Chapter 15 - Seven Words from the Grave
The answer came from June Caruso.
Or, more precisely, from something June had buried thirty years earlier.
What did June hide beneath the fig tree?
Antonio’s recorded question haunted Elena.
She remembered a fig tree behind the original Caruso house in Santa Rosalia.
By midnight, Dominic had dispatched local men to excavate around it.
They found a rusted metal box beneath the roots.
Inside was no gold.
No gun.
No deed.
Only seven handwritten words.
Elena read them aloud.
“Never trust the wolf when bells stop.”
Adrian frowned.
“That sounds like your grandmother.”
“It sounds insane.”
Dominic studied the paper.
“Wolf is the De Luca symbol.”
“And bells?”
Elena looked toward the chapel.
Then she understood.
“The church bells.”
They searched parish history.
In 1997, the Santa Rosalia bells stopped ringing for eleven days because the old tower had been damaged by lightning.
During those exact eleven days, Vittorio De Luca’s banking group had acquired six tiny companies.
Each company later became part of the Aurelia Trust.
Adrian leaned over the documents.
“Shell corporations.”
Elena scanned the names.
Then she noticed one.
Belladonna Maritime Holdings.
Its registered director?
Isabella Caruso.
“She owns part of the Trust,” Elena whispered.
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Perhaps more than part.”
They dug deeper.
Hours later, the picture became astonishing.
Vittorio had built Aurelia using companies held jointly with Isabella. Legally, she controlled forty-nine percent.
More importantly, one ancient partnership clause stated that if either founding partner used Trust assets for criminal surveillance of international banking systems, the other could trigger immediate dissolution.
Elena sat back.
“My aunt can destroy Vittorio financially.”
Adrian understood.
“That’s why she’s hiding.”
“And why he needs my pier before she acts.”
A knock interrupted them.
Sal entered carrying an envelope.
“No courier. It was left downstairs.”
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a hotel key card.
Room 608.
A handwritten message:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR MOTHER.
Adrian immediately said, “No.”
Elena immediately said, “Yes.”
They argued for eleven minutes.
Ultimately, Elena went alone.
Technically.
Adrian had six men covering exits, Dominic monitoring cameras, and Sal disguised as hotel maintenance.
Room 608 was dark.
Elena entered.
A lamp clicked on.
Isabella Caruso sat beside the window.
She was sixty-two, elegant, thin, with Elena’s eyes and Antonio’s severe mouth.
“You grew up beautifully,” Isabella said.
Elena closed the door.
“Where is she?”
Isabella sighed.
“No hug?”
“You vanished for thirteen years.”
“To keep your mother breathing.”
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
Elena’s anger faltered.
“She needs specialized treatment. Brain trauma. Memory loss.”
“Does she know who I am?”
“Sometimes.”
That hurt more than Elena expected.
Isabella stood.
“I took her from Naples because Vittorio was searching every clinic. I spent years moving her.”
“You married him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“At first, because I loved him.”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“Then because I discovered what he was building.”
She handed Elena a flash drive.
“Everything is there. Aurelia’s accounts. Judges, ministers, port officials, blackmail payments.”
“Why not give this to authorities?”
“Because half the authorities on that drive work for him.”
Elena pocketed it.
“My father thought you betrayed him.”
“I let him think it.”
“Why?”
“To keep Vittorio from realizing Antonio knew the truth.”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“And that worked wonderfully.”
Pain crossed Isabella’s face.
“No. It didn’t.”
Silence stretched between them.
Finally Elena asked, “Can I see my mother?”
Isabella nodded.
“Tomorrow.”
A red laser dot appeared on Isabella’s chest.
Elena reacted instantly.
She slammed into her aunt.
Glass exploded.
The bullet buried itself in the wall.
“DOWN!”
Gunfire tore through the suite.
Adrian’s team stormed the hallway.
Another round shattered the lamp.
Elena crawled behind the bed.
Isabella pulled a pistol from her purse.
Elena stared.
Her aunt shrugged.
“Your grandmother raised both of us.”
The shooter escaped across an adjacent rooftop.
But on the broken windowsill, Adrian’s men found the same silver wolf coin.
May you like
Vittorio knew Isabella had contacted Elena.
The seventy-one-hour clock had just become much shorter.
