Chapter 10 - The Man I Should Never Have Trusted
I turned the phone toward Julian.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
That frightened me more than anything else.
"You've seen Richard since he disappeared," I said.
Julian didn't answer.
I held the phone higher.
"Don't lie to me."
Special Agent Price looked between us.
"Mr. Ashford?"
Julian rubbed his hands over his face.
"That photograph was taken in Zurich."
"When?"
"Five years ago."
My chest tightened.
"You told me Richard died seven years ago."
"I believed he had."
"Until Switzerland."
Julian looked at Price.
"I was there for a company acquisition."
"Richard contacted me through an intermediary."
"He said he'd survived the crash."
"He said people were trying to kill him."
Price narrowed his eyes.
"And you didn't tell the authorities?"
Julian hesitated.
"He claimed he was working with federal investigators."
"Did you verify that?"
"No."
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because he threatened Victoria."
The words hung between us.
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
"Explain."
Julian leaned against the wall.
"Richard told me that if I revealed he was alive, Victoria would be killed."
"He had photographs of men following her."
"She was terrified."
"She begged me not to tell anyone."
I laughed bitterly.
"Victoria was terrified?"
"Yes."
"Or she wanted you to believe she was?"
Julian looked away.
"And then?"
"He disappeared again."
"Did you meet him after that?"
"No."
"Did you give him money?"
Julian said nothing.
Price stepped closer.
"Mr. Ashford."
Julian looked exhausted.
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Two million dollars."
My mouth fell open.
"You gave two million dollars to a man who was supposedly dead?"
"I thought I was saving my wife."
Price's voice hardened.
"Where did the money come from?"
"My personal account."
"Who arranged the transfer?"
Julian closed his eyes.
"Victoria."
I stepped backward.
The entire time I had been investigating the Ashfords, Julian had been keeping secrets of his own.
He knew Richard was alive.
He had paid him.
He had protected Victoria.
And he had allowed the world to believe his brother was buried.
I thought about my father's funeral.
My mother's tears.
The years we spent begging anyone from the company to answer our letters.
"You helped them," I whispered.
Julian looked at me.
"No."
"You gave them money."
"I didn't know what they were doing."
"You didn't want to know."
His face tightened.
"That's not fair."
"Fair?"
I stepped toward him.
"My father died trying to uncover what your family was hiding."
"And you had the power to ask questions."
"You had lawyers."
"Investigators."
"Money."
"You could have helped."
My voice broke.
"But you chose to protect your comfortable life."
Julian looked down.
For once, he had no answer.
Price interrupted.
"We need everyone back at the federal office."
"The Zurich transfer may be important."
I shook my head.
"I'm going to Grand Central."
"Not alone," Price said.
"Then send someone."
"Elena, Richard is watching you."
"My mother is still missing."
I met his eyes.
"And I am done standing around while everyone else decides which secrets I'm allowed to know."
At 3:20 p.m., two federal agents accompanied me to Grand Central Terminal.
The locker Mercer had described was in a privately operated storage facility near the station.
A court order had been obtained to preserve its contents.
Inside the locker was a plain cardboard box.
My father's handwriting was on the lid.
For Elena.
My hands trembled as an agent photographed it.
Inside was a silver bracelet.
A small USB drive.
And a sealed letter.
I recognized the bracelet immediately.
It had belonged to Aunt Isabel.
My father kept it in a drawer when I was a child.
He once told me it was the only thing she'd left behind.
The letter was addressed to me in his handwriting.
I opened it.
My beautiful Elena,
If you're reading this, then I failed to protect the truth while I was alive.
There are things I never told you because I wanted you to have a childhood untouched by the mistakes of powerful people.
Your aunt Isabel did not abandon Julian.
She was told her baby had died.
When she discovered he was alive, Edward Ashford helped her investigate the adoption.
Eleanor had acted without Edward's knowledge.
The truth nearly destroyed their marriage.
But Edward eventually chose to love Julian as his own.
I stopped reading.
Tears blurred the words.
Then I continued.
Richard learned the secret and used it against the family.
He began stealing from the charitable trust and hiding the transfers through shell companies.
When Eleanor discovered what he was doing, she tried to stop him.
Her death was investigated as natural, but I never believed the records told the whole story.
I couldn't prove Richard killed her.
What I could prove was that he continued stealing afterward.
And I found evidence that Victoria helped him.
I looked toward the agents.
They were waiting silently.
I read the final paragraph.
Elena, I fear I may not survive long enough to make this right.
But remember this.
Isabel knows more than she has ever admitted.
And the person who knows what happened on the night of Eleanor's death is not Richard.
It's Teresa.
My knees weakened.
My mother.
Again.
I turned the letter over.
There was one more line on the back.
If Teresa tells you she never entered the Ashford estate, ask her about the blue bedroom.
I closed my eyes.
I remembered my mother waking from nightmares when I was little.
She used to whisper the same words.
The blue room.
Don't open the blue room.
I had always thought she was dreaming.
Now I knew better.
The agent beside me held up the USB drive.
"Ms. Morales, we'll preserve this and have the forensic team examine it."
I nodded.
Then my phone rang.
The screen displayed a number I recognized.
My mother's old emergency contact number.
I answered.
"Mom?"
A woman spoke.
But it wasn't Teresa.
"Elena?"
I froze.
The voice was soft.
Almost familiar.
"My name is Isabel."
I couldn't breathe.
She continued.
"I know what your father wrote."
"And if you want your mother back, you need to meet me before Richard finds the final recording."
I looked at the agents.
"Where?"
"At the place where Eleanor died."
The line went silent.
Then Isabel added one last thing.
"And Elena?"
"Yes?"
"Don't bring Julian."
May you like
"Why?"
"Because the last time I saw him, he was standing beside Eleanor's body."
