Chapter 5 - The Woman in the PhotographIvy nearly collapsed.
“No.”
Carmine caught her before she hit the floor.
“When did you last speak to her?”
“This morning.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was tired.”
“Anything unusual?”
“No.”
Carmine turned to his men.
“Trace the hospital cameras. Now.”
They ran.
Ivy grabbed his sleeve.
“Please.”
Carmine looked down.
“We’ll find her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“But you said—”
“I said we will.”
He pulled out another photograph.
“This woman.”
Ivy stared.
A woman stood beside her mother outside the hospital.
Elegant coat.
Dark sunglasses.
Ivy had never seen her before.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s impossible.”
Carmine studied the photograph.
“She’s been in my files.”
“Why?”
“She appears in photographs connected to every disappearance involving my organization over the last five years.”
Ivy’s voice shook.
“Then who is she?”
Carmine gave the photograph to one of his men.
“Find her.”
A few hours later, they got a location.
An abandoned church on the edge of the city.
Carmine went himself.
Ivy stayed behind.
Until she found another note.
YOUR MOTHER IS ALIVE.
She stopped.
Underneath:
BUT YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE HER.
There was an address.
Ivy realized it was impossible.
The address led to the same church.
She took a gun from one of the guard lockers.
Then left.
The church was empty.
Dust covered the pews.
Wind pushed through broken windows.
“I’m here!”
Nothing.
Then a voice came from behind the altar.
“You look just like her.”
Ivy turned.
The woman from the photograph stepped into view.
She was older than Ivy had expected.
Calm.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“Your father’s sister.”
Ivy’s entire world stopped.
“My father died when I was six.”
“That’s what you were told.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Not far.”
Ivy raised the gun.
“Tell me.”
The woman’s smile vanished.
“Carmine doesn’t know what you are.”
“What am I?”
“A witness.”
“To what?”
The woman stepped closer.
“Your father’s murder.”
Ivy’s hands started shaking.
“My father was killed in a robbery.”
“No.”
The woman whispered:
“He was killed because he discovered who was building the DeLuca empire from the inside.”
Before Ivy could speak, a gunshot shattered the church window.
The woman grabbed her.
“Down!”
Three more shots tore through the room.
Ivy screamed.
Then she heard another gunfire from outside.
Carmine.
He had followed her.
He stormed through the doors with his men.
The woman disappeared through a side entrance.
Carmine reached Ivy.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He looked furious.
“I told you to stay home.”
“She said she was my aunt.”
Carmine froze.
Ivy pointed at the doorway.
“She said my father was murdered.”
Carmine’s face changed.
Because he knew something Ivy didn’t.
“Ivy…”
“What?”
May you like
Carmine swallowed.
“I met your father.”
