Chapter 10 - The Third Drive
Elena stared at Giovanni.
“I don’t have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
Giovanni smiled.
“You just don’t know where.”
Julian immediately moved closer to her.
His father noticed.
“Still protective.”
Julian ignored him.
“What did you do to her?”
Giovanni looked toward Henry.
Henry walked behind Elena.
Julian stepped forward.
A gun rose toward his chest.
“Don’t touch her.”
Henry pulled a small silver pendant from beneath Elena’s housekeeping uniform.
Elena looked down.
Her expression changed.
The pendant was shaped like a narrow oval.
Old.
Scratched.
Julian recognized it.
His mother’s pendant.
Elena had worn it for years.
Julian had given it to her on their wedding day.
Giovanni held out his hand.
Henry tore it from Elena’s neck.
“No!”
She tried to stand.
The ropes stopped her.
Henry handed the pendant to Giovanni.
The older man pressed the edge.
The casing opened.
Inside was a micro-storage chip.
Elena stared in horror.
“I didn’t know.”
Giovanni smiled.
“I believe you.”
Julian’s mind raced.
“Who put it there?”
Giovanni looked at him.
“That is the right question.”
Elena shook her head.
“I had this before I found the files.”
“Yes.”
Julian stared at the pendant.
His mother had owned it.
She died twelve years ago.
The evidence was only eight months old.
Therefore the chip had been inserted later.
“Who had access to it?”
Elena looked at Julian.
“I left it at the villa when I disappeared.”
Julian froze.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I remember.”
Her voice shook.
“I thought wearing expensive jewelry would make me easier to identify.”
“I left it in the bedroom.”
Julian remembered finding it.
He had held the pendant the morning after she vanished.
Then he had locked it in his desk.
Months later, Camila had found it.
He remembered the conversation.
She had asked who it belonged to.
Julian told her.
Camila apologized.
She returned it to the drawer.
Then six weeks ago, when Julian finally decided to close the villa and move permanently into the city, he had packed Elena’s remaining possessions.
The pendant had disappeared.
He assumed a staff member misplaced it.
Now Elena was wearing it.
“How did you get this back?”
Elena looked confused.
“It came in the mail.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“From who?”
“No return address.”
Julian’s pulse accelerated.
Giovanni examined the chip.
“Someone has been playing both sides.”
Marco laughed from the floor.
“Finally figured that out?”
Giovanni looked down at him.
Marco’s smile widened.
“You’re not nearly as untouchable as you think, Father.”
Giovanni’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you do?”
Marco coughed.
Then laughed again.
“You should ask Camila.”
Giovanni went still.
Julian noticed.
For the first time that night, his father looked surprised.
Marco continued.
“You really believed she belonged to you?”
Giovanni’s voice became quiet.
“Careful.”
“She built Bellweather with your money.”
“Yes.”
“She followed your instructions.”
“Yes.”
“She got close to Julian because you ordered it.”
“Yes.”
Marco smiled.
“But you never asked what she wanted.”
The warehouse doors suddenly slammed shut.
Every light went out.
Darkness.
Elena screamed.
Gunfire exploded.
Julian dropped to the ground.
Bullets tore through metal containers.
Someone shouted.
Another gun fired.
Julian crawled toward Elena.
“Elena!”
“Here!”
He found the chair.
His hands searched for the ropes.
A blade pressed into his palm.
Someone had left it beneath the seat.
He cut through the binding.
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Stay low.”
The emergency lights flickered red.
Julian looked up.
One of Giovanni’s guards was down.
Henry Vale was gone.
Marco was gone.
Giovanni stood behind a shipping container with a pistol.
The pendant was no longer in his hand.
Julian pulled Elena behind cover.
“Where’s the chip?”
“I don’t know.”
A woman’s voice came through the warehouse speakers.
“Looking for this?”
Everyone froze.
Julian knew the voice.
Camila.
A screen above the loading bay turned on.
Camila appeared live.
No emerald gown now.
Black pants.
White shirt.
Hair pulled back.
Completely different woman.
She held the microchip between her fingers.
Giovanni stared at the screen.
“You.”
Camila smiled.
“Hello, Giovanni.”
“How did you get that?”
She laughed.
“You really are getting old.”
Giovanni raised the gun toward a camera.
“Where are you?”
“Close enough.”
Julian stepped out slightly.
“Camila.”
Her eyes shifted.
For a fraction of a second, the confidence disappeared.
Then it returned.
“Julian.”
“You planned this.”
“Some of it.”
“You own Bellweather.”
“Yes.”
“You targeted me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Camila did not answer immediately.
Giovanni spoke.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Camila laughed.
“Oh, please.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Your father has lied to you your entire life.”
Julian glanced at Giovanni.
“I already figured that out.”
“No.”
Camila’s expression became serious.
“You’ve figured out what he did to your company.”
“You haven’t figured out what he did to your mother.”
Giovanni raised his gun and fired at the screen.
The image flickered.
Then returned.
Camila smiled.
“Still sensitive.”
Julian felt cold.
“My mother died of cancer.”
Camila stared at him.
“No.”
Giovanni shouted.
“Enough.”
Camila continued.
“Your mother was preparing to expose the same network Elena discovered.”
Julian stopped breathing.
Giovanni moved toward the control room.
Camila’s voice echoed above them.
“She collected records.”
“She contacted investigators.”
“She planned to take you and leave Italy.”
Julian stared at his father.
Giovanni’s face told him everything before Camila finished.
“Then she died.”
Julian’s voice was barely audible.
“What are you saying?”
Camila held up the chip.
“I’m saying Elena wasn’t the first Rossi wife who discovered too much.”
Silence swallowed the warehouse.
Elena reached for Julian’s hand.
Camila continued.
“And if you want proof, Julian…”
She looked at the chip.
“It’s all right here.”
Giovanni turned and fired at the camera again.
The screen went black.
Then speakers crackled.
Camila’s final words filled the darkness.
“Ask your father who signed your mother’s death certificate.”
The warehouse fell silent.
Julian looked at Giovanni.
His father did not meet his eyes.
That was answer enough.
Julian took one step toward him.
“Who signed it?”
Giovanni said nothing.
“Who?”
Another silence.
Then Marco’s voice suddenly came from somewhere near the rear loading doors.
“I did.”
Julian turned.
Marco stood fifty feet away.
One hand pressed against his bleeding leg.
The other held a pistol.
Beside him stood Henry Vale.
And Henry was holding Elena’s medical file.
Marco smiled through the pain.
“You want to know why?”
Julian stared at him.
Marco lifted the file.
“Because Mother wasn’t dying.”
Elena squeezed Julian’s hand.
May you like
Marco’s smile vanished.
“She was pregnant.”
