Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Samuel Price lived above a laundromat in Brooklyn.
He was seventy-four and walked with a cane.
When Elena entered, he stared at her for a long time.
“You look like your mother.”
Elena froze.
“My mother?”
Thomas looked away.
Elena had been told her mother died when she was two.
Samuel opened an old metal case.
Inside were financial ledgers.
Names.
Payments.
Property transactions.
Marcus Vale’s signature appeared repeatedly.
But another name appeared more often.
Victoria Mercer.
Elena stared at it.
“Who is Victoria Mercer?”
Thomas sat down.
His face had gone pale.
Samuel answered.
“Your mother.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
“My mother was named Anna.”
“No,” Thomas whispered.
“Her name was Victoria.”
Elena stared at her father.
“You told me she died.”
“I thought she did.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She didn’t.”
Elena’s voice dropped.
“Where is she?”
Samuel looked toward Thomas.
Thomas couldn’t meet Elena’s eyes.
Finally Samuel said:
“She’s been living in Connecticut for twenty-three years.”
Elena laughed softly.
It was the kind of laugh that came when reality became too absurd to process.
“My father is alive.”
Neither man spoke.
“My mother is alive.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“And apparently everyone knew except me.”
“Elena—”
“No.”
She stood.
“I want an address.”
Samuel gave it to her.
Thomas tried to follow.
Elena stopped him.
“I’m doing this alone.”
May you like
“Elena.”
“For once in my life, let me decide who I’m ready to face.”
