Chapter 6 - Elena's Last LieWe drove to an abandoned church in Queens.
Rafael wanted twelve men.
I convinced him to bring three.
He hated the decision.
I hated the reason.
Vincent wanted me.
If Rafael appeared with an army, Bella would die.
The church had been abandoned for ten years.
The doors were chained.
The stained glass windows were broken.
I entered first.
Rafael stayed behind me.
Every footstep echoed.
“There's no one here.”
“That's the point.”
I stopped near the altar.
A small envelope had been placed on the floor.
My name was written on it.
NORA.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Rafael.
Elena.
Bella.
And me.
Together.
I stared.
“That can't be real.”
Rafael took the photograph.
His face changed.
“When was this taken?”
I looked at the clothes.
At Bella's age.
At Elena's hair.
“Five years ago.”
“But I didn't know you then.”
“You didn't.”
I flipped the photo over.
A date.
A location.
A note.
You met her before you remember meeting her.
Rafael looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I didn't know.
Then I noticed the scar on his arm.
The same place Bella had pointed to.
I looked at my own.
For the first time, I understood.
The scars weren't random.
The same shooter.
Same caliber.
Same angle.
The bullets had entered both our arms when we were standing side by side.
We had not been attacked separately.
We had been attacked together.
I turned the photograph over again.
There was something else written beneath the date.
Warehouse Seven was the second attempt.
My stomach dropped.
“What was the first?”
A voice came from the balcony.
“Elena.”
We looked up.
She stood there.
Alive.
Rafael stepped forward.
“Why?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because if I told you the truth, Vincent would kill Bella.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You made me bury you.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I know.”
“You watched me destroy myself.”
“I know.”
He looked broken.
Not weak.
Broken.
Elena looked at me.
“I am sorry, Nora.”
I couldn't speak.
“You were never supposed to be involved.”
“You hired me.”
“I hired you because you were the only accountant Vincent didn't know.”
Rafael looked at her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“All this time.”
“Yes.”
“What was Nora supposed to protect?”
Elena looked at me.
“A child.”
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
“What?”
She stepped closer.
“Bella was not Vincent's target.”
“She was yours?”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“She was the reason Vincent started everything.”
Rafael stared.
Elena continued.
“Bella inherited something.”
“What?”
“A trust.”
I frowned.
“Money?”
“Not money.”
She reached into her coat.
“Control.”
She placed a document on the altar.
Bella's name was on it.
I read the first page.
A company.
A foundation.
Thousands of properties.
And a controlling stake in a private financial network.
But the real shock was the signature at the bottom.
Rafael DeLuca.
I looked at him.
“You put all of this in Bella's name?”
“I did,” Elena said.
Rafael looked stunned.
“To keep Vincent from taking it.”
“Then why did Vincent survive?”
“Because he wasn't trying to steal it.”
I looked up.
“What was he trying to do?”
Elena's voice lowered.
“He was trying to prove Bella wasn't your daughter.”
Silence.
Rafael went rigid.
I stared at Bella's name.
Then at Elena.
“What?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Vincent claims Bella belongs to another man.”
Rafael stepped toward her.
“Whose?”
Elena couldn't answer.
A gunshot shattered the window behind us.
Rafael pulled me down.
Three armed men stormed through the side doors.
Elena screamed.
I grabbed her and pulled her behind the altar.
Rafael fired back.
The church erupted in gunfire.
One attacker dropped.
Another ran.
The third reached Elena.
I hit him with the brass candleholder.
He collapsed.
Then Rafael shouted:
“Where's Vincent?”
No answer.
Elena was shaking.
I looked at her.
“What aren't you telling us?”
She stared at me.
Then she whispered:
“Bella's real father isn't Rafael.”
Rafael froze.
Another gunshot rang out.
Elena collapsed.
Blood spread across her coat.
Rafael caught her.
I grabbed her hand.
“Elena!”
Her eyes opened.
She looked at me.
May you like
“Find the man with the scar.”
Then she died.
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