Chapter 5 - The Man Above the Vulovs
Roman didn't sleep.
Neither did Morgana.
They returned to the city before dawn.
Gabriel Costa.
Roman's uncle.
Chairman of Costa Memorial Hospital.
Philanthropist.
Businessman.
The man who had raised Roman after Antonio died.
The man Roman had trusted for twenty years.
Morgana sat across from Roman in the SUV.
“You've known he killed your father?”
“I suspected.”
“Since when?”
“Three years ago.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I had no proof.”
“You're Roman Costa.”
“That doesn't mean I execute family members because I have a feeling.”
Morgana studied him.
“You really care about proof.”
“I care about not becoming Gabriel.”
They arrived at the hospital through a service entrance.
Hayes had secured a private floor.
Morgana walked beside Roman.
Her heart pounded.
Room 814.
A guard opened the door.
Elena lay in the bed.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Morgana stopped.
Her mother opened her eyes.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Elena whispered:
“My baby.”
Morgana's face crumpled.
But she didn't run into her mother's arms.
Twelve years stood between them.
“You watched me.”
Elena began crying.
“Yes.”
“You watched him hurt me.”
Pain crossed Elena's face.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew Jason.”
“I knew what he'd done to me. I didn't know what he became with you.”
Morgana stepped closer.
“You could have called.”
“They monitored you.”
“Every year?”
“Yes.”
“Every birthday?”
“Yes.”
Morgana cried openly now.
Roman remained by the door.
Elena noticed him.
“You look like Antonio.”
Roman's face hardened.
“You knew who killed him.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Gabriel.”
Roman approached.
“Proof.”
“Storage drive.”
“Where?”
Elena looked at Morgana.
“The key.”
Morgana took out the key from Unit 317.
“Bank deposit box?”
Elena nodded.
“First Federal. Box 908.”
Roman called Hayes.
Elena stopped him.
“Don't.”
Roman turned.
“Why?”
“Gabriel owns someone at the bank.”
Roman's expression darkened.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Elena looked toward Morgana.
“I came back because Jason activated the collateral agreement.”
“You knew?”
“I received an alert.”
“Then why didn't you come to me?”
“I tried.”
Morgana froze.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Roman's phone rang.
Hayes answered instead.
His face changed.
“Roman.”
He handed over the phone.
Roman listened.
“Understood.”
He disconnected.
“The bank box was opened twenty minutes ago.”
Elena sat upright.
“No.”
“Someone took whatever was inside.”
Elena's heart monitor accelerated.
“That was the only complete copy.”
Morgana looked at the key.
“Who knew?”
Elena whispered, “Caleb.”
Roman immediately called.
No answer.
Hayes called the house.
A guard answered.
Caleb Mercer was gone.
Morgana felt betrayed again.
Roman's eyes became cold.
“He used us.”
Elena shook her head.
“No. Caleb wouldn't.”
Roman looked at her.
“You trusted Jason once too.”
The words hurt.
Elena accepted them.
“Yes.”
Morgana intervened.
“Where would Caleb go?”
Elena thought.
“The docks.”
Roman and Hayes exchanged looks.
They moved immediately.
Morgana refused to remain behind.
At the port, Roman's men surrounded Warehouse 12.
Inside they found Caleb.
Alive.
Bleeding.
He leaned against a shipping container.
Roman approached.
“Where is the drive?”
Caleb laughed weakly.
“You think I took it?”
“You disappeared.”
“Because someone tried to kill me.”
Roman crouched.
“Name.”
Caleb looked at Morgana.
“Jason.”
Morgana's stomach dropped.
“My father?”
“He opened the box.”
Roman stood.
“Impossible.”
Caleb reached into his jacket and produced a photograph.
Security camera.
Jason entering First Federal.
Morgana stared.
“He stole the drive.”
Caleb nodded.
“Gabriel paid him.”
Roman looked away in disgust.
Again.
Jason had betrayed everyone.
Roman called Hayes.
“Find him.”
Hayes already had a location.
“Diner.”
Morgana frowned.
“Why would he go there?”
Roman understood first.
“Because he wants you.”
They reached the diner fifteen minutes later.
Jason sat alone in a booth.
A black drive rested on the table.
Morgana entered with Roman.
Jason smiled sadly.
“I knew you'd come.”
Morgana remained standing.
“Give us the drive.”
Jason touched it.
“Gabriel offered me five hundred thousand.”
Roman's voice was flat.
“You won't live long enough to spend it.”
Jason laughed.
“I know.”
For once, he sounded honest.
Morgana looked at him.
“Then why?”
Jason's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I thought money could fix what money destroyed.”
“You sold Mom for money.”
“Yes.”
“You sold me for money.”
Jason looked down.
“Yes.”
“And now you stole the only thing that can stop the man responsible.”
“Yes.”
Morgana's voice broke.
“Why should I ever forgive you?”
Jason looked at her.
“You shouldn't.”
That answer surprised her.
He pushed the drive across the table.
“I didn't give it to Gabriel.”
Roman picked it up.
Jason continued.
“I told him I would.”
“Why?”
Jason looked toward the windows.
“Because I needed him to come personally.”
Roman's expression changed.
Morgana followed Jason's gaze.
A black sedan had stopped outside.
Jason whispered:
“He's here.”
Roman's men moved.
But Jason grabbed Morgana's hand.
“Wait.”
She pulled away.
Jason slid something beneath the table.
A tiny recorder.
“Everything Gabriel said to me is on that.”
Roman took it.
Jason's face was wet with tears.
“I can't undo what I did.”
“No,” Morgana said.
“But maybe I can stop doing it.”
The diner door opened.
Gabriel Costa entered.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
Smiling.
Roman stood.
“Uncle.”
Gabriel looked at Morgana.
Then Jason.
Then the drive in Roman's hand.
His smile disappeared.
“You were supposed to deliver the girl.”
Jason stood.
“No.”
Gabriel stared.
Jason's voice shook.
“I already sold my daughter once.”
He looked at Morgana.
“I won't do it again.”
Gabriel sighed.
Then he reached inside his coat.
Roman drew his weapon.
Hayes drew his.
Nobody fired.
Gabriel smiled.
“Roman, before you do something emotional, ask Morgana's mother what was really on that drive.”
Morgana froze.
Roman's weapon remained steady.
“What are you talking about?”
Gabriel looked directly at her.
“Elena didn't disappear because she feared me.”
May you like
He smiled.
“She disappeared because she discovered who Morgana's real father was.”
