Chapter 9 - Elena's Sister
“No.”
Jared's answer came before Willa spoke.
Maria Moretti waited in a secure conference room three floors below the penthouse.
She had refused to speak to anyone except Willa.
Jared had refused to allow Willa near her.
Neither seemed willing to compromise.
Willa crossed her arms.
“You don't own me.”
“I know.”
“You keep sounding confused about that.”
“This isn't about control.”
“Then what is it?”
“Someone shot into my home less than forty-eight hours ago.”
“And Maria walked in with her hands raised.”
“She vanished after Elena's funeral.”
“Maybe she had a reason.”
“She hated me.”
“Plenty of people seem to.”
Miles coughed.
Jared gave him a look.
Willa stepped closer.
“If Elena's sister knows what happened, I'm going.”
Jared stared down at her.
“Not alone.”
“She asked for me alone.”
“Then she gets disappointed.”
Eventually they compromised.
Willa entered alone.
Jared listened from behind one-way glass.
Maria looked exhausted.
Her first words surprised Willa.
“You look like Rebecca.”
Willa stopped.
“You knew my mother?”
Maria nodded.
“My sister loved her.”
“Why?”
“Because Rebecca saved Elena's life.”
Willa sat slowly.
Maria continued.
“Elena was nineteen when she saw Sebastian kill Anthony Bell.”
Willa stared.
“My mother witnessed the same murder.”
“Yes.”
“They were together?”
“No. Elena was inside the restaurant. Rebecca saw from the street.”
“Then why wasn't Elena in the police report?”
“Rebecca hid her.”
Willa's throat tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Elena was undocumented at the time. She was terrified police would deport her mother.”
Maria looked down.
“Rebecca promised she would testify alone.”
Willa closed her eyes.
Of course.
That sounded exactly like her mother.
Helping somebody even when she was afraid herself.
“What happened next?”
“Rebecca realized police information was reaching Sebastian.”
“The wrong officer.”
“Yes.”
“Elena knew who?”
“Not then.”
Maria leaned forward.
“Years later she found out.”
“Who?”
“Detective Patrick Doyle.”
Behind the glass, Jared stiffened.
Miles whispered, “Doyle became deputy commissioner.”
Willa couldn't hear them.
Maria continued.
“Doyle buried Rebecca's report. He gave Sebastian her address.”
Willa swallowed bile.
“And my mother's death?”
“Sebastian ordered it.”
“Not Dominic Kensington?”
“No.”
“Brendan said Dominic did.”
“Brendan lies when breathing.”
That sounded familiar.
“Why did Brendan date me?”
“To find the evidence Rebecca hid.”
“You knew?”
“Eventually.”
“And nobody warned me?”
Maria's face filled with shame.
“Elena tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
The words came out sharper than intended.
Maria accepted them.
“She believed warning you directly would make Brendan panic.”
“He hurt me for three years.”
Maria closed her eyes.
“I know.”
That made Willa stand.
“You knew?”
“Elena found photographs.”
“When?”
“Near the end.”
Willa backed away.
“Why didn't she come to me?”
“She planned to.”
“When?”
“The night she died.”
The room tilted.
Maria reached into her coat slowly.
Security behind the glass reacted.
Willa raised a hand toward the mirror.
Maria placed a flash drive on the table.
“Elena made this for you.”
Willa stared.
“How did you get it?”
“She mailed it to me the morning she died.”
“Why didn't you give it to Jared?”
Maria looked toward the mirror.
“Because I believed Jared killed her.”
Behind the glass, Jared went utterly still.
Willa sat again.
“Why?”
“Sebastian made sure I believed it.”
“How?”
“He sent me photographs of Jared's men following Elena.”
“Were they?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maria looked down.
“Jared had ordered surveillance.”
Willa's pulse increased.
The door opened.
Jared entered.
Maria stood instantly.
“You.”
“Why did I have Elena followed?” Willa demanded.
Jared ignored Maria's hatred.
“Because she was receiving threats.”
“You never told her?”
“She knew.”
Maria laughed bitterly.
“She knew you didn't trust her.”
“That isn't true.”
“She died believing it.”
Jared's face tightened.
Willa inserted the flash drive into the isolated laptop.
One video.
Elena appeared onscreen.
Alive.
Dark hair tied back.
Tired eyes.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If Willa is watching this, then I failed.”
Willa's throat closed.
Elena continued.
“Your mother saved me when I was nineteen. Everything I did afterward began with one promise: if anything happened to Rebecca, I would protect her daughter.”
Willa wiped her cheek.
“I didn't understand Brendan soon enough. I am sorry.”
A pause.
“He works for Sebastian, but Sebastian is losing control of him.”
Elena leaned closer.
“Brendan doesn't just want Rebecca's evidence anymore.”
Willa's hands went cold.
“He wants Willa.”
Jared looked at her.
The video continued.
“He believes fear is love. Sebastian believes fear is loyalty. They are more alike than either understands.”
Then Elena held up a document.
“Sebastian has spent eighteen years stealing from Dominic Kensington and murdering anyone who discovers it.”
She turned the paper.
A list of accounts.
“If Jared sees this, tell him his father suspected the truth before dying.”
Jared inhaled sharply.
“Elena,” he whispered.
She continued.
“Dominic created a secret ledger. Sebastian never found it.”
Willa glanced toward her mother's notebook.
“Where?”
Elena smiled sadly.
“Rebecca hid the key.”
Willa froze.
The brass key.
But they'd already opened the deposit box.
Then Elena said:
“Not a metal key.”
Willa frowned.
Elena pointed toward the camera.
“Willa is the key.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Roman began barking upstairs.
Not ordinary barking.
Alarm.
Miles's radio erupted.
“Penthouse breach!”
Jared ran.
Willa followed despite everyone shouting at her to stay.
They reached the penthouse.
Two guards were down.
Alive.
Sedated.
Roman stood in front of Elena's bedroom, snarling.
The floor panel was open.
The recorder gone.
May you like
And written across the bedroom mirror in black marker were five words.
WILLA KNOWS WHERE IT IS.
