Chapter 6 - The Woman Behind the Glass
Hannah did not believe him.
That was the safest response.
After discovering her dead mother was not her biological mother and her biological mother might not actually be dead, disbelief felt almost comforting.
“You’re lying.”
Gabriel sat across from her in the moving SUV.
“Probably about many things.”
“But not that?”
“Not that.”
“Where is she?”
“You’ll see.”
Hannah looked at the doors.
Locked.
Two men sat in front.
She calculated possibilities.
Gabriel noticed.
“You got that from Clara.”
“What?”
“The way you look for exits before asking questions.”
“I learned that from being kidnapped.”
He almost smiled.
“I’m sorry about the method.”
“No, you’re not.”
His smile vanished.
“You got that from me.”
Hannah hated how much his face resembled hers.
Not enough to be obvious.
Enough to hurt.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“You’re my daughter.”
“You had twenty-six years.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“I thought you died.”
“Sarah knew.”
“Sarah betrayed me.”
“She raised me.”
“She stole you.”
“She saved me.”
“From whom?”
Hannah hesitated.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Vincent Duca?”
“No.”
“His father?”
“Maybe.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Exactly. You don’t know.”
“And you’re going to tell me?”
“I’m going to show you.”
The SUV entered an underground garage beneath a medical building.
Hannah was escorted upstairs.
No blindfold.
That frightened her more.
People only showed prisoners locations when they did not expect them to leave.
Gabriel led her through a private corridor.
At the final door, he stopped.
“You should prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“For the reason everything happened.”
He opened the door.
A woman sat beside a window.
Thin.
Gray streaked through dark hair.
A blanket covered her legs.
She turned.
Hannah stopped.
Those eyes.
Her eyes.
Clara Vale stood slowly.
“Hannah.”
One word.
Twenty-six years of absence inside it.
Hannah could not move.
Clara began crying.
“My baby.”
“Don’t.”
Clara stopped.
Hannah’s voice shook.
“Please don’t call me that.”
Clara nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you Clara Vale?”
“Yes.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
Hannah looked at Gabriel.
“And him?”
Clara’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
Gabriel stepped toward her.
Clara recoiled.
Tiny movement.
But Hannah saw it.
So did Gabriel.
His jaw tightened.
“Tell her.”
Clara looked at Hannah.
“Your father is Gabriel Moretti.”
Hannah wanted to scream.
Instead, she sat.
“Why does everyone think you’re dead?”
Clara looked toward Gabriel.
“Because I needed them to.”
Gabriel interrupted.
“She needed Vincent to.”
“Let her speak.”
Gabriel’s eyes flashed.
Hannah stared back.
For the first time, Gabriel looked surprised.
Then amused.
“Definitely mine.”
“Get out.”
His smile faded.
“Hannah—”
“Get out.”
Clara whispered, “Please.”
Gabriel left.
Hannah waited until the door closed.
Then she looked at Clara.
“Are you here voluntarily?”
Clara did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Hannah stood.
“He’s keeping you prisoner.”
“For six years.”
“Six?”
“I lived under another identity before that.”
“Why didn’t you find me?”
“I tried.”
“Sarah?”
“Sarah protected you from everyone.”
“Even you?”
Clara’s eyes filled.
“Especially me.”
Hannah felt anger rise.
“I deserved to know.”
“Yes.”
“You all decided my life for me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe Sarah died.”
“I didn’t know she faked her death until later.”
Hannah paced.
“What does Gabriel want?”
“The complete Ledger.”
“He has one piece.”
Clara looked startled.
“You know?”
“We found mine. Vincent had his.”
Fear crossed Clara’s face.
“No.”
“What?”
“You told Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Clara stood.
“Hannah, listen carefully.”
She crossed the room and grabbed Hannah’s shoulders.
“Never combine the three pieces.”
“Why?”
“The money isn’t money.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Ledger contains names and accounts, but those accounts are only the surface.”
Clara lowered her voice.
“The real secret is a network.”
“Of what?”
“Judges. police officers. business owners. federal contractors. Organized crime families.”
Hannah stared.
“They’ve protected one another for decades.”
“And Gabriel?”
“He doesn’t want to expose them.”
Clara looked toward the door.
“He wants to control them.”
Hannah felt cold.
“Why does he need me?”
“Because I changed the encryption.”
“When?”
“Before the fire.”
Clara touched Hannah’s scar.
“I embedded the cipher in you.”
“The microfilm.”
“No.”
Hannah frowned.
“That was only one part.”
Clara gently touched the inside of Hannah’s wrist.
“The scar itself is the cipher.”
“What?”
“The exact pattern. The spacing. The surgical marks.”
Hannah stared.
“You cut a code into a baby?”
Tears filled Clara’s eyes.
“I was desperate.”
Hannah stepped away.
“Everyone keeps saying that like it makes things better.”
“It doesn’t.”
Clara lowered her hand.
“I’m sorry.”
For once, nobody tried to defend the unforgivable.
That made Hannah’s anger harder to hold.
Meanwhile, across the city, Vincent was destroying his own organization looking for her.
Three safe houses searched.
Six men questioned.
Two traitors found.
None knew Gabriel’s location.
Marcus entered Vincent’s office at dawn.
“We found the vehicle.”
Vincent stood.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near Lakeshore Medical.”
Vincent reached for his coat.
Marcus blocked him.
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“And you’re going anyway.”
“Yes.”
Marcus sighed.
“This woman has been in your life four days.”
Vincent looked at him.
“No.”
Marcus frowned.
“She has been in my life for twenty-four years.”
He picked up Clara’s photograph.
“I just didn’t know her name.”
Marcus understood.
Hannah represented more than Clara.
She was the answer to the question that had shaped Vincent’s entire life.
But Marcus suspected something else had begun.
Something Vincent had not admitted.
Fear of losing Hannah had become personal.
At the medical building, Clara slipped Hannah a key card.
“There’s a service elevator at the end of the corridor.”
“You’re coming.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Hannah—”
“I already buried one mother.”
Hannah grabbed her hand.
“I’m not doing it again.”
They reached the corridor.
An alarm sounded.
Gabriel appeared at the far end.
“Hannah.”
She froze.
“Put the card down.”
“No.”
Gabriel approached.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“You think Vincent is coming to save you?”
Hannah said nothing.
Gabriel smiled.
“He’s coming.”
Clara looked terrified.
Gabriel continued.
“Because I told him where you are.”
Hannah’s stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because tonight Vincent Duca finally finishes what his father started.”
A blast shook the building.
Lights flickered.
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Gabriel smiled.
“Right on time.”
Vincent’s men entered the lobby.
Marcus shouted orders.
Vincent moved toward the stairs.
Then every security screen in the building switched on.
A live camera appeared.
Hannah.
A gun pressed against her head.
Gabriel’s voice came through the speakers.
“Brother.”
Vincent stopped.
Gabriel stepped into view behind Hannah.
“Bring me your piece of the Ledger.”
Vincent stared at the screen.
“Or?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Or you get to watch Clara Vale’s daughter die exactly where Clara can see it.”
Then another figure entered the camera frame.
Vincent’s face changed.
Clara.
Alive.
Looking directly into the lens.
“Vincent,” she whispered.
May you like
For the first time in twenty-four years, Vincent Duca heard the voice of the woman whose death had created the man he became.
And the gun against Hannah’s head clicked.
