Chapter 4 - Elena didn't remember moving.One second she was staring at Claire.
The next she was running with Dante through the underground garage while security guards shouted behind them.
“Left!”
Dante grabbed her wrist.
They turned into a maintenance corridor.
“Why are we running from my mother?”
“Because she told us to.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
A metallic crash echoed behind them.
Someone was following.
Dante pushed Elena through a steel door.
They entered an abandoned service tunnel beneath the hotel.
The air was cold.
Wet.
Elena leaned against the wall.
“You knew she was alive.”
“No.”
“You recognized her.”
“I recognized someone who shouldn't exist.”
Footsteps echoed.
Dante raised his gun.
“Stay back.”
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a woman's voice floated through the corridor.
“Dante.”
Elena froze.
Claire.
Dante lowered his weapon slightly.
A figure emerged.
But it wasn't Claire.
It was Camille.
Her hospital gown was covered by a stolen black coat.
She looked terrified.
“How did you get here?”
Camille's eyes moved to Elena.
“I escaped.”
“From the hospital?”
“They were going to kill me.”
“Who?”
Camille swallowed.
“Julian.”
Elena's stomach dropped.
“What?”
“He knows you found out.”
“About what?”
Camille looked at Dante.
“He knows about the archive.”
Dante stepped toward her.
“What archive?”
“The Hart Archive.”
Elena frowned.
“My mother's files?”
Camille nodded.
“Your mother spent years collecting evidence against powerful people.”
“Which people?”
“Developers. Judges. politicians. Banks.”
She looked at Dante.
“And the Moretti organization.”
Elena turned.
“Organization?”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Camille is trying to provoke you.”
“No,” Camille whispered. “He hasn't told you.”
“Told me what?”
“That Dante wasn't protecting your mother.”
Dante stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Camille backed away.
“He was investigating her.”
Elena looked at him.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire was suspected of laundering money through architectural contracts.”
Elena felt sick.
“My mother?”
“She wasn't guilty.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I proved it.”
“Then why did you investigate her?”
“Because somebody wanted her framed.”
Camille shook her head.
“You still don't understand.”
She reached inside the coat.
Pulled out a folded document.
She gave it to Elena.
It was an old bank transfer.
One payment.
$12 million.
Sender: Moretti Holdings.
Recipient: Hart Architectural Group.
Date: two weeks before Claire's death.
Elena stared.
“My mother received twelve million dollars from your company.”
Dante remained silent.
“What was it for?”
“She was buying time.”
“For what?”
“The archive.”
Camille's voice was almost a whisper.
“She hid evidence inside Haven Point.”
Elena looked up.
“What evidence?”
Camille's eyes filled with fear.
“The names.”
“Whose names?”
“All of them.”
A sound came from behind.
A gunshot.
Camille jerked.
Blood spread across her coat.
Elena screamed.
Dante caught her as she collapsed.
“Camille!”
She pressed something into Elena's palm.
“A key.”
Then whispered:
“Apartment 917.”
Her eyes closed.
Dante looked toward the corridor.
Another shot hit the wall.
“Run.”
Elena grabbed the key.
They fled.
An hour later, in a secure Moretti apartment overlooking the city, Elena sat on the edge of a bed.
The key lay on the table.
Dante stood near the window.
“You owe me the truth.”
“I know.”
“Every truth.”
He turned.
“Elena…”
“No more protecting me.”
Silence.
Finally Dante said:
“Your mother contacted me eleven years ago.”
“About the archive?”
“Yes.”
“She knew she was going to die?”
“She believed someone was going to kill her.”
“Did you promise to keep me safe?”
“Yes.”
“And did you?”
“I tried.”
Elena looked at him.
“You married me because of that promise?”
Dante's expression hardened.
“No.”
“Then why?”
He walked toward her.
“Because I loved you.”
Her breath caught.
“You didn't know me.”
“I knew more than you think.”
“How?”
“Your mother showed me photographs.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“That isn't love.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It became love later.”
She looked away.
Then the building's alarm sounded.
Dante checked his phone.
His face went pale.
“What?”
“The Moretti vault was opened.”
“What was inside?”
He looked directly at Elena.
“Your mother's archive.”
May you like
And then he received another message.
SHE HAS ALREADY FOUND THE SECOND KEY.
Related Stories
