Chapter 13 - The Letter That Never Vanished
Sophia had not lost Elena's envelope.
Not exactly.
She had hidden it inside the lining of an old winter coat. The next morning, the envelope she left in her dresser was gone, so she assumed Arthur had taken it.
But Elena had prepared two.
Sophia found the second one years later and never opened it.
"I was scared," she said over the phone. "After my husband died, I had Lily. I thought whatever Elena was afraid of had ended with her."
"Where is it now?"
"My apartment. In a cedar box."
Frank heard every word through the warehouse speakers.
Then he laughed.
"Thank you, Sophia."
My stomach dropped.
His plan changed instantly.
He no longer needed my code. He needed Sophia.
"Vincent!" I shouted. "Get men to her apartment now!"
Frank fired from the shadows. The shot sparked off steel near my head.
Quinn moved left. Luca took the right stairs. Arthur stayed with Ethan, one hand pressed over his bleeding shoulder.
I followed Frank through a corridor between stacked shipping containers.
"You killed Elena for a ledger?" I shouted.
His voice echoed back. "I killed her because she believed your family could become clean by pretending the blood wasn't there."
"She was right about one thing."
"What's that?"
"You were afraid of her."
Silence.
Then Frank came at me from the side.
We hit the concrete hard. His gun skidded away.
He was sixty-eight, but rage had kept him strong. He drove a knee into my ribs. I punched him once, twice. He laughed with blood on his teeth.
"Your father would've been ashamed of you."
"Good."
That answer hurt him more than the punch.
Quinn appeared with her weapon raised.
"Frank Delaney! Hands where I can see them!"
Frank looked at me.
Then at the dark river beyond the loading bay.
He ran.
He jumped from the dock into the Hudson.
Quinn reached the edge seconds later.
Nothing but black water.
No body surfaced.
My phone rang again.
Sophia.
I answered.
A man's voice said, "Mr. Moretti? This is Officer Reed. We reached Ms. Carter's apartment."
"And?"
"The door was already open."
My heart sank.
"Sophia's cedar box is gone."
Then he added the part that made the whole night worse.
"There was a photograph left in its place."
May you like
"Of what?"
"Your wife. Alive. Taken six months after the accident."
