Chapter 12 - The Dinner of the DeadNobody spoke during the drive back to the Moretti mansion.
Matteo sat in the front.
Dominic drove.
Norah sat beside Rosa.
Elena was unconscious in the back.
The question followed all of them.
Who had opened the gate?
When they arrived, Salvatore was waiting in the dining room.
A white tablecloth.
Crystal glasses.
One candle in the center.
Five place settings.
Dominic stared.
“Who arranged this?”
Salvatore looked at him.
Then at Matteo.
Then at Norah.
A note sat beneath the central plate.
Dominic opened it.
Family dinner. One truth each.
Matteo laughed.
“Victor has a sense of theater.”
Dominic didn't sit.
“I'll start.”
He looked at Salvatore.
“I killed three men because I believed you.”
Salvatore nodded.
Dominic turned to Rosa.
“I hated you for leaving.”
Rosa lowered her eyes.
“I hated you for saving me.”
Dominic looked at Matteo.
“I believed you were dead.”
Matteo answered:
“I wanted you to.”
Norah stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
Rosa looked at Matteo sharply.
“You weren't supposed to tell her.”
“What else can we hide?”
Norah leaned forward.
“What happened that night?”
Matteo finally told the truth.
“I wasn't working for Victor.”
“I thought you were.”
“You weren't.”
“I was working for your mother.”
Rosa stared.
Matteo continued.
“She discovered Victor was using Moretti businesses to move stolen money through shell companies.”
“I copied the files.”
“I helped her escape.”
Norah listened.
“What about my mother?”
Matteo's voice broke.
“She found out.”
Claire had discovered the ledger.
Victor caught her.
He wanted the location of the copies.
Claire refused.
“So he took me?” Norah whispered.
“Yes.”
“But I was a baby.”
“He thought your mother would break.”
“She didn't.”
“No.”
Matteo looked at Rosa.
“Rosa got you out.”
“And my mother?”
“She escaped too.”
Norah stood.
“You said she survived.”
“She did.”
“Then where is she?”
Rosa answered.
“Victor found her first.”
The dining room doors suddenly closed.
Locks clicked.
Dominic reached for his weapon.
A voice came through the speakers.
Victor.
“You've finally told the truth.”
The lights dimmed.
A projector turned on.
An old video appeared on the wall.
Claire.
Young.
Terrified.
Holding a baby.
Norah.
Victor stood behind her.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“If anyone finds this, my daughter is alive.”
Norah covered her mouth.
Claire continued.
“Her father doesn't know.”
Dominic looked at Norah.
“He loved you,” Claire whispered on the recording.
“Even if he never met you.”
Victor stepped into frame.
“Tell me where the ledger is.”
Claire shook her head.
He struck her.
Norah turned away.
Dominic stood frozen.
Then Claire looked back into the camera.
“There is one thing Victor doesn't know.”
She whispered a single sentence.
“I hid the real ledger inside the family.”
The screen went black.
Silence.
Then Salvatore whispered:
“She's here.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
Salvatore pointed toward the wall.
Behind it.
A faint knocking sound.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Norah stepped closer.
“Someone's behind there.”
Dominic tore the painting off the wall.
A hidden door appeared.
He opened it.
Inside stood a woman.
Older.
Gray hair.
Thin.
But alive.
She stared at Norah.
Norah stared back.
The woman whispered:
“Nora?”
May you like
Norah's breath stopped.
“Mom?”
