Chapter 11 - Lucia's Final Recording
Elina drove to Rosa’s apartment without Adrian.
She needed this confrontation to belong to mother and daughter.
Rosa opened the door.
She took one look at Elina’s face and knew.
“You found the shelter.”
“Yes.”
Rosa sat.
Elina remained standing.
“Is Lucia alive?”
Rosa cried immediately.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I found her three months ago.”
“Why?”
“She called.”
“You told us Carlo kept her prisoner after the crash.”
“I didn’t know that then.”
“Mom.”
Rosa covered her face.
“When she called, she didn’t remember everything.”
“What did she remember?”
“Me.”
“Leo?”
“Yes.”
“Adrian?”
Rosa hesitated.
“Pieces.”
Elina felt fury.
“You took her from the shelter.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“A small house near the coast.”
“Is she there?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“She left.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“She remembered Carlo.”
Elina sat across from her.
“And?”
“She said staying near us put everyone in danger.”
“She had already survived him.”
“She was terrified for Leo.”
Elina understood the fear.
She did not accept the secrecy.
“You let Adrian bury an empty coffin.”
Rosa stared.
“What?”
Elina froze.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Rosa looked genuinely horrified.
“I thought the body had been identified.”
“It was.”
“How?”
That opened another question.
If Lucia survived the crash, whose body had been buried?
Federal records answered hours later.
The remains recovered from the wreck had been badly burned.
Identification relied partly on dental records.
Records provided by Detective Vance.
Fabricated.
A second woman had been in the car.
Nobody knew who.
Carlo had staged the death.
Rosa gave them the coastal address.
The house was empty.
But Lucia had left things.
Clothes.
Medicine.
A notebook.
On the final page:
I remember Elina.
Elina sat down.
Below:
Not her face.
Her name.
I spent years searching for someone I had never met.
Now I’m afraid meeting her will kill her.
Another page:
Leo is safe with Adrian.
Adrian will hate me if he learns I lived.
Maybe he should.
Elina whispered, “No.”
Adrian read silently beside her.
The final entry:
I remember where Rafael hid the second recording.
I’m going back.
Back where?
Rafael knew.
They visited him in federal custody.
He looked surprised.
“She’s alive?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Elina studied him.
“Where did you hide the recording?”
He stared.
“What recording?”
“The second one.”
Then recognition.
“The church.”
“What church?”
“St. Matthew’s.”
An old church where Rosa and Rafael had married.
They found a small safety box behind a loose stone near the choir loft.
Inside was a cassette.
Lucia’s voice.
Weak.
Recorded after the crash.
“Carlo thinks I’m dead.”
“I escaped.”
“If someone finds this, I need one thing understood.”
“Adrian did not kill me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I was afraid someone might make Elina believe that.”
Elina looked at him.
Lucia continued.
“Carlo wants the ledger.”
“Rafael wants forgiveness.”
“Rosa wants everyone safe.”
“And Adrian wants revenge.”
A faint laugh.
“My family is exhausting.”
Elina laughed despite tears.
Then:
“But the real danger isn’t Carlo anymore.”
They leaned closer.
“Carlo is desperate.”
“Desperate men make mistakes.”
“Enzo is afraid.”
“Afraid men confess.”
“But Detective Vance has spent twenty years protecting people bigger than Carlo.”
Adrian frowned.
Lucia named politicians.
Business leaders.
A judge.
The ledger was larger than the Moretti family.
“That’s why she disappeared,” Elina said.
Adrian nodded.
Lucia continued.
“I’m going to find someone I believe can expose everything.”
“A federal prosecutor named Rebecca Sloan.”
Adrian immediately called his attorney.
Rebecca Sloan existed.
And she was currently leading the investigation triggered by their evidence.
Elina felt hope.
“Lucia contacted her.”
Adrian called.
Sloan refused to confirm initially.
Then Elina said:
“I’m Lucia’s twin sister.”
Silence.
“Come to my office,” Sloan replied.
They arrived an hour later.
Rebecca Sloan, mid-forties, calm and direct, closed the door.
“Lucia Moretti contacted me five weeks ago.”
Adrian nearly stopped breathing.
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“She’s my wife.”
“She is a protected witness.”
“She’s alive?”
Sloan hesitated.
“Yes.”
Adrian sat down.
A sound escaped him that Elina would remember forever.
Half laugh.
Half sob.
Alive.
Lucia was alive.
“Can I see her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we have reason to believe someone inside federal law enforcement is leaking information.”
Elina stared.
“Still?”
“Yes.”
“Does Lucia know Leo is safe?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know about me?”
Sloan’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She cried.”
Elina covered her mouth.
Sloan continued.
“She asked whether you were safe.”
“And Adrian?”
“She asks every day.”
He looked away.
“When can we see her?”
“When the remaining leak is identified.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian stood.
“I am not waiting.”
Sloan stood too.
“If you move independently, you could lead someone directly to her.”
That stopped him.
“Then find the leak.”
“We are.”
Elina looked at Sloan.
“What do you need?”
“Time.”
Everyone wanted time.
Lucia had already lost twenty-six years with Elina.
Six months with her son.
Time felt obscene.
Before they left, Sloan handed Elina a sealed envelope.
“Lucia asked me to give you this if you ever came.”
Elina opened it outside.
One sentence.
Dear sister, if you still want to meet me after you know everything, come when it is safe. I have waited my whole life. I can wait a little longer.
Elina cried against the hood of Adrian’s car.
Then Adrian’s phone rang.
Rebecca Sloan emerged from the building behind them.
Her own phone was ringing too.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“No.”
She looked at Adrian.
“What?”
Sloan lowered the phone.
“The safe location has been compromised.”
Elina stopped breathing.
“Lucia?”
Sloan’s face was grim.
“She’s missing.”
May you like
Again.
---
