Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN CARMEN SENT
The elevator stopped on the ninth floor.
My father's old apartment was at the end of the hallway.
The door was closed.
But I knew immediately something was wrong.
The lock had been scratched.
Gabriel raised one hand.
“Stay behind me.”
The detective moved forward.
He checked the handle.
Unlocked.
We entered.
The apartment smelled different.
My father had always kept the place smelling of cedar and old books.
Now there was a sharp chemical smell in the air.
Someone had been there.
The study door was open.
Papers were scattered across the floor.
The desk drawers had been pulled out.
A painting hung crooked on the wall.
My father never left that painting crooked.
I stepped inside.
“Dad kept everything organized.”
Gabriel nodded.
“This wasn't a search.”
“What was it?”
“Someone was looking for something specific.”
I walked toward the desk.
A photograph of my father sat on top.
Beside it was a small handwritten note.
I picked it up.
My father's handwriting.
I recognized it immediately.
Sofia, if you are reading this, they finally came for you.
My hands began shaking.
I continued.
Do not trust anyone who tells you the apartment is the prize.
I looked at Gabriel.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
I read the next line.
The apartment is only the door.
My heart began pounding.
Then:
The real inheritance is hidden where your mother thinks she has nothing left.
I stared.
“My mother?”
Gabriel looked at my mother.
She was standing in the doorway.
“I don't understand.”
I read the final sentence.
When they come for the key, give them the wrong one.
The note ended there.
A noise came from the hallway.
Everyone froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Someone was walking toward the apartment.
The detective drew his weapon.
Gabriel motioned for us to move back.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Then the door opened.
Elise Morgan entered.
She froze when she saw us.
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Elise looked at Gabriel.
“You.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“You've been looking for something.”
She slowly raised her hands.
“I can explain.”
“Start.”
She looked at me.
“Sofia, you have to listen to me.”
“You work for Carmen.”
“No.”
“You were at the hotel.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To stop her.”
I stared.
“Then why were you meeting Daniel?”
Elise looked down.
“Because Daniel hired me.”
“To do what?”
“To investigate Carmen.”
I didn't believe her.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Where is the box?”
Elise hesitated.
Then she pulled it from inside her coat.
“I took it.”
“Why?”
“Because Carmen was about to.”
“What is inside?”
“The key.”
Gabriel looked at me.
Elise opened the box.
Inside was a brass key.
It was old.
Heavy.
There was a symbol engraved on it.
A small tree.
I recognized it.
My father's company logo.
Elise handed it to me.
“Your father hid this.”
“Where does it open?”
She looked at Gabriel.
Then at me.
“The vault.”
I swallowed.
“What vault?”
“The one beneath the old family property.”
My mother suddenly spoke.
“There is no vault.”
Elise looked at her.
“There is.”
My mother went pale.
“How do you know?”
“Because your husband showed me the plans.”
My mother sat down.
“My husband never told me.”
“He wanted to protect you.”
I looked at the key.
“What is in the vault?”
Elise answered:
“Documents.”
“What documents?”
“Accounts.”
“That's all?”
“No.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“Names.”
My uncle's expression changed.
“Whose names?”
“Everyone involved.”
“In what?”
“Money laundering.”
My heart sank.
“Carmen?”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
Elise hesitated.
“Yes.”
I felt like I had been punched.
“Daniel knew?”
“He knew enough.”
I looked away.
My husband had stood outside that hotel room.
He had heard me scream.
He had known what Carmen was doing.
And he had still allowed it.
Then Elise said:
“There is another name.”
“Whose?”
She looked at me.
“Victor Hale.”
Gabriel immediately turned.
“That's impossible.”
“Your father thought so too.”
“Who is Victor Hale?”
Elise took a breath.
“Carmen's father.”
I felt cold.
“Her father?”
“He died twelve years ago.”
“Then why does he matter?”
“He didn't.”
I frowned.
Elise continued.
“Because the man everyone believed was Victor Hale wasn't Victor.”
“What?”
“He changed his identity.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Who is he now?”
Elise looked toward the window.
“That's what your father's archive was supposed to prove.”
Suddenly the lights went out.
My mother gasped.
The detective shouted:
“Everybody stay where you are!”
A loud crash came from the study.
Glass shattered.
Someone had entered through the window.
Gabriel pulled me back.
Elise dropped to the floor.
A shadow moved across the hallway.
Then a man's voice came from the darkness.
“You should have stayed at your mother's house.”
I recognized the voice.
Daniel.
My husband.
I couldn't breathe.
He stepped into the emergency light.
His face was pale.
His suit was soaked from the rain.
He looked directly at me.
“Sofia.”
I stared at him.
“You followed us.”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
He looked at Gabriel.
“I came to warn you.”
Gabriel didn't lower his guard.
“About what?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Carmen isn't the one controlling this.”
I felt my heart stop.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“The person who ordered Carmen to take your assets isn't Carmen.”
“Then who?”
Daniel looked toward the broken window.
His voice dropped.
“Your father's former business partner.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“Victor Hale?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Victor Hale is dead.”
“Then who?”
Daniel took a breath.
“The man using his name.”
I stared at him.
“Who is he?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Your father.”
The room went completely silent.
I couldn't understand the words.
“My father is dead.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“He died four years ago.”
“I know what you were told.”
“What are you saying?”
Daniel looked at the old photograph on the desk.
“Your father never died.”
My mother covered her mouth.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Where is Richard?”
Daniel's face became pale.
“He's alive.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked directly at me.
“He's the one who ordered me to marry you.”
I couldn't breathe.
My husband had not married me for money.
Carmen had not acted alone.
And the man I had buried four years earlier...
might still be alive.
Then Daniel said the sentence that destroyed everything I thought I knew about my wedding:
“Your father knew Carmen would attack you.”
He looked at my torn wedding dress.
“And he wanted you to see exactly who would protect you when he was gone.”
The lights suddenly came back on.
But Daniel was no longer standing there.
He had disappeared through the broken window.
On the floor where he had been standing was a single photograph.
I picked it up.
It showed my father.
Alive.
Standing beside Carmen.
May you like
And on the back, in my father's handwriting, were six words:
Tomorrow, you will meet your real enemy.
