Chapter 9 - The Last Message From Emmett FontaineMarianne survived.
Barely.
The bullet missed her heart by less than an inch.
Carmine moved her to a hidden safe house outside the city.
Nell refused to leave her side.
For the first time, mother and daughter had no reason to pretend.
Marianne finally told them the truth.
“Emmett knew the network was larger than Bellweather.”
“How large?” Carmine asked.
“Large enough to reach beyond New Orleans.”
“Who ran it?”
“Adrian Bell.”
Carmine stared.
“The judge.”
“He isn't simply a judge.”
“What is he?”
“The final signature.”
“Meaning?”
“Whenever someone needed a case buried, a person erased, a company destroyed, Bell approved it.”
“And Bellweather?”
“His machine.”
Marianne paused.
“Your family was supposed to be their partner.”
“My father refused.”
“Your father tried to destroy them.”
“Silas helped him.”
“No.”
Marianne's answer was immediate.
“Silas betrayed him.”
Carmine frowned.
“Palmira said Silas killed my father.”
“He did.”
“Then why is he still alive?”
“Because Bell needed someone who could disappear.”
Carmine's voice hardened.
“Where is he?”
Marianne shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Nell stepped closer.
“What happened to Dad?”
Marianne closed her eyes.
“He survived the fire.”
Nell looked stunned.
“He survived?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did everyone say he had brain damage?”
“Because that was the story they wanted.”
“What really happened?”
“They drugged him.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Fontaine.”
Nell backed away.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
Marianne explained.
Daniel had joined Bellweather years earlier.
Victor Marrow had tried to leave.
Emmett had discovered the ledger.
Thomas Vale had started asking questions.
Three men tried to expose Bell.
Only one succeeded in hiding the truth.
Emmett.
“He created a second ledger,” Marianne said.
“Where?”
Marianne looked at Carmine.
“Inside the bakery.”
“We found one.”
“That wasn't it.”
Carmine went still.
“What?”
“The ledger you found contains the names they wanted you to see.”
“Fake?”
“Partially.”
Nell whispered:
“Then where is the real one?”
Marianne's eyes filled with tears.
“Your father told me something.”
“What?”
“He said the real ledger wasn't written in ink.”
Carmine stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Recipes.”
Nell frowned.
“My father's recipes?”
“Every recipe concealed a number.”
Carmine realized it.
Ingredients.
Weights.
Temperatures.
Ratios.
Dates.
Account numbers hidden inside quantities.
Nell looked at him.
“He taught me to read them.”
“Then you're the only person who can decode it.”
Nell's face went pale.
“My mother…”
Marianne nodded.
“That is why they wanted you alive.”
Before anyone could move, the lights went out.
A generator started somewhere outside.
Then came the sound of tires.
Men shouting.
Benny ran into the room.
“They found us.”
Carmine drew his gun.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
He looked at Nell.
“Take your mother downstairs.”
“What about you?”
“Go.”
Nell hesitated.
Carmine grabbed her shoulders.
“Trust me.”
She nodded.
The house erupted in gunfire.
Carmine and Benny fought their way toward the back corridor.
One attacker came through the door.
Carmine fired.
Another followed.
Then another.
Suddenly, the shooting stopped.
Benny looked outside.
The attackers were gone.
All except one.
A man lay dying in the driveway.
Carmine walked over.
The man had a Bellweather pin on his coat.
Carmine crouched.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed weakly.
“You think Bell is the end?”
Carmine leaned closer.
The man whispered:
“Bell is afraid of Eleanor.”
Then he died.
Carmine returned inside.
Nell stood holding a recipe book.
“What's that?”
“My father's.”
She opened to a page.
At the bottom was a handwritten sentence.
WHEN THE PIE IS PERFECT, LOOK UNDER THE LAST CRUST.
Carmine stared.
Pecan pie.
The first dish she had ever made for him.
May you like
Nell looked up.
“The first clue was inside your dining room.”
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