Chapter 7 - The Woman Roman Buried
“Son, it’s time you learned why Lucia was chosen.”
Roman’s hand froze on the door handle.
Sadi stared at the warning on her phone.
DON’T LET ROMAN OPEN IT.
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
“Don’t.”
The woman outside knocked again.
“Roman?”
His face had lost its color.
Lucia stepped from the bedroom.
The moment she heard the voice, she stopped.
“No.”
Roman turned toward her.
“You know her?”
Lucia backed away.
“No.”
But her body said otherwise.
Her right hand moved unconsciously toward the scar beneath her collar.
Mateo saw it.
“Lucia.”
“Don’t open that door.”
Roman looked between them.
“That’s my mother.”
Lucia shook her head.
“That woman raised me.”
Silence.
Roman released the handle.
“What?”
Lucia’s voice trembled.
“Not as Lucia Costa.”
She swallowed.
“As Claire Bennett.”
Roman stared at her.
Sadi felt the entire room shift.
The woman outside spoke again.
“I know you’re all in there.”
Mateo moved toward the door.
“Go away, Evelyn.”
Roman turned sharply.
Evelyn.
His mother.
The woman who had supposedly died twelve years ago.
A soft laugh came through the door.
“You always were terrible at reunions, Mateo.”
Sadi whispered, “How many dead people are walking around tonight?”
Nobody answered.
Roman stepped toward Mateo.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Fourteen years.”
Roman shoved a hand through his hair.
“You let me bury her too?”
“I didn't arrange her death.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
Roman laughed once.
It sounded broken.
Sadi understood that sound.
It was the noise a person made when anger had nowhere left to go.
Roman looked at Lucia.
“She raised you?”
Lucia nodded.
“For seventeen years.”
“You lived with our mother.”
“I didn't know she was ours.”
Roman closed his eyes.
Sadi looked at Mateo.
“Why was Lucia taken?”
Mateo glanced toward the door.
“Because Evelyn needed access Antonio would never knowingly give her.”
Roman opened his eyes.
“Access through a nine-year-old?”
“Your father built his earliest security protocols around family-linked authorization. He trusted blood more than passwords.”
Sadi understood.
“Lucia was a key.”
Mateo nodded.
“Not metaphorically.”
Lucia touched the scar again.
Roman looked sick.
“The fifth piece.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn's voice came through the door.
“Mateo always loved making me sound monstrous.”
Lucia flinched.
Sadi saw it.
Roman did too.
His expression changed.
Whatever confusion he felt about his mother, his sister's fear mattered more.
He stepped away from the door.
“We're not opening it.”
Sadi exhaled.
Evelyn went silent.
Then:
“Lucia, sweetheart?”
Lucia's eyes closed.
“Don't call me that.”
“I took care of you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I saved you.”
“You told me my family abandoned me.”
“They did.”
Roman moved toward the door.
Sadi caught his arm.
He stopped.
Evelyn continued.
“Antonio chose the company over his children every day of his life. Roman knows that.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
Lucia looked at him.
“Is that true?”
Roman took a moment.
“Our father wasn't easy.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“He didn't abandon you.”
Lucia's eyes filled.
“How do you know?”
“Because he never stopped looking.”
“You were twelve.”
“I remember him.”
Roman's voice cracked.
“I remember what losing you did to him.”
Lucia looked away.
Roman continued.
“He kept your room exactly the same for years. Mom wanted it emptied.”
Lucia slowly looked back at the door.
Sadi noticed.
So did Mateo.
Roman whispered, “She wanted your room gone.”
Lucia's face hardened.
Something inside her had just shifted.
Evelyn spoke through the door.
“Roman, your father lied to you too.”
“Probably.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Roman continued.
“Apparently that was the family business.”
Sadi almost smiled.
Evelyn didn't.
“You think Mateo is telling you the truth?”
“No.”
Mateo raised an eyebrow.
Roman looked at him.
“I think every person in this apartment has lied about something.”
His gaze moved to Sadi.
“Except maybe her.”
Sadi folded her arms.
“Don't make me the healthy one. That's depressing.”
For one brief second, Lucia laughed.
A small sound.
Unexpected.
Human.
Roman looked at her.
His expression softened.
Evelyn heard it.
Her voice changed.
“Lucia, open the door.”
Lucia went rigid.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“You're confused.”
“No.”
“You don't know these people.”
Lucia looked at Roman.
Then Mateo.
Then Elena.
Finally Sadi.
“Neither do you.”
The hallway went silent.
Mateo whispered, “Good.”
Then Sadi's phone vibrated.
A photograph arrived.
Charles Vale.
He was sitting inside Roman's SUV.
Alone.
His head lowered.
Underneath:
WE HAVE THE THIRD PIECE.
Roman swore.
Another message.
GINA HAS ANTONIO'S.
Sadi looked at Mateo.
“That's four.”
Mateo understood.
His piece.
Elena's pendant.
Lucia's implanted storage key.
Charles's piece.
Antonio's stolen piece.
Daniel and Evelyn now potentially controlled two.
“We have three,” Sadi said.
