Chapter 4 - The Basement Full of Names
Saint Marceau had been abandoned for twenty years.
The church smelled of dust and rain.
Mave entered with Dominic behind her.
Every step echoed.
The key from Jonas fit an old door beneath the altar.
Mave turned it.
The lock clicked.
They descended.
The basement contained boxes.
Files.
Photographs.
Passports.
Dozens of names.
Dominic picked up one folder.
"These are ours."
Mave touched another.
"My father."
Inside were records of every shipment Armand Vance had ever handled.
At the bottom was a photograph of Mave as a child.
Her mother stood beside her.
On the back:
Protect Mave at all costs.
Dominic stared.
"Your father was protecting you."
"From the Bellinis?"
"From everyone."
Mave looked at the files.
Then she found one marked Rossy.
Inside was a page with a familiar signature.
Dominic Rossy Sr.
His father.
Mave turned pale.
"What does this mean?"
Dominic read it.
His expression darkened.
"My father knew your mother."
"How?"
"He used her as a courier."
Mave stepped back.
"My mother wasn't part of this."
Dominic looked at her.
"She may not have had a choice."
A voice came from the darkness.
"She didn't."
Mave turned.
A woman stood near the stairs.
Eva.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
Scarred.
Mave couldn't move.
"Eva?"
Her sister started crying.
"Mave."
Mave ran to her.
They embraced.
For a moment, every war disappeared.
Only two sisters remained.
"I thought you were dead."
"I wanted you to."
Mave pulled away.
"Why?"
"Because if they knew you were alive, they would use you."
"Who?"
Eva looked at Dominic.
"Your enemies."
Dominic stepped forward.
"What did they want?"
"The list."
"The one Armand stole?"
Eva nodded.
"He stole it because he discovered Charles was working with the Bellinis."
Mave frowned.
"But Charles was only an interpreter."
"No."
Eva shook her head.
"Charles has been laundering money through translation contracts for years."
Dominic looked at the files.
"Who hired him?"
Eva swallowed.
"Someone inside your family."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Eva handed him a photograph.
A man standing beside Charles.
Dominic's uncle.
Rafael Rossy.
Dominic stared.
"Rafael died five years ago."
Eva shook her head.
"He's alive."
Mave felt a chill.
"Why fake his death?"
"Because he needed to disappear."
"Where?"
Eva looked toward Dominic.
"Right under your nose."
Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yes."
A long pause.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He looked at Mave.
"Your mother is alive."
Mave stared.
"What?"
"She's in Brooklyn."
Mave's knees weakened.
She had buried her mother three years earlier.
At least, she thought she had.
Eva grabbed her hand.
"That's the last secret."
Dominic ended the call.
"Someone has been feeding you false death records for years."
Mave shook her head.
"Why?"
"To keep you from finding your father."
"And Rafael?"
"Because Rafael needs the list."
"What does he plan to do with it?"
Dominic looked at the boxes.
"Start a war."
Mave stared at him.
Then she saw a document lying beneath a stack.
Her father's handwriting.
One sentence.
WHEN THE EIGHT LANGUAGES ARE HEARD IN ONE ROOM, THE TRUTH WILL BEGIN.
She whispered, "He knew."
Dominic looked at her.
"He knew you'd become an interpreter."
"How?"
"He may have known you would survive."
Mave folded the paper.
Then Dominic reached for her hand.
"You're not going back to being invisible."
She looked at him.
"I don't know how to be anything else."
"Learn."
The way he said it wasn't an order.
It sounded like faith.
When they returned to Brooklyn, Mave met her mother.
Melissa Vance was alive.
Older.
Exhausted.
She cried for an hour.
Then she told Mave the truth.
Armand Vance had not abandoned them.
He had disappeared to protect them.
He had entrusted Eva to people in Marseille.
And he had left Mave one final message.
"He said you'd meet Dominic."
Mave frowned.
"What?"
Melissa smiled sadly.
"He said the Rossy boy would eventually become the only man stubborn enough to find you."
Dominic looked away.
May you like
Mave stared at him.
For the first time, neither of them pretended their connection was merely professional.
