it."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she knew your father was listening."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Where is the real necklace?"
"In the safe."
"No."
Vanessa smiled.
"That's not the real one."
She pointed upstairs.
"The original is in your mother's old bedroom."
Luca ran.
I followed.
The bedroom looked untouched.
A photograph.
A wardrobe.
A locked drawer.
Luca opened it.
Inside was another necklace.
Same design.
Same emerald.
But this one had a tiny crack beneath the clasp.
He opened it.
Inside was a folded strip of paper.
A set of numbers.
And a name.
RICHARD MORETTI.
Luca's father.
He stared at it.
"Why would she hide his name?"
Vanessa came into the doorway.
"Because the necklace proves he was the one who ordered the payment."
"Payment for what?"
"Your mother's death."
Luca's breathing changed.
"Who received it?"
"Arthur."
Luca looked at me.
"My mother was killed by my father."
"Maybe."
"And Arthur helped him."
"That's what your mother wanted you to discover."
Vanessa's voice was shaking.
"But there is more."
Luca turned.
"What?"
"I wasn't supposed to marry you."
"Then why did you agree?"
She started crying.
"Because Arthur threatened my family."
Silence.
"He said if I didn't get inside this house, he would kill my brother."
Luca lowered his gun.
"Where is your brother?"
"Missing."
"For how long?"
"Three months."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was afraid."
"Of Arthur?"
"Of you."
That hurt him.
"I never touched you."
"You didn't have to."
She looked at me.
"You scared everyone."
I realized how much my opinion of Luca had changed.
Yes, he was powerful.
Yes, men feared him.
But he had never frightened me the way Vanessa had.
Because his cruelty had rules.
Hers didn't.
Luca turned back to the necklace.
"What's in the compartment?"
"We need a jeweler."
Twenty minutes later, the family jeweler arrived.
He opened the hidden compartment.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Daniel connected it to the computer.
One video.
Elena appeared on screen.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
Luca stopped breathing.
"My son."
He sat down.
"I am sorry."
The video continued.
"Your father believes he controls everything."
Elena looked into the camera.
"He does not know that John Parker has kept the original ledger."
She paused.
"Neither does Arthur."
Luca leaned forward.
"My death will look like an accident."
My eyes filled.
"If you are seeing this, I failed to stop them."
Elena's gaze moved directly toward the camera.
"Do not trust Vanessa."
Vanessa gasped.
"I didn't know."
The recording continued.
"She is already being controlled."
Then Elena said the sentence that destroyed the room.
"And if Hannah Parker is still alive, she carries the only clue to where the ledger is hidden."
I touched my chest.
"What clue?"
The screen went black.
Luca looked at me.
"I don't know."
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"Boss."
"What?"
"The auction house manager is dead."
Luca stood.
"When?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
"How?"
"Single shot."
"Any witnesses?"
"One."
"Who?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Hannah's old employer."
My stomach dropped.
May you like
Because I knew exactly who that was.
Mrs. Carter.
