Chapter 11 - Liam stared at the screen.
“What the hell?”
My stomach dropped.
Lucia's face remained calm.
“Tonight, one of your friends will die.”
The screen went black.
Liam laughed nervously.
“That's dramatic.”
Nobody else laughed.
Samuel looked at him.
“Where is the tracker?”
“What?”
“Your phone.”
Liam pulled it out.
A red notification flashed.
UNKNOWN LOCATION SHARING.
Liam's face changed.
“I didn't activate that.”
Alessandro took the phone.
“We've been tracked.”
Rachel looked at the monitor.
“We need to move.”
“Where?” I asked.
Rachel hesitated.
“The estate.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“That's exactly where she wants us.”
“Then where?”
Rachel looked at me.
“The second ledger.”
I remembered Lucia's words.
Names of everyone who will die.
“Where is it?”
Rachel pointed at Liam.
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You do,” Samuel said.
Liam looked away.
“Liam?”
He closed his eyes.
“Fine.”
He reached inside his jacket.
Pulled out a small key.
“I stole something from the Mercer house.”
“What?”
“The second key.”
I stared at him.
“You had it this whole time?”
“I didn't know what it opened.”
Rachel took it.
A symbol was engraved on the metal.
A circle.
Three lines.
Samuel recognized it.
“The old Vitali mausoleum.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“My family cemetery?”
“Yes.”
“Why would the ledger be there?”
“Because no one would search among the dead.”
We left immediately.
The mausoleum stood beyond a forest of bare trees.
The gates were open.
No guards.
No cameras.
Nothing.
Which meant it was a trap.
We entered.
Inside were rows of stone coffins.
At the back was a locked iron door.
Liam inserted the key.
The door opened.
A staircase descended.
We walked into a chamber beneath the cemetery.
At its center sat a steel table.
The second ledger rested on top.
I reached for it.
Alessandro stopped me.
“Wait.”
He examined the room.
No wires.
No cameras.
Nothing.
I opened the ledger.
Names filled every page.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
Doctors.
Some were marked dead.
Some were marked active.
Then I saw one familiar name.
ALLESSANDRO VITALI.
My heart stopped.
Beside his name was a date.
Tomorrow.
I stared.
“Alessandro.”
He took the ledger.
His expression became unreadable.
Liam looked over.
“What?”
Alessandro turned the page.
The name beneath his was mine.
EMMA HAYES.
The date was two days later.
I felt sick.
“No.”
He turned another page.
Liam's name.
Tomorrow night.
Rachel's name.
Tomorrow.
Samuel's name.
Tonight.
Samuel read the page.
He laughed once.
“Guess I was supposed to die first.”
A click came from the ceiling.
Alessandro shouted.
“DOWN!”
The chamber exploded.
Stone and metal rained down.
I hit the floor.
Something sharp cut my arm.
“Emma!”
Alessandro reached me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He looked at my arm.
“It's superficial.”
A second explosion shook the room.
The staircase collapsed.
We were trapped.
Smoke filled the chamber.
Liam shouted:
“There's another exit!”
We crawled toward the rear wall.
He kicked through a weak panel.
A narrow tunnel opened.
We escaped into the forest.
Above us, the mausoleum burned.
Rachel coughed.
Samuel looked toward the flames.
“The ledger.”
I froze.
It was gone.
“Where is it?”
Alessandro looked at Liam.
Liam shook his head.
“I didn't take it.”
Then we heard slow applause.
A man stepped from behind the trees.
Victor Sloane.
Alive.
Older.
Smiling.
“Excellent.”
Alessandro raised his gun.
Victor lifted his hands.
“Easy.”
“You killed my father.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
“You killed Emma's parents.”
“No.”
“You know everything about Eden.”
“Yes.”
“And Lucia?”
Victor smiled.
“Lucia is the reason I became your enemy.”
Alessandro narrowed his eyes.
“You expect us to believe that?”
Victor looked at me.
“I don't care what he believes.”
He stepped closer.
“Elizabeth.”
I stood frozen.
“Your mother told you a story.”
“What story?”
“That you were her daughter.”
“She is.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“She is not.”
My heart sank.
He pulled a photograph from his coat.
A hospital room.
A newborn baby.
A woman lying unconscious.
And beside her...
Lucia Vitali.
Victor pointed at the woman.
“That's your mother.”
I stared.
The woman was not Margaret.
Not anyone I recognized.
Victor looked at Alessandro.
“And that's your mother.”
He pointed at Lucia.
“The woman beside the bed.”
Then he looked at me.
“Because she didn't steal you, Elizabeth.”
May you like
He whispered:
“She made you.”
