Chapter 9 - THE DEAD MAN'S NOTEBOOKBy morning, the mill had burned to the ground.
Matteo was missing.
Thomas was gone.
Two Moretti guards were dead.
And Emma had fallen asleep in Alejandro's bedroom.
Alejandro sat beside her.
The little girl was holding his finger.
He couldn't remember the last time someone had held his hand without being afraid.
A knock sounded.
Victor entered.
“We found something.”
He placed a burned notebook on the desk.
“It belonged to Matteo.”
Alejandro opened it.
Most pages were destroyed.
One remained readable.
A list of names.
Political figures.
Bankers.
Police officials.
Judges.
Celebrities.
Then, at the bottom:
CLARA CARTER
Alejandro froze.
“Why is Clara on this list?”
Victor shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Alejandro kept reading.
Beneath Clara's name was another entry.
PROJECT EVE
He looked up.
“What is Project Eve?”
Victor shook his head.
“Nothing in our databases.”
Alejandro turned the page.
A sentence had been written in red.
SHE WAS BORN TO HIDE THE LEDGER.
His blood went cold.
Emma.
He looked toward the sleeping child.
“What if the ledger isn't a book?”
Victor frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“What if it's information?”
“Stored where?”
Alejandro looked at Emma.
“Inside someone.”
Victor's face changed.
“That would be impossible.”
“Not if her mother was involved.”
They woke Clara at a secret hospital.
She had been found unconscious near the East River.
Alejandro walked into her room alone.
Clara stared at him.
“She knows.”
“Who?”
“Emma.”
“Knows what?”
Clara started crying.
Alejandro hated tears.
But he hated lies more.
“Tell me everything.”
Clara looked toward the door.
“Your father found out I was pregnant.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“He threatened to kill you.”
Alejandro froze.
“My father was already dead.”
Clara shook her head.
“He wasn't.”
The room went silent.
Alejandro stared.
“What?”
Clara whispered:
“Your father faked his death.”
Alejandro's face turned pale.
“That is impossible.”
“He disappeared into Europe.”
“For what?”
“To finish something he started.”
“The Black Ledger.”
Clara nodded.
Alejandro stepped backward.
“Where is he now?”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Closer than anyone thinks.”
A soft sound came from behind the door.
Emma.
She was awake.
She opened the door.
“Daddy?”
Alejandro turned.
Emma stared at Clara.
Then she whispered:
“Grandpa said you shouldn't tell.”
Alejandro went completely still.
“Grandpa?”
Emma nodded.
“He talks to me at night.”
Alejandro's breathing stopped.
“What does he look like?”
Emma pointed toward the hallway.
“He has one blue eye.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Alejandro looked at Victor.
There was only one man in the Moretti family with one blue eye.
May you like
Stefano.
His supposedly dead uncle.
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