Chapter 5 - Elena Had Tried to Warn Him)
Marcus tried to leave.
Daniel stopped him.
Bianca appeared in the doorway seconds later.
"What happened?"
Vittorio looked at her.
He had not yet read the full letter.
Emma watched his expression and understood that the truth could no longer be delayed.
"Close the door," Vittorio said.
Bianca hesitated.
"Vittorio, there are guests downstairs."
"Close it."
She did.
Vittorio turned to Marcus.
"Why did my wife write your name two days before she disappeared?"
Marcus laughed nervously.
"I have no idea."
"You broke into her room."
"No. Lucy wandered in."
Emma stared at him.
"You carried her."
Marcus looked at her.
That was a mistake.
Vittorio noticed.
"How does Emma know?"
No one answered.
Vittorio looked around the room.
He was not stupid.
He saw the fear.
The secrets.
The way Daniel avoided his eyes.
"Someone tells me what is happening right now."
Emma took out her phone.
Bianca immediately moved.
"Vittorio, don't listen to her."
He looked at Bianca.
"Why?"
"She's unstable."
Emma almost laughed.
Bianca continued.
"She's been obsessed with Elena for years. She hates me."
Vittorio's eyes returned to Emma.
"Is that true?"
"I loved your wife."
"That wasn't my question."
Emma held out the phone.
"I have evidence Elena may be alive."
The silence became absolute.
Vittorio did not move.
Lucy looked up from beside Daniel.
"Daddy?"
Vittorio stared at Emma.
"Say that again."
"We found records connected to a private rehabilitation facility."
Bianca interrupted.
"She's lying."
Vittorio turned on her.
"Stop speaking."
Bianca did.
Emma showed him the photograph.
Vittorio took the phone.
His hand trembled once.
Only once.
He enlarged Elena's face.
He knew her instantly.
Emma watched something collapse behind his eyes.
"When?"
"Fourteen months ago."
"Where?"
"Ridgehaven Wellness Center."
Vittorio looked at Marcus.
Marcus said nothing.
Then Vittorio read the entire letter.
Elena had discovered suspicious financial transfers involving Marcus several weeks before her accident.
She believed he was using shell companies to steal from a joint development fund.
She planned to confront him.
She also wrote that someone had been following her.
The final paragraph was personal.
If I am wrong, burn this and laugh at me. If I am right, protect Lucy. And please know that no matter what anyone tells you, I would never leave our daughter.
Vittorio sat down.
Lucy approached him.
She placed one small hand on his knee.
"Daddy?"
He lifted her.
For several seconds he held his daughter and said nothing.
Then he looked at Marcus.
"You knew."
Marcus shook his head.
"You knew Elena was alive."
"No."
Vittorio stood.
Daniel stepped forward because he knew what could happen next.
Vittorio did not strike Marcus.
That was worse.
He simply said, "You will not leave this property until the police arrive."
Bianca's face changed.
Barely.
But Emma saw it.
Fear.
Real fear.
Marcus saw it too.
"Bianca."
She snapped, "Shut up."
Vittorio looked between them.
There it was.
The connection.
Not friendship.
Partnership.
Marcus suddenly shoved Daniel and ran.
He made it into the corridor.
Daniel caught him before the stairs.
They struggled.
Guests below screamed.
Vittorio covered Lucy's ears.
Security arrived.
Marcus was restrained.
Bianca began crying.
"This is insane. I didn't know anything."
Vittorio looked at her.
"Then you won't mind giving Daniel your phone."
She froze.
"Why?"
"Because you have nothing to hide."
Bianca recovered quickly.
"Of course."
She reached into her purse.
Then frowned.
"My phone isn't here."
Emma knew immediately.
Bianca had hidden it.
Daniel searched the room.
Nothing.
Vittorio ordered the entire mansion secured.
Police were called.
Nora was contacted.
The engagement dinner ended in whispers and frightened departures.
By midnight Marcus had been taken for questioning on trespassing, attempted theft, and several preliminary financial charges Nora's evidence supported.
Bianca remained in the mansion because there was not yet enough proof to arrest her.
Vittorio moved Lucy into his own suite.
He did not sleep.
At 2:40 a.m. Emma found him sitting in Elena's old room with the photograph.
"I should have known," he said.
Emma stood in the doorway.
"No one could have."
"I stopped looking."
"You searched for three years."
"I stopped."
"You had a child who needed you."
He looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
There was no good answer.
"I needed to be certain."
"You should have trusted me."
Emma lowered her head.
"Yes."
He was angry.
He had every right to be.
Then Emma remembered the messages.
"There's more."
She showed him the photograph taken inside Lucy's nursery.
Vittorio's face changed.
"Who took this?"
"We don't know."
He stood immediately.
Daniel was called.
The hidden camera was shown to him.
Vittorio listened to everything.
When Emma finished, he looked toward the sleeping Lucy visible through the connecting bedroom door.
"Bianca leaves this house tonight."
Daniel nodded.
They went to her suite.
It was empty.
The balcony doors were open.
Her clothes were gone.
So was her passport.
But on the dressing table sat a single photograph.
Elena at Ridgehaven.
May you like
On the back, written in Bianca's handwriting, were six words.
YOU WILL NEVER GET HER BACK.