Mateo shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
He looked at Lucia.
“We can't remove hers here.”
Roman's face hardened.
“You're not cutting anything out of her.”
“I'm not suggesting that.”
“Good.”
Mateo looked at Sadi.
“Your mother's piece is the one inside the pendant.”
Lucia removed it and handed it to Sadi.
Sadi stared at the necklace she hadn't seen in two years.
She opened the tiny compartment.
The storage key was smaller than her fingernail.
She looked at Elena.
“You gave this to me without telling me.”
“I didn't know.”
“I believe you.”
Elena looked surprised.
It was the first kind thing Sadi had said to her all night.
Sadi wasn't ready to forgive her.
But truth mattered.
And she believed that truth.
A loud metallic sound came from the hallway.
Roman moved toward the door.
Sadi stopped him again.
“Wait.”
She crouched.
A shadow moved beneath the door.
Someone was placing something outside.
Then footsteps retreated.
Roman waited.
Thirty seconds.
Silence.
He opened the door carefully.
The hallway was empty.
A small wooden box sat on the floor.
Sadi stared at it.
“No.”
Roman didn't touch it.
Mateo approached.
He recognized the box.
“What is it?” Sadi asked.
“Antonio's.”
Roman frowned.
“I've never seen it.”
“He kept Marrow documents inside.”
Roman looked down the empty hallway.
“My mother brought this?”
“Or wanted us to think she did,” Sadi said.
Roman picked up the box.
No wires.
No obvious danger.
They brought it inside.
The lid wasn't locked.
Roman opened it.
One photograph.
One envelope.
One old hospital bracelet.
Roman picked up the bracelet.
LUCIA COSTA.
AGE 9.
His hand trembled.
Lucia stared.
“I've never seen that.”
Roman handed it to her.
She turned it over.
On the back was a handwritten number.
Sadi looked at Mateo.
“The same number as the key.”
Mateo nodded.
“Antonio used Lucia's birthday for everything connected to the investigation.”
Roman opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Evelyn's handwriting.
He recognized it immediately.
Roman read silently.
His expression changed.
“What?” Sadi asked.
He handed her the page.
Sadi read aloud.
“Antonio, if you're reading this, then you've decided to blame me for what happened to Lucia.”
Lucia stepped closer.
Sadi continued.
“I didn't take our daughter.”
Roman looked at Mateo.
Mateo frowned.
Sadi read the next line.
“I helped hide her after someone else did.”
Lucia whispered, “What?”
Roman took the letter back.
“Who?”
He scanned downward.
His face changed again.
The name had been removed.
Literally.
A rectangle had been cut from the paper.
Sadi examined it.
“Someone doesn't want us knowing.”
Mateo looked toward the hallway.
“Or Evelyn wants us to believe she's protecting the name.”
Sadi picked up the photograph.
It showed Lucia as a child.
She stood beside Evelyn.
There was a third person.
But the person's face had been scratched out.
Sadi turned the photograph over.
Three names.
Lucia.
Evelyn.
And beneath them:
D.V.
Sadi stopped.
Daniel Voss.
Roman saw it.
“No.”
Mateo took the photograph.
His face hardened.
“I knew Daniel worked with Evelyn later. Not this early.”
Lucia stared at the childhood version of herself.
“I remember that day.”
Roman moved closer.
“What happened?”
“We drove somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
Lucia closed her eyes.
“A building.”
“What kind?”
“Big.”
Roman waited.
Lucia breathed slowly.
“There were cars.”
Sadi's attention sharpened.
“What kind of cars?”
“I don't know.”
“New?”
Lucia opened her eyes.
“Yes.”
“A dealership?”
Lucia looked around Sadi's apartment.
Then at Roman.
“I think so.”
Mateo went still.
Roman whispered, “Monza?”
Lucia shook her head.
“Not that name.”
Sadi looked at the photograph again.
A sign was partially visible behind them.
Only two letters remained.
V.
A.
Roman recognized them.
“Vale Automotive.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“Charles's family owned dealerships before he became an attorney.”
Sadi felt another piece move into place.
“Charles.”
Mateo shook his head.
“No.”
“You said Antonio trusted someone close to the family.”
“Charles helped investigate Marrow.”
“So did Daniel.”
Mateo had no answer.
Sadi looked at the photograph.
D.V.
Daniel Voss.
Vale Automotive.
Evelyn.
Lucia.
A nine-year-old girl used as an access key.
“What if Daniel didn't join Marrow later?” Sadi said.
Mateo stared at her.
“What?”
“What if that's what he wanted you to believe?”
She laid the photograph on the table.
“What if Daniel was there from the beginning?”
Mateo's face slowly changed.
Sadi continued.
“He became my mentor. He found me. He taught me forensic analysis. Then he put Marrow in front of me.”
“He didn't know you were Mateo's daughter when he hired you.”
“Are you sure?”
Mateo didn't answer.
Sadi looked at Elena.
“Did Daniel know my real name?”
Elena went pale.
“Sadi—”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
Mateo turned toward Elena.
“You told him?”
“Years ago.”
