Chapter 13 - The Betrayal That Came Before the FuneralI didn't point a gun at Teresa.
I didn't need to.
The look on her face told me she understood exactly what the document had done to us.
“You paid them,” I said.
“No.”
“Your name is on the transfer.”
“I know.”
“Then explain it.”
Teresa's hands trembled.
“Three weeks before Miguel died, he came to me with evidence that Victor was stealing from the family. He asked me to transfer money into an account Elias controlled, so he could finance an investigation without alerting Dante.”
“Why didn't you tell Dante?”
“Because Victor had already begun manipulating the family's communications. I was afraid he would learn about the investigation before we had proof.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She closed her eyes.
“I was also afraid of what my son would do if he learned how deeply the family had been compromised.”
Dante turned toward her.
“You were afraid of me?”
“I was afraid you'd choose the organization over the people you loved.”
He looked as though she'd struck him.
Teresa continued.
“The transfer wasn't payment for Miguel's death. It was intended to help him disappear temporarily while he gathered evidence. I believed Elias had arranged safe passage for him.”
“Then why did you pay Elias to disappear?” I asked.
“Because after the funeral, I discovered that the money had been diverted. Elias vanished, Victor claimed Miguel was dead, and the people who should have protected us began destroying evidence.”
She looked at the screen.
“I thought Elias had betrayed us.”
“And three weeks ago?”
“He returned with proof that Miguel had survived.”
“Why keep lying to me?”
Teresa swallowed.
“Because he said you were being watched. He believed that if you knew the truth, you might try to contact Miguel. He thought Victor would use you to find him.”
I wanted to believe her.
I hated that I wanted to believe her.
“Did Miguel ask you to keep his survival from me?”
Teresa didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation told me more than any confession could.
“Yes,” she whispered.
I turned away.
Miguel had survived the assassination attempt, but he'd remained gone because he believed he was protecting us. Teresa had known, but believed that silence was safer than truth. Dante had trusted the wrong people, and his mistake had helped put us all in danger.
Nobody had intended for Sophie to grow up without her father.
But intentions didn't return the nights we had lost.
A commotion erupted near the ballroom doors.
Two guards brought Victor back inside, his hands bound behind his back. He looked smaller without his composure, but his eyes remained cold.
“Where's Rourke?” Dante demanded.
“Gone,” a guard answered. “He entered the western tunnels.”
Dante swore.
Victor laughed quietly.
“You still don't understand, do you? Rourke has a copy of the ledger. The files on that screen are only enough to prove the transfers. The original evidence implicating half the people in this room is somewhere else.”
He turned toward me.
“And your husband knows where.”
The ballroom fell silent.
Miguel stepped forward from behind the control station.
“You're right.”
Victor smiled.
“Then let's make a deal.”
“No.”
Miguel looked directly at him.
“I know where the original evidence is. I also know where Rourke is heading.”
Dante lowered his weapon slightly.
“Where?”
“The underground archive beneath the old ballroom.”
Victor's smile vanished.
The archive was directly beneath us.
Dante glanced toward the floor.
“How do we get inside?”
Miguel looked at Sophie on the screen.
“She has to open it.”
I stared at him.
“She's five years old.”
“She doesn't have to do anything alone. But the final code is hidden in the melody I taught her. It's the only way to open the archive without triggering the security lock.”
Sophie appeared on the monitor, sitting beside Elias in the secret chamber.
Miguel leaned toward the microphone.
“Little star, do you remember Daddy's song?”
She nodded.
Then she began to sing.
Three notes.
A pause.
Two notes.
A pause.
One final note.
Somewhere beneath the ballroom, a heavy mechanism began to turn.
May you like
The floor split open.
And from the darkness below, we heard Rourke laughing.
