Chapter 13 - ONE OF US
Richard Bell had managed to turn death into theater.
The screen went black.
Everyone in the underground vault looked at everyone else.
Maria.
Matteo.
Gabriel.
Elena.
Daniel.
Luca.
Anna Keller through the monitor.
Me.
Any one of us could have killed Richard Bell.
Except Sofia.
I hoped.
Sofia broke the silence.
“That was creepy.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Your grandfather had flair.”
Elena stared at the blank screen.
“My father was murdered.”
Her voice barely existed.
I moved beside her.
“We’ll find out who did it.”
“How?”
She looked at our family.
“Everyone lies.”
Fair.
Maria sat slowly.
“Richard died of pancreatic cancer.”
“According to whom?” I asked.
“His doctors.”
“Names.”
She gave three.
Luca began checking immediately.
Daniel, pale from blood loss, leaned against the wall.
“He deteriorated quickly.”
“How quickly?”
“Six weeks.”
Elena frowned.
“Pancreatic cancer can do that.”
“Yes.”
“But Richard apparently expected murder.”
Maria looked at the terminal.
“Maybe he recorded that years ago.”
Keller’s voice came through the monitor.
“Metadata says fourteen days before his death.”
Everyone became silent again.
Four months ago.
Richard knew someone was killing him.
“Was there an autopsy?” I asked.
Keller checked.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Private cremation.”
Of course.
Elena turned to Maria.
“You arranged the funeral.”
Maria met her gaze.
“Yes.”
“Why no autopsy?”
“He had cancer.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Maria stood.
“Because Richard requested cremation.”
“Convenient.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You think I killed him?”
“I think you erased me.”
“I saved you.”
“You drugged me.”
“To protect Sofia.”
“You keep calling control protection.”
That silenced Maria.
Matteo laughed from his restraint.
“Family therapy. Finally.”
Luca tightened the zip tie on his wrist.
Matteo winced.
“Rude.”
I walked toward him.
“When did you last see Bell?”
“Three weeks before he died.”
“Why?”
“Business.”
“What business?”
“He wanted me out of Bellweather contracts.”
“Why?”
“Because he was old and paranoid.”
“Or because he knew you framed Gabriel.”
Matteo smiled.
“Maybe.”
“You admitted killing Agent Reed.”
“No, Mother accused me.”
“Did you?”
Silence.
“Matteo.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
Elena inhaled sharply.
“Why?”
“He found evidence that connected Father to the early Bell network.”
“So you murdered a federal agent.”
“He drew first.”
Maria shook her head.
“Lie.”
Matteo looked at her.
“You weren’t there.”
“Elena was.”
We turned toward Elena.
She touched the scar on her temple.
“I don’t remember.”
Maria looked almost guilty.
Exactly what her memory manipulation ensured.
“What did Reed discover?” I asked.
Matteo shrugged.
“That Bell’s network helped fund organized crime for political influence.”
“Including us.”
“Yes.”
“So exposing Bell would destroy Moretti too.”
“Yes.”
“And you killed him to protect the family.”
Matteo smiled.
“For once, I was being loyal.”
I wanted to hate the statement.
But in our father’s world, it made sense.
That world was ending.
“Richard’s murder,” I said. “Did you do it?”
“No.”
I believed him.
Not because Matteo was trustworthy.
Because he would have bragged.
Gabriel was next.
“When did you last see Bell?”
“Six years ago.”
“After the fire?”
“No.”
“Contact?”
“Encrypted messages.”
“When was the last?”
“Five months ago.”
“What did he ask?”
Gabriel hesitated.
There.
“Elena,” I said.
She looked at him.
Gabriel sighed.
“He asked me to bring Sofia to him.”
Elena exploded.
“What?”
“I refused.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were hunting us!”
“I thought you stole her!”
“Yes, which made family reunions difficult.”
I stepped between them.
“Why did Bell want Sofia?”
“He said he was dying.”
“How did you know the request was really him?”
“Code phrase.”
“What?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Saint Anthony roof, November ninth.”
