Chapter 13 - Mateo Learned Why Kora Had Really Agreed to Marry LeoLeo’s message arrived two minutes later.
A photograph of Thomas Bell sitting in the bakery basement.
Hands tied.
Alive.
Beneath it:
BRING THE LEDGER. COME ALONE.
Mateo said, “No.”
Kora turned.
“You don’t get a vote.”
“I get several votes.”
“My father.”
“I know.”
“Then stop talking.”
Mateo followed her into the hallway.
“Kora.”
She kept walking.
He caught up.
“Leo wants you angry.”
“He succeeded.”
“He wants you alone.”
“Also succeeded.”
“Kora.”
She turned sharply.
“What?”
Mateo stopped.
Then said the one thing that broke through.
“Your mother did not spend eighteen years protecting you so you could hand Leo two generations of Bell family sacrifices in one afternoon.”
Kora froze.
Her eyes filled.
She hated him for being right.
Mateo lowered his voice.
“We get Thomas back.”
“How?”
“Together.”
Kora looked away.
Then whispered, “There’s something I haven’t told you.”
“What?”
“The reason I accepted Leo’s proposal.”
“I assumed the investigation.”
“Partly.”
She looked at him.
“Three months ago I received a copy of one of my mother’s old messages.”
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did it say?”
Kora removed her phone and opened an encrypted audio file.
Elena’s voice played.
If Dominico’s family ever approaches Kora, it means they are afraid.
Mateo listened.
She must get close enough to discover what they know.
The recording ended.
Mateo stared.
“You accepted Leo because your mother told you to?”
“I thought she had left instructions.”
“You didn’t know if the recording was genuine.”
“No.”
“You could have been walking into a trap.”
“I was.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
“You are impossible.”
“So I’m told.”
He looked at her.
“I thought you agreed to marry him because you were pressured.”
“I let everyone think that.”
“Even Leo.”
“Especially Leo.”
Mateo slowly smiled.
“The harmless baker’s daughter.”
“Exactly.”
The plan formed quickly.
They would bring a fake ledger.
Olivia would coordinate with federal investigators who had already become involved after seeing the evidence.
Gino would track Kora.
Mateo would remain out of sight.
Kora arrived at the bakery basement alone.
Leo waited beside Thomas.
He still had the silver lighter.
“Where’s Mateo?”
“Recovering.”
“You two became close.”
Kora held the ledger.
“Let my father go.”
Leo smiled.
“You know, my family laughed when I told them I was marrying you.”
Kora said nothing.
“They said you weren’t my type.”
“Your type seems to be arson.”
Leo’s smile disappeared.
Thomas almost laughed.
Kora continued.
“You spent months making me feel like you were doing me a favor.”
“I was.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You needed me close because you were afraid.”
Leo’s eyes hardened.
“Give me the book.”
Kora tossed it.
Leo caught it.
Opened it.
His expression changed.
Blank pages.
Kora smiled.
“You really should stop assuming the baker’s daughter is stupid.”
Outside, engines roared.
Leo realized.
He reached for his weapon.
But Thomas moved first.
He kicked a flour sack from the shelf.
White powder exploded across Leo’s face.
Kora grabbed her father.
They ran.
And the bakery basement filled with shouting.
By the time investigators entered, Leo had escaped through an old delivery tunnel.
But he left something behind.
May you like
His silver lighter.
And engraved beneath the lid was an address.
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