Chapter 7 - The Man in the Mausoleum
Vittorio Valerius had been dead for eleven years.
At least, that was what Roman believed.
The mausoleum camera showed otherwise.
An elderly man stood beside Bradley.
Same eyes.
Same posture.
Older.
Thin.
Alive.
Roman watched the feed without speaking.
Adrian looked ready to destroy the screen.
Penny whispered, “How many dead people are in your family?”
Roman gave her a look.
“Sorry.”
“No. Fair question.”
They went to the mausoleum.
Vittorio did not run.
He sat on a stone bench as if expecting them.
Bradley sat nearby, bruised but alive.
Roman stopped ten feet from his father.
“You let us bury you.”
Vittorio looked at Adrian.
“So did he.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“Family tradition.”
Penny remained beside Roman.
Vittorio noticed her.
“Elaine’s daughter.”
“Penny.”
“I know.”
“Apparently everyone does.”
Vittorio smiled faintly.
“You have her temper.”
“I hope so.”
Roman stepped forward.
“Why are you alive?”
“Because eleven years ago someone poisoned me.”
Roman’s expression changed.
“I survived. Barely.”
“And you disappeared?”
“I needed the person responsible to believe they succeeded.”
Roman laughed bitterly.
“You abandoned your sons.”
“I protected you.”
Penny saw Roman’s jaw tighten.
She spoke before he could.
“People keep using that word.”
Vittorio looked at her.
“Protection.”
Penny continued.
“Everyone lies. Everyone disappears. Everyone decides somebody else can’t handle the truth. Then they call it protection.”
No one answered.
Roman looked at her.
Something in his expression softened.
Vittorio finally nodded.
“Elaine would have liked you.”
“She raised me for nine years. I’d hope so.”
Penny sat opposite him.
“Who killed my mother?”
Vittorio’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
“Who tried?”
“Margaret Vale.”
“On whose orders?”
Vittorio looked toward Roman.
“That is the question.”
Penny placed Elaine’s ledger on the bench.
“I have records.”
Vittorio stared.
“She kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Then you have enough to destroy the Widow.”
“Who is she?”
Vittorio shook his head.
“The Widow isn’t one woman.”
Everyone went still.
“It’s a title,” he continued. “A role passed through the network. The person controlling the money becomes the Widow.”
Penny frowned.
“Who holds it now?”
Vittorio looked at Bradley.
Bradley lowered his head.
Penny turned.
“Bradley?”
“No,” Vittorio said. “He works for her.”
“Then who?”
Bradley finally spoke.
“I never saw her face.”
Penny watched his hands.
Truth.
For once.
“But you heard her voice?”
“Yes.”
“Could you recognize it?”
Bradley nodded.
Penny took out her phone.
She played Margaret’s voicemail.
Bradley shook his head.
“Not her.”
Roman looked at Vittorio.
“Who else?”
Vittorio reached inside his coat.
Roman’s guards tensed.
He removed a photograph.
It showed a formal Valerius family dinner.
Roman.
Adrian.
Sofia.
Vittorio.
And several others.
One face had been circled.
Roman stared.
“No.”
Penny looked.
A beautiful young woman stood beside Adrian.
“Who is she?”
Adrian answered.
“My wife.”
Penny looked at him.
“You were married?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Adrian’s expression went cold.
“She died with me.”
Penny stared at the photograph.
“Apparently that doesn’t mean much around here.”
Vittorio nodded.
“Her name was Elena.”
Roman looked at his father.
“You think Elena is the Widow?”
“I think Elena survived the explosion.”
Adrian stood so quickly the bench scraped.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Adrian grabbed his father’s coat.
Roman intervened.
“Adrian.”
“She was my wife.”
“I know.”
“She let me believe she was dead.”
Roman’s expression became painfully ironic.
“Yes.”
Adrian released Vittorio.
Penny almost felt sorry for the entire family.
Almost.
Then her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT BRADLEY’S ORIGINAL CONTRACT.
Penny looked at Bradley.
He was standing ten feet away.
The sender attached an address.
Her old accounting firm.
Baxter & Cole.
Roman read over her shoulder.
“You’re not going alone.”
“It says—”
“I can read.”
Penny raised an eyebrow.
Roman sighed.
“Poor phrasing again.”
“Very.”
They went together.
Roman remained outside with security while Penny entered the old office.
The building was mostly empty.
One light glowed at the end of the corridor.
Margaret waited inside.
She looked older than Penny remembered.
Tired.
Not triumphant.
“Sit down.”
Penny remained standing.
“Why?”
“Because what I’m about to tell you will change what you think happened to your mother.”
“You’ve had twenty-two years.”
Margaret flinched.
Good.
Penny wanted her to.
“I loved Elaine.”
“Then you had an unusual way of showing it.”
“I tried to stop Thomas.”
“You helped him.”
“At first.”
Margaret looked down.
“We were drowning in debt. Thomas started moving money. I helped. Then it became bigger.”
“The Widow?”
Margaret nodded.
“Thomas thought he controlled her.”
“Who was she?”
“I never knew.”
Penny stared.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she never met anyone directly. She used intermediaries. Even now.”
Penny placed the photograph of Elena on the desk.
“Her?”
Margaret’s face changed.
Penny saw it.
“You know her.”
Margaret whispered, “Where did you get that?”
“Answer.”
Margaret backed away.
“Penny, you need to leave.”
“Is Elena the Widow?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Margaret looked toward the office door.
Fear crossed her face.
“She’s here.”
“Who?”
Margaret grabbed Penny’s wrist.
“The woman who chose you before Bradley ever met you.”
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
Margaret pushed a small key into Penny’s palm.
“Your mother discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“The Widow wasn’t after Valerius money.”
The footsteps stopped outside.
Penny whispered, “What was she after?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“You.”
The door handle moved.
Margaret stepped backward.
The door opened.
And a woman Penny had seen in Roman’s family photographs walked inside.
May you like
Elena Valerius smiled.
“Hello, Penny.”
