Chapter 4 - The Voice of the DeadCora watched the phone as though it had become radioactive.
"No."
Dante didn't move.
The recording continued.
"I buried everything."
A man's voice answered.
"You buried nothing."
Cora's hands began shaking.
"That's my mother."
Elena looked at Dante.
"Are you sure?"
Cora snapped.
"I know my mother's voice."
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
Dante picked up the phone.
"Where did you get this?"
"Security system at your old apartment," Elena said.
Cora stared.
"Impossible."
"Someone accessed an old recording."
"My mother didn't live there."
"Someone wanted you to hear it."
Cora turned toward Dante.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"Suspected what?"
"That this wasn't random."
He sat across from her.
"Cora, what was your father's occupation?"
"Bookkeeper."
"Where?"
"Several small businesses."
"Do you remember which ones?"
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because one of those businesses was owned by my organization."
Cora's stomach dropped.
"No."
"He kept financial records for one of my father's companies."
"My father never mentioned you."
"He wouldn't have."
Dante's expression hardened.
"He was killed because he knew too much."
Cora stared at him.
"You think my father was murdered?"
"I know he was."
The room seemed to tilt.
"My father died in a robbery."
"That was the official story."
"Then what's the real one?"
Dante didn't answer.
"Tell me."
He slid a file across the table.
Cora opened it.
A photograph fell out.
Her father.
Standing beside another man.
The other man was younger.
But Cora recognized him.
Dante.
Her eyes snapped upward.
"You knew my father."
"For three months."
"And you never told me?"
"I didn't know who you were."
She searched the photograph.
Her father looked terrified.
Dante looked angry.
Behind them stood a third man.
His face was partially obscured.
But on his right hand was a silver ring.
Cora stopped breathing.
"The man from the street."
Dante nodded.
"His name is Victor Kane."
"Who is he?"
"The person I trusted most."
Cora stared at the photograph again.
"Then why would he shoot you?"
"Because he believes I'm going to destroy what he built."
"What did he build?"
Dante's jaw tightened.
"A network."
"What kind?"
"One my father started."
Cora closed the file.
"I want to leave."
"No."
"I want to leave."
"You can't."
"Don't tell me what I can do."
She stood.
Dante stood too.
They were inches apart.
"You think I'm your prisoner?"
"No."
"Then move."
He didn't.
His eyes stayed on hers.
"You are not my prisoner."
His voice softened.
"You're the reason someone is preparing to start a war."
Cora shook her head.
"I'm just a waitress."
"No."
Dante looked at the photograph.
"You're the daughter of the man who hid the ledger."
Cora frowned.
"What ledger?"
Dante's face went cold.
"The one Victor Kane has spent eight years trying to find."
Before Cora could respond, the penthouse lights went out.
Gunfire erupted below.
Elena shouted.
"DOWN!"
The windows shattered.
Cora screamed and dropped.
Dante grabbed her and pulled her behind the marble island.
Bullets tore through the kitchen.
Security alarms blared.
Elena returned fire.
Dante's arm wrapped around Cora's waist.
"Stay here."
"You said I wasn't a prisoner."
"Tonight, you are."
He stood.
Cora grabbed his sleeve.
"Where are you going?"
"To stop them."
"You could die."
He looked back at her.
His eyes were dark.
"You fed me when everyone else would have walked away."
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Cora pressed against the marble.
Another round of gunfire erupted.
Then silence.
Five minutes later, Dante returned.
Blood covered his shirt.
Cora rushed toward him.
"You're hurt."
"It's not mine."
He looked past her.
"Elena?"
A voice answered.
"I'm fine."
Dante exhaled.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face went pale.
"Cora."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"The ledger isn't missing."
His eyes met hers.
"It's been found."
"By who?"
Dante slowly looked toward the broken windows.
"By someone who just sent me a message."
He held up the phone.
On the screen was a photograph.
Cora's childhood bedroom.
And sitting on the bed was her father.
May you like
Alive.
The photograph had been taken yesterday.
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