Chapter 5 - The Price of Saving a MotherArthur read the message six times.
His mother was alive.
That single fact should have overwhelmed everything else.
Instead, it arrived wrapped in a threat.
Bring Nora.
Bring the records.
Or Isabella dies.
Arthur stood beside the window of his study while rain streaked the glass.
Behind him, Dominic examined the photograph.
"Could be old."
Arthur shook his head.
"The newspaper beside her bed."
Dominic enlarged the image.
A headline referred to a political event from the previous week.
The photograph was recent.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Find the location."
Dominic contacted his surveillance team.
Nora stood beside the desk.
She had already made her decision.
"I'll go."
Arthur turned.
"No."
"They asked for me."
"Exactly why you're not going."
"Arthur—"
"Absolutely not."
Nora folded her arms.
"You're not the only person involved."
Arthur stepped closer.
"Do you understand what these people are capable of?"
"Yes."
"No, you don't."
Nora's expression hardened.
"Somebody arranged my brother's debt. Somebody broke into my home. Somebody almost trapped us in a room filled with gas."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I'm not confused about the danger."
Arthur remained silent.
Nora continued.
"But your mother is alive. And if there's even a chance we can bring her home, I'm not going to hide behind a locked door."
Arthur looked away.
He had spent decades giving orders.
Most people obeyed.
Nora did not.
That frustrated him.
It also frightened him.
Because every time she refused to retreat, he felt something growing inside him that had nothing to do with authority.
He cared whether she survived.
Not because she was useful.
Not because she held evidence.
Because she was Nora.
Dominic's team traced the photograph to a private rehabilitation center outside Philadelphia.
It had changed ownership three times in twenty years.
Its current parent company was registered in Delaware.
One of its directors was Viktor Salerno's nephew.
Arthur read the information without surprise.
Viktor had been at the center of nearly every discovery.
But one question remained.
Why had he kept Isabella alive?
She represented a dangerous witness.
A woman who could destroy the Costello family's reputation.
A woman who knew where the money had gone.
Arthur could think of only one answer.
She possessed something Viktor had never found.
At dawn, Arthur, Nora, and Dominic traveled in two vehicles.
They did not take the direct highway.
They changed routes twice.
Arthur wore a dark jacket.
Nora sat beside him.
She watched trees flash past the windows.
"Are you scared?" she asked.
Arthur considered lying.
Instead, he said, "Yes."
Nora looked at him.
He continued.
"I'm afraid she'll look at me and see my father."
Nora's expression softened.
"Why would she?"
"Because I became him."
"You're not him."
Arthur laughed bitterly.
"You know almost nothing about the things I've done."
"I know you stopped those men from hurting me."
"One decent act doesn't erase twenty years."
"No," Nora said.
"It doesn't."
Arthur looked at her.
She continued.
"But it does tell me you can still choose differently."
Arthur turned toward the window.
He had forgotten what hope sounded like.
The rehabilitation center stood behind a stone wall surrounded by bare trees.
It looked like an expensive retirement residence.
The driveway curved toward a fountain.
A security guard approached their vehicle.
Arthur lowered the window.
"We're here to visit Isabella Costello."
The guard's expression changed.
"Names?"
"Arthur Costello."
The man glanced at a clipboard.
Then stepped aside.
The gate opened.
Too easily.
Dominic spoke through the radio.
"Something's wrong."
Arthur agreed.
He could feel it.
They parked near the main entrance.
A nurse appeared.
She wore pale-blue scrubs and a nervous smile.
"Mr. Costello?"
Arthur nodded.
"Please follow me."
Nora moved beside him.
The nurse's gaze dropped to Nora's name badge.
Recognition flickered.
"You're Miss Bennett?"
"Yes."
The nurse swallowed.
"She has been asking for you."
Nora frowned.
"Who?"
"Mrs. Costello."
Arthur stopped walking.
His mother had been asking for Nora?
A woman she had never met?
The nurse hurried on.
"She gets confused sometimes. Her memory isn't always reliable."
Arthur followed.
The hallways smelled of disinfectant and boiled vegetables.
His stomach tightened.
He forced himself to keep walking.
They reached a room at the end of the corridor.
The nurse opened the door.
Arthur entered.
An elderly woman lay near the window.
Her hair was white.
Her cheeks hollow.
Her hands rested on a pale blanket.
Arthur stopped breathing.
For twenty-eight years, he had imagined his mother as she looked in the last photograph he possessed.
Beautiful.
Dark-haired.
Strong.
Now she was seventy-six.
Age had reshaped her face.
Suffering had hollowed her body.
But her eyes—
Her eyes were the same.
"Mom?"
The word broke in his throat.
Isabella turned.
For several seconds, she stared.
Then her lips trembled.
"Arthur?"
He crossed the room.
Dropped to his knees beside the bed.
And took her hand.
"It's me."
Isabella began crying.
"My boy."
Arthur pressed her hand against his cheek.
"I'm here."
She touched his hair.
His face.
His shoulders.
As if trying to confirm he was real.
"You're so big," she whispered.
Arthur laughed through tears.
"I'm forty-four, Mom."
She cried harder.
"I missed everything."
Arthur bent his head.
"No."
He could barely speak.
"No, we still have time."
Isabella held him.
