Chapter 7 - VIVIAN’S SECOND KEY
We returned to Belladonna House before sunset.
Vivian was waiting in the library.
She had changed clothes.
Her silver-blue evening gown was gone.
She wore black trousers and a cream sweater.
Without diamonds, makeup, or two hundred guests around her, she looked younger.
She also looked exhausted.
Vincent placed the ledger on the desk.
Vivian stared at it.
“You found it.”
He nodded.
“You already knew where it was.”
She said nothing.
“Your name is listed as secondary beneficiary.”
Her eyes closed.
I stepped forward.
“You opened the box yesterday.”
“Yes.”
My anger returned instantly.
“You took Page 214.”
“No.”
“Then what did you take?”
Vivian looked at me.
“A photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“One my father told me to destroy.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
She reached beneath the sofa cushion.
Luca immediately moved.
Vivian stopped.
“It’s paper.”
“Slowly.”
She pulled out a folded photograph.
Then placed it on the table.
The image showed four people.
My mother.
Salvatore.
Elena Moretti.
And a fourth person whose face had been scratched away.
The date was 1998.
I turned it over.
One sentence had been written on the back.
THE FOUR WHO KNEW THE CHILD WAS ALIVE.
I stared at Vivian.
“Who is the fourth person?”
“I don’t know.”
Vincent looked at the damaged face.
“Why did your father want this destroyed?”
“He said it was fabricated.”
“Yet you kept it.”
Vivian looked down.
“Because yesterday was the first time I started wondering whether he had lied to me.”
I frowned.
“Yesterday?”
She nodded.
“When I opened the box, there was a letter addressed to me.”
“From my mother?”
“Yes.”
My heart accelerated.
“Where is it?”
Vivian slowly took another folded page from her pocket.
She handed it to me.
Vivian,
If Salvatore has sent you to this box, then you are old enough to choose what kind of woman you will become.
Your father will tell you I destroyed your mother.
He will tell you my daughter threatens your future.
He will tell you the Morettis stole everything from the DeMarcos.
None of that is why he is afraid.
He is afraid because you were there.
My eyes lifted.
“What?”
Vivian looked confused.
“I don’t remember being there.”
“Where?”
“The night Teresa disappeared.”
Vincent took the letter.
He continued reading.
You were six years old.
You saw what happened at the lake house.
Your father spent years convincing you it was a nightmare.
It was not.
If you ever remember the woman in the red coat, find Isabella.
She is the only person who can tell you why your mother never came home.
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears.
I stared at her.
“Your mother disappeared too?”
“She died when I was six.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Gabriel slowly stood.
“What date?”
Vivian told him.
His face changed.
“That was three days after Alessandra disappeared.”
Vincent swore quietly.
I looked at Vivian.
“What was your mother’s name?”
“Camille DeMarco.”
Gabriel walked toward the bookshelves.
“Camille knew Alessandra.”
Vivian’s head snapped toward him.
“What?”
“She helped her escape.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father said she barely knew the Morettis.”
“Your father lied.”
Vivian stood.
“You don’t know that.”
“I drove Camille to the lake house.”
Silence.
Vivian’s breathing became uneven.
“Why?”
“Because Alessandra called her.”
“Why would Teresa call my mother?”
“They were friends.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“She never mentioned Teresa.”
“She never got the chance.”
Vivian’s face crumpled for a second.
Then hardened.
“What happened at the lake house?”
Gabriel looked toward Vincent.
Then me.
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
“I left before the others arrived.”
“Coward.”
Gabriel accepted the insult.
Vivian stepped closer.
“What happened to my mother?”
“I don’t know.”
She slapped him.
The crack echoed through the library.
Gabriel did not retaliate.
Vivian’s hand trembled.
“Twenty years.”
Her voice broke.
“Twenty years I believed she drove drunk.”
Gabriel looked at her sadly.
“Camille never drank.”
Vivian froze.
My mother’s letter had connected us.
Not through friendship.
Through two women who had vanished because of the same secret.
Vincent looked at the red ledger.
“Page 214.”
Gabriel nodded.
“If we find it, we may find the fourth person.”
Vivian shook her head.
“I didn’t take it.”
“Did you see it?”
“No.”
“When you opened the box, was it already missing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“I never looked through the ledger.”
“Why not?”
“My father told me touching it would make me a target.”
I stared.
“And you listened?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you planned to send me to prison.”
Her eyes met mine.
“I was afraid.”
“So was my mother.”
Vivian looked away.
“And your mother.”
That landed.
For several moments neither of us spoke.
Then Luca entered.
He carried a laptop.
“We found Ethan Pike.”
Vincent stood.
“Where?”
“His car is at JFK.”
“Flight?”
“None.”
“Cameras?”
“He entered Terminal Four.”
“Did he leave?”
“No.”
“So he’s still inside.”
Luca shook his head.
“We found footage from a restricted maintenance exit.”
“He changed clothes.”
“Where did he go?”
“A black sedan picked him up.”
“Plate?”
“Registered to a DeMarco subsidiary.”
Vivian looked horrified.
“My father.”
Luca nodded.
“Probably.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Was Ethan working for Salvatore?”
“I never met him outside this house.”
Luca turned the laptop.
“There’s more.”
Security footage appeared.
Ethan Pike was visible in a garage.
A second man stood beside him.
I recognized him instantly.
Salvatore.
Then a third person stepped into frame.
Someone wearing a hood.
The face wasn’t visible.
But the person walked with a slight limp.
Vivian inhaled sharply.
“What?”
She pointed at the screen.
“I know that walk.”
“Who?”
She looked at Vincent.
“Your mother’s nurse.”
Vincent frowned.
“My mother had dozens of nurses.”
“No.”
“The final one.”
He became still.
“Margaret Sloan?”
Vivian nodded.
Gabriel looked confused.
“Who is she?”
Vincent’s face had gone pale.
“She cared for my mother during the last seven years of her life.”
“When did Elena die?”
“Five years ago.”
Luca stared at the video.
“Margaret disappeared two weeks after the funeral.”
Vivian looked at me.
“My father used to visit her.”
I stepped closer.
“When?”
“When Elena was dying.”
Vincent’s expression darkened.
“He told me he was checking on the family.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“Or checking whether she would talk.”
The possibility was horrifying.
Vincent looked at Luca.
“Find Margaret.”
Luca nodded.
Before he could leave, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person in the room became still.
I answered on speaker.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice whispered.
“Isabella?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Margaret Sloan.”
Vincent stepped closer.
The woman continued.
“Do not let them find me.”
I looked around.
“Who?”
“The Morettis.”
Vincent stiffened.
“The DeMarcos.”
Vivian stared.
“Gabriel Vale.”
Gabriel went pale.
Margaret’s breathing sounded frightened.
“And especially Luca Ferraro.”
Everyone turned toward Luca.
His expression went blank.
I gripped the phone.
“Why?”
Margaret whispered.
“Because Page 214 doesn’t contain one name.”
“It contains six.”
“And every person standing in that room is connected to one of them.”
The call ended.
Nobody moved.
Then Luca quietly reached inside his jacket.
Vincent’s guards immediately drew their weapons.
Luca froze.
“Easy.”
Vincent stared at the man who had served his family for decades.
“Take your hand out.”
Luca slowly raised both hands.
A folded piece of paper fell from his jacket pocket.
I stared.
The paper was red.
Luca closed his eyes.
Vincent picked it up.
At the top was printed:
May you like
LEDGER — PAGE 214.
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