Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Never Died
Morgana dropped Roman's phone.
It struck the table.
“My mother.”
Roman picked it up.
The photograph remained on-screen.
Elena Hale.
Alive.
Morgana reached for the phone again.
Her fingers trembled.
“Twelve years.”
Roman said nothing.
“Twelve years and she's alive.”
Caleb leaned back.
“That photograph could be old.”
Morgana enlarged it.
A newspaper sat on a crate behind Elena.
Yesterday's date.
“No.”
She turned toward Caleb.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew!”
Roman stepped between them before Morgana could reach him.
“Caleb doesn't matter right now.”
“He knew my mother was alive!”
“And someone knows we found out.”
That stopped her.
Roman pointed at the photograph.
“This was sent to me. Not you.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever took it knows you're with me.”
Hayes entered.
“Aircraft ready.”
Roman looked at Morgana.
“You can stay here.”
“No.”
“Morgana—”
“No more safe rooms while men decide my life.”
Roman studied her.
Then nodded.
“Stay beside me.”
The private plane landed outside Baltimore less than two hours later.
Unit 317 was empty when they arrived.
No Elena.
No attacker.
Only boxes.
Roman's men cleared the building.
Morgana entered.
The painted warning remained.
MORGANA KNOWS TOO MUCH.
She opened the first box.
Financial ledgers.
Shipping manifests.
Photographs.
Roman examined one.
Antonio Costa shaking hands with businessmen.
Another showed Vulov.
Another showed Jason.
Then Morgana found a photograph of herself.
Age ten.
School playground.
Taken from across the street.
Another.
Age fourteen.
Another.
Age seventeen.
Someone had watched her for years.
Roman's face became hard.
Hayes opened a metal case.
“Boss.”
Inside were drives.
Dozens.
Each labeled by year.
Roman selected one.
A laptop was brought in.
The first video showed Elena.
Morgana covered her mouth.
Her mother sat before a camera.
“If you're seeing this, then something went wrong.”
Morgana began crying.
Roman remained beside her.
Elena continued.
“My name is Elena Hale. I worked for Antonio Costa. I discovered that someone inside his organization was laundering money for a trafficking network.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“I told Antonio. Three days later, he died.”
Roman looked away.
Elena continued.
“I copied everything.”
The recording glitched.
Then:
“Jason betrayed me.”
Morgana closed her eyes.
“He gave them my location for money. But Jason was never important enough to organize any of this.”
Elena held up a photograph.
A man.
His face was partly obscured.
Roman leaned toward the screen.
Elena said:
“The man behind the Vulovs was inside Antonio's family.”
Roman froze.
Morgana looked at him.
“Who?”
Roman didn't answer.
Elena continued.
“I couldn't take Morgana because they threatened to kill her if I returned. Caleb helped me disappear. I have watched my daughter from a distance every year.”
Morgana sobbed.
“She watched me.”
Roman's expression softened.
“She stayed away to keep you alive.”
“That doesn't make twelve years disappear.”
“No.”
Roman didn't defend Elena.
Morgana appreciated that.
The recording continued.
“If Morgana is ever transferred as collateral, the agreement is a signal.”
Roman went still.
Morgana stared.
“A signal?”
Elena held another document.
“Jason was instructed years ago. If anyone begins looking for these records, he is to create a gambling debt and offer Morgana as collateral.”
Morgana felt sick.
Roman whispered, “Bait.”
Elena nodded from twelve years in the past as though answering him.
“My daughter is bait.”
Morgana stood.
“They weren't buying me.”
Roman's face darkened.
“They were waiting to see who would protect you.”
“And you did.”
Roman looked at her.
“Yes.”
“So now they know you have the records.”
“Yes.”
A sound came from outside.
Gunfire.
Roman grabbed Morgana and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
Hayes shouted.
“Contact!”
More shots.
Roman drew a handgun.
“Stay down.”
Morgana crouched.
Glass shattered.
Then silence.
Hayes returned.
“One shooter. Gone.”
“Casualties?”
“None.”
Roman looked toward the laptop.
The screen had changed.
Someone had remotely accessed it.
A message appeared.
ROMAN COSTA.
Roman stared.
A second line appeared.
YOUR FATHER SHOULD HAVE LEFT ELENA ALONE.
Then:
NOW YOU WILL MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE.
The drives began deleting.
Hayes rushed forward.
“Disconnect it!”
Morgana pulled the power cable.
The screen went black.
Roman looked at her.
“Good.”
She breathed hard.
“Did we lose everything?”
Hayes checked the drives.
“Some. Not all.”
Morgana noticed something beneath the laptop.
An envelope.
It hadn't been there before.
Or perhaps nobody had noticed.
Her name was written across it.
MORGANA.
She opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a note.
If Roman Costa brought you here, I was right about him.
Morgana looked at Roman.
He read over her shoulder.
The next sentence:
Trust Roman with your life.
But not with his family.
Roman's face changed.
Morgana turned the note over.
There was one final line.
Ask Roman who killed his father.
Roman stepped backward.
“Roman?”
He didn't answer.
Hayes looked uncomfortable.
Morgana's pulse accelerated.
“You know.”
Roman stared at the floor.
“You know who killed Antonio.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, Hayes's phone rang.
He listened.
Then looked at Roman.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found Elena.”
Morgana grabbed the table.
“Where?”
Hayes hesitated.
“Costa Memorial Hospital.”
Roman's face went white.
Morgana noticed.
“Why is that impossible?”
Roman looked at her.
“Because Costa Memorial is controlled by my uncle.”
“Who is your uncle?”
Roman's answer came quietly.
“Gabriel Costa.”
Morgana waited.
Roman looked at the note again.
May you like
Then at her.
“And Gabriel is the man who killed my father.”