“When?”
“After Sadi graduated.”
“Why?”
“Because he contacted me.”
Sadi felt sick.
“He contacted you before he hired me?”
Elena nodded.
“How long before?”
“Three months.”
Sadi stared at her mother.
Everything she believed about becoming the Ghost collapsed.
Daniel hadn't discovered her talent accidentally.
He had selected her.
Roman understood.
“You were recruited.”
Sadi looked down at the photograph.
“No.”
Worse.
“I was cultivated.”
Mateo sank into a chair.
For the first time, the man who had survived inside Marrow for thirty years looked defeated.
Sadi's phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
FIGURED IT OUT YET?
She typed back.
YOU CHOSE ME.
The reply came immediately.
YES.
Her fingers tightened.
WHY?
Three dots.
Then:
BECAUSE MATEO FAILED.
Another message.
ANTONIO FAILED.
Another.
BUT YOU WON'T.
Sadi typed:
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
The response:
THE FIVE PIECES.
She looked at Mateo.
Roman read over her shoulder.
Another message arrived.
AND THE PERSON WHO CAN READ THEM.
Sadi.
Roman took the phone.
He typed:
NO.
Daniel replied almost instantly.
ROMAN. STILL TRYING TO SAVE WOMEN WHO NEVER ASKED YOU TO?
Roman's jaw tightened.
Lucia read the message.
“That sounds like him.”
Sadi looked at her.
“You remember Daniel?”
Lucia nodded slowly.
“Not his name.”
“But his face?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Lucia closed her eyes.
“He came to the house.”
“What house?”
“The one where Evelyn raised me.”
“How often?”
“I don't know.”
Lucia opened her eyes.
“But whenever he came, Evelyn made me sleep downstairs.”
Roman frowned.
“Why?”
“There was a room.”
Mateo leaned forward.
“What room?”
“Computers.”
Sadi's pulse accelerated.
“What else?”
“Files.”
“Did you ever read them?”
“No.”
Lucia hesitated.
“One had Roman's name.”
Roman went still.
“What did it say?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
Lucia pressed her fingers to her temples.
“I was maybe fourteen.”
Roman waited.
“There were two columns.”
“Names?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Choices.”
Sadi frowned.
“What choices?”
Lucia looked at Roman.
“One said SUCCESSOR.”
Roman stopped breathing.
“And the other?”
Lucia whispered:
“FAILSAFE.”
Mateo stood abruptly.
“No.”
Sadi looked at him.
“What?”
Mateo's face had gone white.
“Marrow's original architecture.”
“What about it?”
“It required two family-linked identities.”
Roman stared at Lucia.
“One to control the network.”
Mateo nodded.
“And one to destroy it.”
Sadi understood.
“Roman and Lucia.”
“Yes.”
Roman shook his head.
“My mother used both of us.”
“No,” Mateo said.
“Antonio did.”
Roman stared.
“What?”
Mateo swallowed.
“Your father built the failsafe after Lucia disappeared.”
“Using me?”
“Yes.”
Roman looked furious.
“Without telling me?”
“He believed ignorance protected you.”
Sadi muttered, “Apparently that disease was contagious.”
Roman almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the apartment intercom buzzed.
Everyone froze.
Once.
Twice.
Sadi approached it.
“Who is it?”
Static.
Then Charles Vale's voice.
“Sadi.”
Roman moved beside her.
“Charles?”
“I got away.”
Mateo looked suspicious.
“Where are you?”
“Downstairs.”
Roman reached for the lobby camera on Sadi's tablet.
The feed loaded.
Charles stood in the lobby.
Alone.
His coat torn.
Blood on his forehead.
He looked directly at the camera.
“Let me up.”
Sadi studied him.
Something was wrong.
“Where's your document case?”
Charles looked down.
“They took it.”
“The third piece?”
“Yes.”
Mateo whispered, “Don't let him in.”
Charles seemed to hear.
His eyes moved toward the camera.
“Mateo is wrong.”
Sadi pressed the intercom.
“About what?”
“Daniel doesn't have my piece.”
“Who does?”
Charles looked over his shoulder.
Nobody was there.
Then he looked back.
“Gina.”
Roman frowned.
“She has two pieces?”
“No.”
Charles's voice shook.
“Gina isn't working for Daniel.”
Sadi felt cold.
“Then who is she working for?”
Charles opened his mouth.
The lobby lights went out.
The camera feed turned black.
Roman swore.
Sadi grabbed her phone.
No signal.
Again.
Lucia backed away from the door.
Then someone knocked.
Not downstairs.
On Sadi's apartment door.
Charles's voice came from the hallway.
“Sadi, open up.”
Roman looked at the tablet.
The lobby feed returned.
Charles was still standing downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Another knock came from the apartment door.
Then the voice outside spoke again.
“Sadi.”
It sounded exactly like Charles.
Mateo stepped backward.
“That isn't him.”
The doorknob slowly turned.
Sadi stared at the lock.
It clicked open by itself.
May you like
The door moved inward.
And the person standing on the other side was wearing Gina's dealership badge.
