Chapter 6 - MARISSA'S CONFESSION
Nobody moved.
Marissa's recorded voice continued.
“I know how that sounds.”
Gabriel stared at the phone.
“But I ordered the attack because I needed to expose the person inside Gabriel's security team.”
I looked at Michael.
“What?”
Marissa continued.
“The three men who attacked the estate were supposed to fire blanks.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“They weren't.”
“No.”
Marissa's voice trembled.
“Someone switched the ammunition.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
That explained the photographs.
The surveillance.
The attack.
Someone inside the estate had turned a controlled test into an attempted murder.
Marissa continued.
“I needed Elena inside the house because she was the only person Michael trusted.”
My heart raced.
“You weren't supposed to get shot.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“She didn't know.”
Marissa continued.
“I am sorry.”
Then the recording ended.
Silence.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You knew none of this.”
“No.”
Michael nodded.
“She didn't tell you because if you knew, you would have become a target.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Who switched the ammunition?”
“We don't know.”
Then someone knocked on the motel door.
Three slow knocks.
Everyone froze.
Michael whispered:
“That's not police.”
Gabriel drew his weapon.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Anthony Rossi.
He looked almost exactly like Gabriel.
Same gray eyes.
Same dark hair.
But there was something different in his expression.
Coldness.
Hatred.
He smiled.
“Hello, little brother.”
Gabriel aimed his gun.
“Anthony.”
Anthony raised his hands.
“It's been a long time.”
“You tried to kill my son.”
Anthony laughed.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I tried to scare you.”
“You nearly killed me.”
“That wasn't planned.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Where is Marissa?”
Anthony's smile disappeared.
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Tell me.”
Anthony shook his head.
“You still think you're in charge.”
Gabriel's gun remained steady.
“I am.”
Anthony laughed.
“You don't understand.”
He pointed at me.
“She's the key.”
I frowned.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel moved between us.
“Don't.”
Anthony smiled.
“You really don't know who she is?”
Gabriel's face changed.
I felt my stomach twist.
“Tell me.”
Anthony looked directly at me.
“Your brother Michael wasn't investigating us.”
He paused.
“He was investigating you.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Michael stepped forward.
“Don't listen to him.”
Anthony continued.
“Your real name isn't Elena Bell.”
My heart stopped.
“You're Elena Mercer.”
I felt the room spin.
That name had been buried for years.
My father's name.
My childhood.
Everything I had erased.
Anthony smiled.
“Your father was Dr. Jonathan Mercer.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“The same doctor who treated my father?”
I nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Anthony's smile widened.
“Now we're getting somewhere.”
Michael looked furious.
“Shut up.”
Anthony ignored him.
“Your father discovered something.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The Rossi accounts.”
I stared.
“My father worked for your family?”
“For my father.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“My father killed him?”
Anthony shrugged.
“Not exactly.”
Michael stepped in.
“Your father died protecting you.”
I shook my head.
“What happened?”
Michael looked at me.
“Your father discovered the Crow wasn't just a criminal organization.”
“What was it?”
“A network.”
“Of what?”
“Judges. Police. Politicians. Businessmen.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father was involved.”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas?”
“Thomas helped run it.”
“Marissa?”
“Marissa discovered the truth.”
I looked at Anthony.
“Then why are you after me?”
He smiled.
“Because your father left the ledger with you.”
My blood ran cold.
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
“I don't.”
“You just don't know where.”
He turned toward the door.
Gabriel aimed his gun.
“Stop.”
Anthony smiled.
“You'll find Marissa in the place where the fire started.”
Then he disappeared.
Michael immediately grabbed his phone.
“What?”
He looked at the screen.
A location.
An abandoned warehouse.
The original Rossi garage.
Where Marissa's car had burned three years ago.
We drove there that night.
Inside, the building was empty.
Charred walls.
Broken windows.
Ash.
Gabriel walked through the wreckage.
Then stopped.
There was a small metal box beneath the floor.
Inside was a photograph.
Me.
At age twelve.
Standing beside my father.
On the back was a message.
YOUR FATHER TRUSTED YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T KNOW.
I stared at the photograph.
Then I remembered.
A childhood memory.
My father giving me a small silver key.
“Keep this safe, Elena.”
I had forgotten it.
Until now.
I reached into my necklace.
The key was still there.
Gabriel looked at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“My father.”
Michael stared.
“That's it.”
“What?”
“The ledger.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Where?”
I whispered:
“He told me never to open the box unless I heard the word Rossi.”
A sound came from behind us.
A woman's voice.
“Rossi.”
We turned.
Marissa stood in the doorway.
May you like
Alive.
And behind her stood three armed men.
