Chapter 14 - THEY CAME FOR NOAH
Alejandro called Elena immediately.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
His blood went cold.
“Drive.”
Daniel didn’t ask where.
The estate.
They reached it in eleven minutes.
The front gate was open.
One guard lay unconscious.
Another was missing.
Alejandro jumped from the car before it stopped.
“Elena!”
He ran inside.
The ballroom was empty.
The library empty.
Kitchen empty.
Then he heard Isabella screaming upstairs.
“Noah!”
Alejandro took the stairs three at a time.
Isabella stood in the hallway.
Claire was beside her.
Elena lay on the floor.
Blood on her temple.
Alejandro dropped beside her.
“Elena.”
Her eyes opened.
“They took him.”
Isabella screamed.
“Who?”
Elena tried to sit.
“A woman.”
Alejandro frowned.
“What woman?”
“Older.”
“Gray coat.”
“She knew the house.”
Claire froze.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Claire’s face drained.
“I know who that is.”
Alejandro stood.
“Who?”
Claire whispered.
“Caroline.”
Victoria’s dead mother.
Victoria stared at her.
“Our mother is dead.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Victoria stepped back.
“What are you saying?”
“I saw her six months ago.”
“You what?”
Claire started crying.
“She told me not to tell you.”
Alejandro felt rage rising again.
“Where?”
“A private clinic.”
“Why was she there?”
“She said Richard had hidden her because she knew too much.”
Victoria looked physically ill.
“So everyone in this family just keeps disappearing people?”
Claire looked ashamed.
“I was scared.”
Isabella grabbed her shoulders.
“Where would she take Noah?”
Claire thought.
Then her eyes widened.
“The chapel.”
“What chapel?”
“The old Sinclair family chapel.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Alejandro kicked open the chapel door.
Noah sat in the front pew.
Untouched.
A woman stood beside him.
Caroline Sinclair.
Alive.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
But unmistakably Victoria’s mother.
Victoria stopped in the doorway.
“Mom?”
Caroline began crying.
Victoria didn’t move.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice!”
The words echoed through the chapel.
Noah ran to Isabella.
She dropped to her knees and held him.
Alejandro walked toward Caroline.
“You threatened him.”
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
He showed her the message.
“That wasn’t me.”
“You took him.”
“To protect him.”
“From who?”
Caroline looked toward the chapel doors.
“From Beatriz’s last insurance policy.”
Alejandro frowned.
“She’s in custody.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Who are you talking about?”
Caroline stepped closer.
“Your father.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“Mateo is dead.”
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
Isabella turned.
“What?”
Caroline looked at them both.
“The man buried as Mateo Moreira was his brother.”
Alejandro felt the world go silent.
“No.”
“Mateo survived the crash ten years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Beatriz helped him disappear.”
“Why?”
“Because federal investigators were closing in.”
Alejandro looked at Isabella.
Her face was empty.
Caroline continued.
“He has been controlling Richard for years.”
“Where is he?”
A voice came from the back of the chapel.
“Right here.”
Everyone turned.
An older man stepped from the shadows.
Alejandro knew the face immediately.
Older.
Scarred.
But unmistakable.
His father.
Mateo Moreira.
Alive.
Mateo smiled at his children.
“Hello, Alejandro.”
Isabella started shaking.
Mateo looked at Noah.
May you like
Then smiled.
“And thank you for bringing me the last problem I need to solve.”
