Chapter 5 - THE ROOM BEHIND NUMBER SEVENTEEN
Nobody spoke.
Alessandra walked into the room.
Adrien didn't lower his weapon.
“You've been alive for twenty-five years.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me grow up.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Lena.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Alessandra looked at me.
“Because I promised your father.”
Adrien's voice hardened.
“You let me believe he was dead.”
“He wanted you to hate him.”
“Why?”
“To keep you away from the people who wanted his empire.”
Adrien laughed bitterly.
“I inherited the empire anyway.”
“No.”
Alessandra shook her head.
“You inherited the war.”
She looked at me.
“Lena inherited the reason for it.”
I stared.
“What reason?”
“The records.”
“What records?”
“Your father discovered that several powerful men had been secretly controlling Viscari money for years.”
Adrien frowned.
“Who?”
“Politicians. Judges. businessmen.”
Alessandra paused.
“And your mother.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“My mother helped them?”
“She tried to expose them.”
“Then why did she hide me?”
“Because she learned that your father had placed the evidence somewhere only you could access.”
Adrien looked at the brass key.
“Number seventeen.”
Alessandra nodded.
“The old train station.”
I recognized it.
“Penn Station?”
“No.”
She gave him an address.
An abandoned private rail platform outside Manhattan.
“Your father used it.”
Adrien looked at me.
“We go now.”
Alessandra shook her head.
“Not with Marcus.”
Marcus stiffened.
“Why?”
“Because he is being watched.”
He looked frightened.
“By whom?”
“Your mother.”
I stared.
Alessandra continued.
“She has been trying to find out whether Lena remembers.”
I whispered, “What happens if I do?”
“She kills you.”
The words landed heavily.
Adrien stepped closer to me.
“She won't.”
Alessandra looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
“She tried to kill Lena tonight.”
“No.”
Alessandra's eyes hardened.
“She tried to scare Lena into remembering.”
“Why?”
“Because if Lena remembers where the records are, your mother can destroy them.”
Adrien looked at the key.
“What is behind seventeen?”
“A safe.”
“What's inside?”
“The truth.”
We left The Velvet Crown under heavy security.
The abandoned platform was cold and dark.
Adrien walked beside me.
“You don't have to do this.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I've spent my whole life being told who my family was.”
I looked at him.
“I want to know for myself.”
He nodded.
We reached Door 17.
The brass key fit.
Inside was a narrow room.
A wooden chair.
An old desk.
A coat hanging from a hook.
And a photograph.
I picked it up.
My father.
He was holding me as a baby.
My mother stood beside him.
Adrien looked at the picture.
“Your father loved you.”
I touched the photograph.
“Then why did he leave?”
A voice came from the doorway.
“Because I told him to.”
We turned.
Marcus stood there.
He was bleeding.
Adrien raised his gun.
Marcus held up both hands.
“Don't.”
“Where did you get that blood?”
“It's not mine.”
He pointed behind him.
“Your mother's men found me.”
Adrien stared.
“How did they find us?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Because someone followed Lena.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
Marcus looked at the coat hanging in the room.
“The person who has been watching her since childhood.”
Adrien moved toward it.
Inside the pocket was a small cassette.
He inserted it into the old recorder.
My mother's voice filled the room.
“If Lena is hearing this, then I failed.”
I closed my eyes.
Her voice continued.
“Your father wanted to come back.”
A pause.
“I wouldn't let him.”
I opened my eyes.
“Why?”
Her voice became quieter.
“Because he knew what he had done.”
The recording stopped.
Adrien stared at me.
Then the door slammed shut.
A man's voice came from outside.
“Lena.”
I recognized it.
Marcus went pale.
“My father.”
Adrien turned.
“Daniel Hart.”
The voice laughed softly.
“You've been looking for me.”
May you like
Then the lights went out.
And someone locked the door from the outside.