My code.
The password.
Richard knew things he should not know.
Unless Elena told him.
Or Maria.
“Could someone else know that?”
“Apparently half this family.”
Good point.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“He told me.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
“Richard knew about your childhood because Maria told him everything.”
Maria looked away.
I had no more private memories.
Wonderful.
“What about you, Daniel?” I asked.
“When did you last see him?”
“The day before he died.”
That caught everyone.
“Why?”
“He confessed.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You’re not actually a priest.”
Daniel looked offended.
“I was ordained.”
Maria stared.
“You told me you left the church.”
“I did. Later.”
“What did Richard confess?”
Daniel looked toward Sofia.
“Not in front of her.”
Sofia crossed her arms.
“Everyone says that and then I hear it anyway.”
True.
Daniel continued carefully.
“Richard believed his wealth had corrupted everyone he loved.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“He regretted the network.”
“Deeply.”
“What else?”
“He said someone was poisoning him.”
There it was.
“Who?”
“He didn’t know.”
“Did he tell his doctors?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He suspected one of them.”
Keller interrupted through the screen.
“I’ve found something.”
She displayed pharmacy records.
Richard had been prescribed high-dose morphine, anti-nausea medication, and chemotherapy drugs.
But one medication stood out.
Digitalis.
Heart medicine.
“Did he have heart failure?” I asked.
“No,” Keller said.
“Then why digitalis?”
“Someone may have used it to create arrhythmia and weakness.”
Poison.
Slow.
Easy to mistake for cancer progression.
“Who prescribed it?”
Keller zoomed in.
Dr. Helen Mercer.
The neurologist who manipulated Elena.
The woman on the ledger.
Gabriel cursed.
“Mercer.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
Keller searched.
“Missing.”
Of course.
Since Richard’s death?
“Three days afterward.”
Elena gripped the table.
“She killed him.”
“Maybe.”
Maria shook her head.
“Mercer doesn’t act without orders.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
Then Bear began growling.
Everyone looked at the dog.
He stared at Daniel.
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Bear growled louder.
Sofia moved beside him.
“Bear knows him.”
Daniel stepped back.
“No, he doesn’t.”
Sofia’s face changed.
“Yes, he does.”
“How?”
“From the house.”
“What house?”
“The one Daddy and I lived in.”
Gabriel stared at Daniel.
“What?”
Sofia pointed.
“He came once.”
Daniel went pale.
“When?”
She thought.
“Before Christmas.”
Three weeks ago.
Daniel had claimed he had not known where Sofia was.
He had lied.
Gabriel crossed the room and slammed him against the wall.
“You found us?”
Daniel gasped.
“No.”
“She remembers you!”
“I was helping Richard!”
“Explain!”
Daniel looked at Maria.
There.
Another connection.
“What?” Maria asked.
He said nothing.
I moved closer.
“Daniel.”
His face collapsed.
“Richard asked me to find Sofia.”
“Why?”
“He knew he was dying.”
“You said he was being poisoned.”
“He wanted to see her.”
Gabriel tightened his grip.
“You led them to us.”
“No.”
“Three weeks after you visited, shooters found the house.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know.”
“You told someone.”
Silence.
“Who?”
He whispered,
“Mercer.”
Elena nearly attacked him.
I stopped her.
“You told Helen Mercer where Sofia was?”
“She said Richard needed medical confirmation for the trust.”
“After knowing Richard suspected poisoning?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know Mercer was the doctor he suspected.”
“That is unbelievably stupid.”
“I know.”
Sofia spoke quietly.
“Did Dr. Mercer send the bad men?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Then a new voice came from the vault entrance.
“I did.”
We turned.
A woman in her sixties stood there holding a pistol.
Dr. Helen Mercer.
Two armed men behind her.
She smiled at Elena.
“You still have the scar.”
Elena’s face went white.
Mercer looked around the room.
“Richard always loved dramatic endings.”
May you like
Her gun moved toward Sofia.
“Unfortunately, this one is mine.”
