Chapter 3 - THE BODY IN THE PHOTOGRAPHWe ran.
Elena didn't stop until we reached an abandoned parking structure three blocks away.
I couldn't think.
Adrian was alive.
The photograph showed Marcus beside him.
Another photograph showed Marcus standing over a body that looked exactly like Adrian.
Two Adrian Morettis.
One dead.
One alive.
Or one carefully manufactured lie.
“Who sent the pictures?” I asked.
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to survive long enough to find out.”
She took out her phone.
“There is somewhere we need to go.”
“Where?”
“Your brother's old apartment.”
I stopped.
“He hasn't had an apartment in eighteen years.”
She looked at me.
“Exactly.”
We arrived forty minutes later at a forgotten building in Brooklyn.
Elena used a key.
The lock opened.
Inside, everything was covered with dust.
Except one desk.
A single laptop sat on it.
Powered on.
I stared.
“There hasn't been electricity here in years.”
Elena approached the laptop.
A video began playing automatically.
Adrian appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
“Vincent, if you're seeing this, I'm probably already dead.”
I stepped closer.
“I know what you're going to ask.”
The video continued.
“Why did I disappear?”
Adrian looked directly into the camera.
“Because someone inside our family tried to kill me.”
My jaw tightened.
“My wife?”
He shook his head.
“Not her.”
“Tony?”
Another shake.
“Not Tony.”
Then he whispered:
“It was our father.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Our father had died twelve years ago.
Adrian continued.
“Father built the organization around one secret. He never trusted anyone. Not his partners. Not his sons.”
He leaned forward.
“The money wasn't the real inheritance.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Then what was?”
Adrian looked terrified.
“A list.”
The screen went black.
Then text appeared.
THE BLACK LEDGER
Elena stepped closer.
“What does it mean?”
I looked at her.
“I don't know.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Elena immediately raised her pistol.
The door burst open.
Tony entered.
My security chief.
He pointed a gun directly at me.
“You need to come with me, Vincent.”
I aimed at him.
“You betrayed me.”
His face hardened.
“No.”
He lowered his weapon.
“I saved you.”
Then he looked at Elena.
“You were never supposed to bring him here.”
Elena whispered:
“You knew?”
Tony sighed.
“Adrian is alive.”
I stepped forward.
“Where?”
Tony looked at me.
“Too late.”
A gunshot came from outside.
Tony collapsed.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Elena screamed.
I caught him before he hit the floor.
His hand grabbed my sleeve.
He whispered:
“Don't trust Marcus.”
Then his eyes closed.
A red laser dot appeared on my chest.
I froze.
The sniper had me.
Then Elena shoved me down.
The second bullet entered the wall.
I looked toward the window.
The sniper was gone.
On the desk, the laptop screen turned back on.
A new message appeared.
VINcent, COME ALONE TO THE MORETTI CEMETERY.
Below it was a time.
Midnight.
May you like
And one final line:
BRING THE WOMAN WHO LIVES IN YOUR CLOSET.
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