Chapter 6 - The Secret Marcus Kept for Three Years
Dante stared at the photograph until Elena touched his arm.
"Could it be fake?"
Rebecca Shaw examined it.
"We'll authenticate it."
Dante didn't speak.
His brother had supposedly died six months ago.
There had been a funeral.
A body.
A death certificate.
Everything.
Shaw made calls.
Two hours later, she returned.
"The photograph appears genuine."
Dante sat.
Elena had never seen him lose control.
He didn't now.
That somehow made his pain more visible.
"Where?"
"We identified the background."
Shaw placed a map down.
"A rehabilitation facility in Pennsylvania."
Dante looked at Marcus.
Marcus went pale.
"You knew."
Elena turned.
"Marcus?"
He closed his eyes.
"I knew Luca might be alive."
Dante crossed the room.
Elena stepped between them.
"Dante."
He stopped.
Marcus spoke quickly.
"Luca came to me three years ago because he suspected Victor was watching him. He created contingency plans."
"You let me bury my brother."
"I didn't know for certain."
"You let my mother bury her son."
"I was protecting him."
"From me?"
"From whoever was inside your organization."
That stopped Dante.
Marcus continued.
"The body was identified through records Victor controlled. Luca anticipated that possibility. He told me that if he disappeared, I was to assume nothing."
Dante's hands clenched.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Luca specifically ordered me not to."
Silence.
Elena understood something then.
Every person in this story had believed secrecy was protection.
Instead, secrecy had nearly destroyed all of them.
Shaw interrupted.
"We move now."
The facility was surrounded before dawn.
No dramatic confrontation followed.
No army of criminals.
No gunfight.
Just federal agents entering a quiet building.
Twenty minutes later, Shaw returned.
"He's there."
Dante didn't move.
"Alive?"
"Alive."
Dante finally exhaled.
Elena accompanied him down the hallway.
Luca Rossi looked thinner than his photograph.
A scar crossed his temple.
But when Dante entered, Luca smiled.
"Took you long enough."
Dante stopped.
Then crossed the room.
The brothers embraced.
No words.
Elena quietly turned away.
Later, Luca explained.
Victor's men had attempted to kill him after discovering the investigation.
Luca survived but suffered severe injuries.
A physician connected to Rebecca Shaw's investigation had hidden him under another identity.
Only Shaw and two agents knew.
"Why not Dante?" Elena asked.
Luca looked at his brother.
"Because I didn't know who around him I could trust."
Dante accepted that.
It hurt.
But he accepted it.
Then Luca looked at Elena.
"I owe you an apology."
"You owe me several."
He smiled.
"Fair."
"You involved me without asking."
"I thought the recorder would never reach you unless Victor was already exposed."
"Bad plan."
"Very."
Dante almost smiled.
Luca became serious.
"But there's another problem."
Of course there was.
"Victor isn't the top."
Elena groaned.
"Please don't say that."
"I'm sorry."
"Everyone keeps having another secret."
Luca looked at Shaw.
She nodded.
"The financial network was controlled by someone Victor referred to only as Atlas."
Dante frowned.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Luca looked at Elena.
"But you may."
"Why me?"
"Because Atlas visited Vespers."
Elena stared.
"When?"
"The night before the attack."
She searched her memory.
Hundreds of faces.
Then one surfaced.
An older man.
Silver hair.
Booth seven.
He had ordered water.
He had watched her all evening.
And when he left, he had given her a hundred-dollar tip.
She had returned it because he'd paid by card and she assumed it was accidental.
"What did he look like?" Shaw asked.
Elena described him.
Marcus went white.
"That's impossible."
Everyone turned.
"Who?" Dante asked.
Marcus sat down.
"Elena just described Vespers' silent owner."
Elena frowned.
"You own Vespers."
"I operate it."
Marcus looked sick.
"The controlling investor has never appeared publicly."
"Name."
Marcus looked at Dante.
"Alexander Vale."
Dante's expression changed.
Elena noticed immediately.
"You know him."
Dante nodded slowly.
"He was my father's attorney."
Luca whispered something.
Dante looked toward him.
"What?"
Luca repeated it.
"He signed Dad's will."
Silence.
Shaw immediately began searching records.
Then Elena's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
An older man's voice spoke.
"Miss Voss."
Her skin went cold.
She recognized him.
Booth seven.
"Mr. Vale?"
A soft laugh.
"Very good."
Dante reached for the phone.
Elena put it on speaker.
Vale continued.
"You've caused considerable inconvenience."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere familiar."
A pause.
"I believe Marcus calls it the cellar."
Marcus stood abruptly.
Vespers.
Vale was inside the bar.
Then came another sound over the call.
A woman's voice.
Tasha.
"Elena, don't come here."
The line went dead.
Elena stared at Marcus.
Marcus whispered:
"The cellar doesn't exist."
Then a hidden floor plan appeared on Shaw's computer.
May you like
Beneath Vespers was a room none of them knew about.
And someone had just opened its door from the inside.
