Chapter 14 - THE LAST PERSON ELENA EXPECTED
Julian reached the hospital in twenty-three minutes.
He ran through the entrance.
Past security.
Past reporters.
Past two police officers calling his name.
He reached Elena’s room.
Empty.
His heart stopped.
“Elena?”
No answer.
He ran into the hallway.
A nurse approached.
“Mr. Rossi.”
“Where is my wife?”
“With the baby.”
He nearly collapsed with relief.
“And Adrian?”
“With her.”
“Camille?”
“Security office.”
Julian headed toward neonatal care.
Through the glass, he saw Elena.
She sat in a wheelchair beside Sofia’s incubator.
Adrian stood beside her.
One hand rested against the glass.
Elena was smiling.
Exhausted.
Pale.
But smiling.
Julian stopped outside.
For a moment, he simply watched.
His wife.
His daughter.
His son.
A family he had not known existed twenty-four hours earlier.
Elena noticed him.
Her smile faded slightly.
Not because she was unhappy.
Because she saw his expression.
Julian entered.
“What happened?”
“She tried to get in.”
“Camille?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see her?”
“No.”
Julian looked at Sofia.
Tiny tubes.
Tiny fingers.
A chest rising and falling.
“She’s okay?”
Elena nodded.
“Doctor says she’s stubborn.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“She gets that from you.”
Elena looked at him.
“Probably.”
Adrian glanced between them.
Then said,
“I think she looks like a potato.”
Elena stared at him.
Julian did too.
Adrian shrugged.
“A cute potato.”
Elena laughed.
Julian laughed too.
It was the first normal sound any of them had made.
Then Claudia appeared at the door.
Her expression killed the moment.
“We need to talk.”
Julian followed her outside.
“What?”
“The woman downstairs isn’t Camille.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
“Fake identification.”
“Similar hair.”
“Similar build.”
“But it isn’t her.”
“Who is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where is Camille?”
Claudia looked at him.
“Missing.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Of course.
“Was she ever in protective custody?”
“Yes.”
“How did she leave?”
“Someone signed her out.”
“Who?”
Claudia hesitated.
“Gabriel Laurent.”
Julian stared.
“No.”
“He was with us.”
“I know.”
“Then he didn’t sign anything.”
“I know.”
“Forged?”
“Maybe.”
Julian looked toward Elena’s room.
“Move them.”
“Already arranged.”
“Where?”
“Private secured floor.”
“No Rossi properties.”
“Agreed.”
Julian returned to Elena.
“We’re moving.”
She immediately knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
“Camille is missing.”
Elena stared.
“Why would she come after Sofia?”
“I don’t know if she is.”
“What?”
“The woman downstairs isn’t Camille.”
Adrian looked frightened.
Julian softened his voice.
“Everything is okay.”
The boy stared at him.
“No, it isn’t.”
Julian stopped.
Adrian continued.
“Adults keep saying that when things aren’t okay.”
Julian looked at him.
The words hurt because they were true.
“You’re right.”
Adrian looked surprised.
Julian crouched.
“Things are not okay.”
“Some dangerous people are trying to hide things they did.”
“But there are police here.”
“There are people protecting Elena.”
“There are people protecting Sofia.”
“And I’m going to protect you.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“You promise?”
Julian remembered Elena in the ambulance.
Promises mattered.
“I promise I will do everything I can.”
Adrian considered that.
Then nodded.
“That’s better.”
Julian almost smiled.
They moved Elena and Sofia to a secured wing.
Two hours passed.
Then Gabriel arrived.
He looked furious.
“My signature was forged.”
Julian stared.
“By whom?”
“We traced the authorization terminal.”
“And?”
“It came from my office.”
Claudia frowned.
“You have a leak.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at Julian.
“And I think I know who.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
Camille Moreau entering the prosecutor’s building.
Beside her was Matteo.
Julian stopped breathing.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Matteo?”
Julian stared at the image.
His assistant.
Eleven years.
The man who had uncovered Elena’s account.
The clinic.
Camille’s identity.
The succession records.
Everything.
Julian whispered,
“He helped me.”
Gabriel said,
“Maybe that was the point.”
Julian looked at him.
“What?”
“If Matteo controlled what you discovered, he controlled the order you discovered it.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“He shaped the story.”
Gabriel nodded.
Julian felt sick.
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
Julian immediately called.
The number rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then Matteo answered.
“Julian.”
His voice sounded calm.
“Where are you?”
“I’m sorry.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Not again.
“Where are you?”
“With Camille.”
“Why?”
“Because she finally told me the truth.”
“What truth?”
Matteo hesitated.
“Isabella didn’t order Lucia’s death.”
Julian stared at Gabriel.
“Who did?”
“You’re still asking the wrong question.”
“Then give me the right one.”
Silence.
Then Matteo said,
“Why was Lucia driving toward Villa Rossi at 11:38 that night?”
Julian frowned.
“What?”
“She wasn’t running from Isabella.”
“She was going to meet someone.”
“Who?”
Matteo’s answer came quietly.
“Elena.”
Julian looked through the glass.
Elena was sitting beside Sofia.
“What are you talking about?”
“Elena was the last person Lucia called.”
“That’s not true.”
“Elena said Lucia called her after dinner.”
“She did.”
“But that wasn’t the last call.”
Julian went still.
“There was another call at 11:09.”
“Twenty-nine minutes before the crash.”
Julian stared at Elena.
She noticed.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Julian could barely speak.