For a long moment, the world outside that room disappeared.
There were no armed guards.
No criminal empire.
No threats.
Only a mother and the son who had believed her dead.
Then Isabella looked past Arthur.
Her gaze settled on Nora.
Her eyes widened.
"Evelyn?"
Nora stepped forward.
"No, ma'am."
Isabella struggled to sit.
"Evelyn, you came back."
Nora's throat tightened.
"I'm Nora. Evelyn's granddaughter."
Isabella stared.
Then began crying again.
"Oh."
She reached for Nora's hand.
"Oh, my darling girl."
Nora took it gently.
Isabella squeezed.
"She promised."
Nora frowned.
"Promised what?"
Isabella's expression changed.
Fear replaced recognition.
"The baby."
Arthur looked up.
"What baby?"
Isabella's breathing quickened.
"The baby must stay hidden."
Nora glanced at Arthur.
He reached toward his mother.
"Mom, who are you talking about?"
Isabella shook her head.
"He'll kill her."
"Who?"
Isabella's grip tightened around Nora's fingers.
"Lorenzo."
Arthur swallowed.
"Dad is dead."
For a moment, Isabella looked confused.
Then she slowly lowered her gaze.
"He's dead?"
"Seven years."
She closed her eyes.
A long breath escaped her.
Then she whispered something Arthur would never forget.
"Thank God."
Their reunion ended when the door opened.
Viktor Salerno entered wearing a charcoal suit.
He carried no visible weapon.
He did not need one.
Two armed guards stood behind him.
"Arthur."
His voice was warm.
Almost paternal.
"I'm glad you made it."
Arthur rose.
He positioned himself between Viktor and the bed.
"Get out."
Viktor smiled.
"After all these years?"
Arthur's expression remained cold.
"Whatever this is, it ends today."
Viktor glanced at Nora.
"Miss Bennett. You look remarkably like your grandmother."
Nora felt Arthur shift beside her.
Viktor continued.
"Evelyn was a troublesome woman. Always asking questions. Always trying to rescue people who didn't want rescuing."
Arthur's hands clenched.
"Don't speak about her."
Viktor sighed.
"Very well."
He looked toward Isabella.
"I see you've reunited."
Isabella began trembling.
Arthur noticed.
His anger deepened.
"You've kept her imprisoned for decades."
"That's a dramatic interpretation."
"Call it what you want."
Viktor moved toward the window.
"Your father asked me to protect her."
"My father tried to kill her."
Viktor shrugged.
"Your father was a complicated man."
Arthur stepped closer.
"So am I."
The guards shifted.
Dominic appeared in the doorway behind them.
His face was unreadable.
Viktor smiled at him.
"Dominic. Good."
Arthur glanced backward.
Something felt wrong.
Viktor continued.
"Now we can discuss the documents."
"What documents?"
"The originals Evelyn concealed."
Arthur stared.
Viktor gestured toward Nora.
"Your little cook found the old ledger. Very unfortunate."
Nora's pulse raced.
Viktor had been watching them all along.
Arthur said, "You arranged Daniel Bennett's debt."
"An effective incentive for obtaining employment."
"You planted Nora in my house?"
Viktor chuckled.
"Not exactly. I made certain the agency considered her application."
Nora felt cold.
Her desperate search for work had not been luck.
Her employment had been engineered.
Viktor wanted her close to the mansion.
Close to Arthur.
Close to anything her grandmother might have hidden.
"Why?" she asked.
Viktor's eyes moved toward Isabella.
"Because Evelyn gave something to your family that belonged to mine."
Isabella made a small frightened sound.
Arthur turned toward her.
"Mom?"
She was staring at Viktor.
Her lips moved.
"No."
Viktor's smile disappeared.
"Don't."
But Isabella spoke.
"Lorenzo wasn't the father."
Silence.
Arthur looked from his mother to Viktor.
"What?"
Isabella pointed a trembling finger toward Viktor.
"The girl."
Viktor's face darkened.
"Enough."
"The girl wasn't Lorenzo's."
Arthur remembered the photograph.
His mother holding an infant in 2001.
A child born five years after the staged accident.
He looked at Nora.
Nora looked equally shocked.
Arthur turned back.
"Whose child?"
Isabella began crying.
Viktor reached into his jacket.
Arthur moved.
But Dominic was faster.
He struck Viktor's arm.
The pistol fired into the ceiling.
The room erupted.
One guard fell against the door.
The other grabbed Dominic.
Arthur seized Viktor and slammed him against the wall.
Nora rushed toward Isabella.
A nurse screamed in the corridor.
More shots sounded outside.
Arthur wrestled the pistol from Viktor.
Then pressed it against his chest.
"Whose child?" he roared.
Viktor stared at him.
And smiled.
"You have no idea what your father stole from me."
Arthur's finger tightened.
Behind him, Isabella shouted.
"Arthur, don't!"
He froze.
His mother was crying.
"Please, baby. Not another death."
Arthur stared at Viktor.
Then slowly lowered the gun.
For the first time in his adult life, he chose not to answer a threat with violence.
That decision saved Viktor's life.
But it also gave him one final opportunity.
Viktor reached into his pocket.
May you like
Pressed a small transmitter.
And the fire alarms began screaming.
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