Chapter 9 - The Letter to Elena
Elena tore the envelope open with shaking fingers.
They had returned to the penthouse just after sunrise.
The study smelled of smoke and wet ash.
Black stains climbed one wall.
Her mother’s letters had survived inside the fireproof cabinet.
So had the strange envelope.
Adrian stood beside her.
Bianca remained near the doorway with Detective Reyes.
Elena unfolded the letter.
The paper was old.
Almost thirty years old.
At the top was a date.
Three days before Laura Bennett disappeared.
Elena began reading.
Dear Margaret—
She stopped.
Adrian frowned.
“Margaret?”
Elena looked at him.
“My mother.”
Bianca stepped closer.
“Your mother knew Laura?”
Elena kept reading.
Her heart began pounding.
Dear Margaret,
If anything happens to me, you need to keep the baby safe.
Elena’s hand started shaking.
Bianca whispered, “Baby?”
Elena continued.
Charles knows Rebecca has her.
He knows I kept copies.
I should have listened when you told me to leave months ago.
If he finds out you helped me, he may come after you too.
Please keep the wooden box hidden.
Inside are the original ownership papers, the photographs, and the recording Rebecca made.
Do not give them to the police unless you know they can protect Bianca.
Do not trust Catherine.
Elena stopped.
Bianca went still.
“Read that again.”
Elena did.
Do not trust Catherine.
Bianca turned toward Reyes.
“She was in the apartment.”
Reyes nodded.
“She may have known about the box.”
Elena looked around the burned room.
“She took it.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Why would my mother have any of this?”
Elena whispered.
Then she remembered something.
A childhood memory.
Her mother working two jobs.
One of them as a hotel housekeeper.
Elena looked at Adrian.
“My mother worked here.”
“At Sterling Grand?”
“Before Charles bought it.”
Bianca stared at her.
“For Hart Hospitality?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“She must have known Laura.”
Reyes made another call.
Elena kept reading.
There was one final paragraph.
Margaret, if Rebecca cannot protect Bianca, you know what to do.
She must never grow up believing power makes her untouchable.
One day she will need to know what was done in her name.
Elena lowered the paper.
Bianca covered her mouth.
The irony was brutal.
Laura had feared Bianca might grow into someone who believed power made her untouchable.
And hours earlier, Bianca had slapped a woman she believed had no power at all.
Bianca’s eyes filled.
“She knew.”
Elena looked at her.
“She knew what kind of man Charles was.”
Bianca whispered, “And I became exactly like him.”
“No.”
Bianca stared at her.
Elena continued.
“You acted like him.”
“What’s the difference?”
“What you do next.”
Bianca looked away.
Adrian’s phone rang.
“Security found Catherine’s car.”
Reyes turned.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the West Side Highway.”
“Any sign of her?”
“No.”
Reyes’s own phone rang seconds later.
She listened.
Her face hardened.
“Victor Hale was found.”
“Where?” Bianca asked.
“Parking garage in Queens.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief lasted less than a second.
Reyes continued.
“He’s been shot.”
Bianca backed against the wall.
“By who?”
“They don’t know.”
“Daniel?”
“Missing.”
Reyes grabbed her coat.
“I need to go.”
Bianca said, “I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She’s my mother.”
“And this is an active criminal investigation.”
Bianca stepped forward.
“You think Catherine shot Victor?”
“I think someone is cleaning up loose ends.”
Reyes looked at Elena.
“And right now, everyone connected to that wooden box may be one.”
Adrian’s face darkened.
He turned to his security chief.
“Double everyone on the building.”
Then the intercom buzzed.
Everyone froze.
The doorman’s voice came through.
“Mr. Vale?”
Adrian pressed the button.
“Yes?”
“There’s a woman downstairs asking for Mrs. Vale.”
Elena looked at Adrian.
“What woman?”
The doorman hesitated.
“She says her name is Laura Bennett.”
Nobody moved.
Bianca whispered, “That’s impossible.”
May you like
The doorman continued.
“And she says Charles Sterling tried to kill her twenty-nine years ago.”