“Matteo says Lucia called you again.”
Elena went pale.
“No.”
“At 11:09.”
“No.”
“You don’t remember?”
“I told you.”
“I hung up earlier.”
“I went to bed.”
Matteo heard her through the phone.
“Elena.”
She looked toward Julian’s phone.
Matteo continued.
“You didn’t go to bed.”
“You went to Villa Rossi.”
Elena stared.
“No.”
“You were nineteen.”
“You took your father’s car.”
“You arrived at 11:31.”
“No.”
Julian whispered,
“Elena?”
She pressed both hands to her head.
Images were returning.
Not from the clinic.
From ten years earlier.
Rain.
Headlights.
Villa Rossi.
Lucia crying.
A black car.
Elena gasped.
“I remember.”
Julian moved toward her.
“What?”
“My sister called me.”
Her breathing quickened.
“She said she had proof.”
“What proof?”
“That Isabella was stealing from the company.”
“She wanted me to take something.”
“What?”
Elena looked at him.
“A baby.”
Julian froze.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
Elena’s eyes filled with horror.
“She wanted me to take Adrian and leave Italy.”
Adrian was standing near the window.
He heard his name.
Elena covered her mouth.
“I forgot.”
Julian stared.
“How could you forget?”
“I don’t know.”
Matteo answered through the phone.
“Because someone made sure she did.”
Julian’s blood turned cold.
“What?”
“Elena was treated at the same clinic ten years ago.”
Silence.
Elena stared at the phone.
“No.”
Matteo continued.
“Only for forty-eight hours.”
“After Lucia died.”
Elena began shaking.
Julian caught her.
“Who admitted her?”
Matteo whispered,
“Vittorio.”
Julian closed his eyes.
His father had altered Elena’s memory long before her disappearance.
Ten years earlier.
Before Julian had even married her.
Elena looked at him.
“I saw something that night.”
“What?”
“I saw Lucia.”
“Where?”
“At the gate.”
“She gave me something.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“A necklace.”
“What necklace?”
“She put it around my neck.”
“She said…”
Elena stopped.
Julian waited.
“What did she say?”
Tears filled Elena’s eyes.
“She said, ‘Don’t let them know what’s inside.’”
Julian stared.
“Where is the necklace?”
Elena looked down.
“I lost it.”
Adrian suddenly spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
The boy reached beneath his shirt.
He pulled out a thin silver chain.
A small oval pendant hung from it.
“My mom left this for me.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“That’s it.”
Adrian removed the necklace.
He handed it to her.
Elena turned the pendant over.
There was a tiny seam along the edge.
Julian found a surgical tool.
He carefully opened it.
Inside was a micro-storage chip.
Ten years old.
Still intact.
Gabriel stared.
“Lucia hid evidence inside a necklace.”
Julian looked at Elena.
“She gave it to you.”
Elena nodded.
“And then Vittorio took you to the clinic.”
“Yes.”
“Somehow Adrian ended up with it.”
Elena stared at the boy.
“My father must have returned it to Lucia’s belongings.”
Gabriel took the chip.
“We need a secure computer.”
They connected it.
One video file appeared.
Dated the night Lucia died.
Julian pressed play.
Lucia appeared on screen.
She looked terrified.
“If you’re watching this, I probably didn’t make it.”
Elena began crying.
Lucia continued.
“Isabella knows I found the accounts.”
“Vittorio knows too.”
“But neither of them created the original scheme.”
Julian frowned.
Lucia looked directly into the camera.
“The person moving Rossi money into Valmont companies is Sergio.”
“That part everyone suspects.”
“But Sergio isn’t working alone.”
She took a breath.
“There is someone inside Julian’s office.”
Julian froze.
Lucia said the name.
“Matteo Laurent.”
Julian stared at the screen.
Gabriel turned white.
Elena looked at him.
“Laurent?”
Gabriel whispered,
“My brother.”
Julian slowly lifted the phone still connected to Matteo.
Silence.
Then Matteo spoke.
“You finally found it.”
Julian’s entire body went cold.
“You were involved for ten years.”
“Longer.”
“Why?”
Matteo sighed.
“Because Rossi Holdings destroyed my father.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Julian whispered,
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“You helped me find Elena.”
“Yes.”
“You exposed Luca.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed all of you in one place.”
Julian stared at Elena.
“The hotel.”
“Yes.”
“The fire.”
“Yes.”
“The marina?”
“Luca handled that himself.”
“What do you want now?”
Matteo was silent for several seconds.
Then he said,
“The one thing Lucia never gave us.”
“What?”
“The original ledger.”
Julian frowned.
“I don’t have it.”
“No.”
Matteo’s voice softened.
“But Elena does.”
She stared.
“I don’t.”
“You just don’t remember where you put it.”
Elena’s face went white.
Matteo continued.
“And Camille is going to help you remember.”
The call ended.
Then Elena’s hospital bed phone rang.
Julian stared at it.
No one moved.
It rang again.
Elena answered.
A woman’s voice whispered,
“Elena?”
Camille.
Elena gripped the receiver.
“Where are you?”
Camille answered,
“Look out the window.”
Julian turned.
Across the street, on the roof of a parking structure, two figures stood.
Camille.
And Matteo.
Camille’s hands were bound.
Matteo stood behind her.
He raised one hand.
Then pointed toward his phone.
Julian’s phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
May you like
BRING ADRIAN’S NECKLACE.
OR DR. MOREAU LOSES HIS DAUGHTER TONIGHT.
