Chapter 15 - Elena Rossi Was AliveThe woman's footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Slow.
Controlled.
Then she entered the room.
She looked older than the photograph.
Gray streaks in her hair.
A scar across her left cheek.
But it was her.
Elena Rossi.
Alive.
Marcus backed away.
"No."
Elena looked at him.
"I'm sorry."
"You're dead."
"I know."
"Renata said..."
"Renata was supposed to think I was dead."
"Why?"
Elena looked at me.
"Because people who wanted me dead were still looking."
I stared.
"You've been alive for twenty-one years?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you come forward?"
"Because I knew what your family was hiding."
My anger returned.
"What did my father do?"
"Not what you think."
"Then tell me."
Elena shook her head.
"Your father tried to stop them."
"Who?"
"The people behind Northstar."
"Victor?"
"Victor was a courier."
"Renata?"
"Renata is an instrument."
"Then who?"
She looked at Raymond.
"You already know."
Raymond went pale.
I turned to him.
"Know what?"
Elena said:
"Your old lawyer."
I stared at Raymond.
"Who?"
"Arthur Bell."
Raymond closed his eyes.
The name meant nothing to me.
Elena continued.
"He handled the original accounts."
Raymond finally spoke.
"Arthur died."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
She pulled out a photograph.
Arthur Bell.
Alive.
Standing beside Victor.
Standing beside Renata.
I turned to Raymond.
"You knew him."
Raymond didn't deny it.
"I knew who he was."
"And you never told me."
"Patricia asked me not to."
I felt betrayed.
"Why?"
"Because Arthur was watching you."
"From the beginning?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Patricia trust you?"
Raymond looked at me.
"Because she knew I was watching him too."
The truth was suddenly more complicated than I wanted.
Elena explained the original scheme.
Northstar wasn't a company in the ordinary sense.
It was a clearing system.
Money entered through infrastructure contracts.
Some legitimate.
Some fraudulent.
The four million was part of an off-book reserve.
The eleven million was what remained after years of hidden transactions.
Arthur Bell controlled the legal side.
Victor handled transfers.
Elena discovered them.
My father tried to protect her.
Patricia continued the fight after my father died.
Then Elena disappeared.
And Renata was told her sister was dead.
"Why did Renata believe it?"
"Because I made sure she did."
Elena looked ashamed.
"I thought I was protecting her."
"You turned her against us."
"I know."
I looked at Marcus.
He was staring at Elena.
"My mother knew you were alive?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she believed you were being watched."
Marcus shook his head.
"All these years..."
Elena stepped closer.
"Your mother loved you."
"I know."
"She didn't trust your choices."
Marcus looked away.
That sentence hurt him.
It hurt me too.
Then Elena said:
"Your wife left something for you."
She handed me a small metal key.
Different from the one Daniel had given me.
"What is it?"
"The second box."
"What second box?"
"Your father kept it."
"Where?"
"In the cottage."
My heart stopped.
"You've known all along?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because until now, you weren't ready."
I almost laughed.
"Ready?"
"There are people who will kill for what's in that box."
"What is it?"
"The original ledger."
The real one.
Not the copy.
Not the missing page.
The original.
It supposedly showed where the four million originated.
And who took it.
We returned to my cottage before dawn.
The second box was hidden under the old fireplace.
Behind a stone Patricia and I had replaced years ago.
Inside was a leather ledger.
Original.
A handwritten list of names.
Dates.
Transfers.
Then, on the final page:
Arthur Bell.
A second name:
Victor Hale.
A third:
Elena Rossi.
And a fourth:
Renata Rossi.
Beside Renata's name was a date.
Twenty-one years ago.
And next to it:
UNKNOWING PARTICIPANT.
I looked at Elena.
"What does that mean?"
"Renata didn't know."
"Know what?"
"That she was being used."
"For what?"
"To access the trust."
"She was fifteen."
Elena nodded.
"Exactly."
I looked at the date again.
The date was the week Elena disappeared.
Then another entry caught my eye.
A transfer.
Five million dollars.
Paid to an unknown recipient.
Underneath:
CONFIRMATION OF SURVIVAL.
I looked at Elena.
"You were paid?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Then who was?"
She stared at the page.
"I don't know."
Raymond examined it.
Then he whispered:
"Walter..."
"What?"
"This isn't a payment."
"Then what?"
"It's insurance."
"Against whom?"
He looked at the name.
Arthur Bell.
"Against whoever believed Elena was dead."
A sound came from upstairs.
We froze.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside the cottage.
Elena whispered:
"He's here."
"Who?"
May you like
She looked toward the stairs.
"Arthur."
