Chapter 9 - THE LAST MORETTI SECRET
Dominic did not remember leaving Penn Station.
Only Emma’s voice beside him.
“Drive.”
Only Gabriel calling security.
Only Anthony shouting into a radio.
The estate gates were locked when they arrived.
Locked from inside.
Rosalie’s doing.
Dominic stepped from the car.
A speaker above the gate crackled.
His aunt’s voice came through.
“Dominic.”
He looked up.
“Let her go.”
“Bring me the blue ledger.”
“No.”
Emma turned toward him.
He glanced at her.
Quietly:
“She won’t kill Sophie yet.”
“You’re sure?”
“She wants the book.”
Emma’s face tightened.
“That doesn’t mean—”
“I know.”
He touched her arm.
A brief reassurance.
Then addressed the speaker.
“You spent forty years hiding children. Why?”
Rosalie laughed.
“You always were curious.”
“And you always thought everyone else was stupid.”
Silence.
He had hit something.
Rosalie said, “Bring me the ledger.”
“Why? The names are meaningless now.”
“To you.”
“To everyone.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Rosalie paused.
Dominic knew people.
Silence could be an opening if you were patient enough.
Finally Rosalie spoke.
“Your grandfather started it.”
Dominic frowned.
“Started what?”
“The placements.”
Emma whispered, “The children.”
Rosalie continued.
“Our family survived because we controlled loyalty.”
Dominic felt disgust.
“Children aren’t loyalty.”
“They become adults.”
“You moved babies.”
“We protected bloodlines.”
“You erased identities.”
“We prevented wars.”
Dominic laughed.
“You created them.”
No answer.
Then Sophie’s voice came faintly through the speaker.
“Daddy?”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I’m here.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Dominic continued.
“Remember what I told you?”
“No little room.”
“That’s right.”
“I want Emma.”
Emma approached the intercom.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Rosalie interrupted.
“Enough.”
The speaker went dead.
Gabriel walked around the perimeter.
“Old service tunnel.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Still accessible?”
“Maybe.”
The tunnel dated back to Prohibition.
Their grandfather had used it to move liquor from the shoreline to the mansion.
Dominic had sealed it years ago.
Or believed he had.
Gabriel smiled without humor.
“Our family is very bad at permanently closing things.”
Anthony divided the team.
Dominic, Emma and Gabriel entered through the tunnel.
Dominic wanted Emma outside.
She refused.
“Sophie asked for me.”
“You’re not armed.”
“Good.”
He stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means if she sees me, she won’t think another person came to shoot someone.”
Dominic had no argument.
They reached the basement.
Upstairs, the house was eerily quiet.
Rosalie had dismissed or restrained the staff.
They found Trevor tied in the pantry.
“Cassandra?” Dominic asked.
“Upstairs.”
“Mara?”
“Alive.”
“Rosalie alone?”
Trevor shook his head.
“Two men.”
Gabriel whispered, “East stairs.”
They split.
Emma moved with Dominic.
At the second floor landing, Cassandra appeared.
She had blood on her sleeve.
Dominic raised his weapon.
“It’s mine,” she whispered.
“You hurt?”
“Cut.”
“Sophie?”
“Rosalie moved her to Elena’s room.”
Of course.
The hidden room.
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Cassandra grabbed his sleeve.
“She wants Sophie to show her where Elena left the original audio.”
“What audio?”
“I don’t know.”
Emma looked at Dominic.
“The cassette tapes.”
“No. Rosalie already knew about them.”
Cassandra shook her head.
“She said there’s another recording.”
They moved down the hall.
Elena’s bedroom door stood open.
Inside, Rosalie’s two men waited.
Gabriel appeared from the opposite side.
Anthony’s team reached the rear stairs.
The confrontation lasted seconds.
One man surrendered.
The other tried to fire and was disarmed by Gabriel.
Dominic entered the closet.
The secret room stood open.
Rosalie sat in the child’s chair.
Sophie stood near the cassette recorder.
A knife rested on the table now, not at the child’s throat.
Dominic felt relief.
Not enough.
Rosalie held a gun.
“Stop.”
Everyone stopped.
“Blue ledger.”
Dominic held it up.
“Let Sophie walk to Emma.”
Rosalie looked at Emma.
“Michael’s daughter.”
Emma’s skin crawled.
“You knew my father?”
“I knew both of them.”
Emma said, “Patrick is my father.”
Rosalie smiled.
“Good answer.”
Dominic said, “Sophie.”
The child looked at him.
“Walk to Emma.”
Rosalie raised the gun.
“No.”
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“You need the book. Not her.”
“I need what she remembers.”
Sophie suddenly spoke.
“Mommy said you were mean.”
Rosalie blinked.
Everyone did.
Sophie looked at the old woman.
“She said Aunt Rosalie pretends she loves family.”
Dominic watched Rosalie’s face.
The gun trembled.
“Sophie…”
“But Mommy said you only love secrets.”
Emma extended her hand.
“Sophie.”
The child took one step.
Rosalie shouted, “Stop!”
Sophie froze.
Then looked at the cassette recorder.
“Mommy said press the red one.”
Dominic frowned.
There was no red button on the cassette machine.
Sophie pointed under the wooden table.
Emma saw it.
A small red switch.
Rosalie lunged.
Sophie pressed it.
A panel opened in the wall.
Inside was a tiny digital recorder.
Rosalie’s face collapsed.
“No.”
Dominic understood.
The real evidence.
He grabbed Sophie and pulled her back.
Rosalie fired.
The bullet hit the wall.
Gabriel fired once.
Rosalie’s gun dropped from her hand.
She screamed, clutching her wrist.
Anthony restrained her.
Emma took Sophie.
Dominic picked up the recorder.
He pressed play.
Elena’s voice.
Then Raymond’s.
Then Rosalie’s.
A conversation recorded the week before Elena died.
Rosalie:
The child saw you.
Raymond:
She’s two.
Rosalie:
Two-year-olds become six-year-olds.
Raymond:
I can control the memories.
Elena’s hidden breathing could be heard.
Then Rosalie again.
If Elena has the ledger, kill her.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Proof.
Undeniable.
Rosalie stopped fighting.
“You have no idea what releasing that will do.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes, I do.”
“You’ll destroy the family.”
“No.”
He glanced at Sophie.
“I’ll destroy what was done in its name.”
Rosalie laughed bitterly.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Dominic handed the recorder to Anthony.
“They were never the same thing.”
Rosalie and Raymond were handed to federal prosecutors outside the compromised local network.
Copies of the financial evidence went to investigators.
The private birth records remained sealed pending review to protect innocent people.
It should have ended there.
It didn’t.
That evening, Mara woke in the hospital.
Cassandra sat beside her.
Dominic was preparing to leave when Mara whispered:
“Elena’s body.”
He turned.
“What?”
“You can find her.”
Dominic stared.
“The grave is empty?”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“Raymond switched the identification.”
Dominic’s heart stopped.
Mara continued.
“The woman buried as Elena…”
She swallowed.
“Wasn’t Elena.”
Emma stood beside Dominic.
“Then where is she?”
Mara looked at them.
“Elena survived the road attack.”
Dominic’s face lost all color.
“No.”
“For three days.”
His voice broke.
“You told me she died.”
“I believed she had.”
“Mara.”
“Raymond moved her.”
“Where?”
“I found a medical transfer form in his files.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What hospital?”
“Not a hospital.”
Mara’s eyes filled.
“A private psychiatric facility in Vermont.”
Dominic stared.
Emma whispered, “Four years?”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
The room became completely silent.
“The file shows Elena was alive eight months ago.”
