Chapter 5 - What Elena Had Done
Julian found the abandoned Mercedes forty minutes later.
The rear door was open.
Blood marked the seat.
His chest tightened.
Then Adrian touched the stain.
“Not enough.”
Julian looked at him.
“What?”
“If she were seriously injured, there would be more.”
“Then whose blood is it?”
Adrian pointed toward broken glass.
“Probably one of the kidnappers.”
Julian stared down the empty road.
The vehicle had been abandoned near an industrial district.
No cameras.
No witnesses.
Planned.
Everything was planned.
Then Adrian found the phone.
Cheap.
Disposable.
Hidden beneath the driver’s seat.
One saved audio file.
Julian pressed play.
Elena’s voice filled the car.
“If you are hearing this, they took me again.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Again.
Not for the first time.
“I don’t know how much time I have.”
Her breathing was uneven.
“I need you to understand what happened before you decide whether you hate me.”
Julian gripped the phone.
“Eight months ago, Marco came to the villa while you were in Geneva.”
Julian looked at Adrian.
Elena continued.
“He told me your company was under investigation.”
“He showed me documents.”
“He said your partners had discovered illegal transfers connected to your name.”
Julian whispered.
“Lies.”
“He said if the evidence reached prosecutors, you would lose everything.”
“He told me there was one way to protect you.”
Julian already knew what came next.
“The transfer.”
“Yes.”
Her recorded voice sounded broken.
“He brought papers.”
“He said they would temporarily move voting control while his lawyers cleaned everything up.”
“I refused.”
Julian swallowed.
“Then he showed me photographs of you.”
“Your car.”
“Your office.”
“The route you took every morning.”
“He knew everything.”
“He said if I didn’t sign, the investigation would become the least of my worries.”
The recording paused.
Julian heard Elena crying quietly.
“He told me people could make accidents happen.”
Julian stared through the windshield.
“Then he made me call your attorney’s office.”
“I thought I was calling your attorney.”
“I wasn’t.”
“A man answered.”
“He confirmed everything Marco said.”
“Later I learned the call had been redirected.”
Julian clenched his jaw.
“Elena.”
“I signed.”
Her voice cracked.
“I signed because I thought I was saving you.”
Julian leaned back against the car.
“Then Marco told me I had to disappear for two weeks.”
“He said if you knew what happened, you would try to reverse the transfer.”
“He said the people involved would kill you.”
“I believed him.”
She took a breath.
“I packed one suitcase.”
“I left my phone.”
“I went to the location he gave me.”
“And that was when I realized I had made the worst mistake of my life.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“A driver took me to a private house.”
“They locked the door.”
“They took my passport.”
“They took my money.”
“They told me I was never going home.”
Adrian looked away.
Julian listened in silence.
“I escaped eleven days later.”
“I made it to a highway.”
“A truck driver helped me.”
“I tried to call you.”
“But before I could reach you, I saw the news about your car crash.”
Julian felt his stomach twist.
“I thought Marco had done it.”
“I thought he was warning me.”
“So I disappeared.”
“I moved constantly.”
“I used false names.”
“And then I found out I was pregnant.”
Julian’s eyes burned.
“Our baby.”
Elena’s voice became a whisper.
“I wanted to come home.”
“I swear to you.”
“I bought a train ticket.”
“I got as far as Florence.”
“Henry found me.”
Julian looked at Adrian.
“He told me Marco knew about the baby.”
“He said if I contacted you, the next accident would not miss.”
The recording went silent for several seconds.
Then Elena said something Julian had not expected.
“But that isn’t the worst part.”
Julian stopped breathing.
“There is something else.”
“The night before I left…”
Her voice shook.
“I went into your study.”
“I opened the locked drawer in your desk.”
Julian frowned.
Only he knew the combination.
Or so he thought.
“I found documents.”
“Bank transfers.”
“Shipping manifests.”
“Payments connected to companies I didn’t recognize.”
Julian stared at Adrian.
“I thought they belonged to you.”
“They didn’t.”
Elena continued.
“They belonged to Marco.”
Julian’s face changed.
“But they were authorized using your credentials.”
Adrian swore softly.
“I photographed everything.”
“I saved the files.”
“Marco discovered what I had done.”
Julian understood.
This was never only about the company.
Elena had evidence.
Evidence Marco needed destroyed.
“The files are still safe.”
Julian straightened.
Her voice became urgent.
“Marco never found them.”
“He thinks I destroyed them.”
“I didn’t.”
Julian stared at the phone.
“Where?”
Elena answered.
“In the place where you first told me you loved me.”
The recording ended.
Julian stood motionless.
Adrian looked at him.
“You know where that is?”
Julian did.
Six years earlier.
Lake Como.
A tiny stone chapel abandoned above the water.
He had taken Elena there during a storm.
They had hidden beneath the old bell tower while rain poured over the lake.
He had told her he loved her for the first time.
Julian looked toward the road.
“Get the helicopter.”
Adrian hesitated.
“What about Elena?”
Julian looked at the blood on the seat.
“If Marco took her, those files are the only reason she is still alive.”
Three hours later, Julian landed near Lake Como.
Rain had begun falling.
The old chapel stood exactly as he remembered it.
Broken windows.
Moss-covered stone.
A rusted iron bell.
Julian entered alone.
The place smelled of rain and dust.
He walked toward the altar.
Six years ago, Elena had laughed here.
She had been soaked to the skin.
He remembered touching her face.
Telling her that she was the only person who had ever made silence feel peaceful.
Now that memory felt like another life.
Julian searched beneath the altar.
Nothing.
Behind the loose bricks.
Nothing.
Then he remembered Elena’s favorite detail.
The bell.
She had once told him every secret deserved somewhere high enough that nobody would think to look.
Julian climbed the narrow stairs.
At the top, he found a loose wooden panel.
Behind it was a waterproof pouch.
Inside were three flash drives.
And a letter.
Julian opened it.
Only one sentence was written inside.
If Marco knows you have this, he will kill our child before he lets you expose him.
Julian stood beneath the old bell while thunder rolled over Lake Como.
For the first time in eight months, he understood the truth.
Elena had never abandoned him.
She had sacrificed herself to protect him.
And now the man who had destroyed their marriage was holding her somewhere.
Julian closed his hand around the flash drives.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
Julian answered.
His brother’s voice was calm.
“Did you find what Elena hid?”
Julian said nothing.
Marco laughed softly.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Then Elena screamed in the background.
Julian’s blood froze.
Marco spoke again.
“Bring me the drives.”
“Where?”
“I’ll send you the location.”
“If you touch her—”
“You have sixty minutes.”
“Marco.”
A pause.
Julian’s voice became deadly quiet.
“If she dies, there will be nowhere on this planet you can hide from me.”
Marco laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
May you like
“I’m not the one you should be afraid of.”
The line went dead.
