Chapter 8 - THE CEMETERY KEY
The cemetery was quiet when Elena arrived.
A pale wind moved through the trees, stirring the leaves around the stone paths. Her father's grave stood beneath an old maple, marked by a simple headstone with his full name and the dates of his life.
Elena knelt and brushed a leaf from the stone.
“I'm sorry it took me so long, Dad.”
Leo stood beside Mia, holding a small bunch of white flowers.
“Is Grandpa here?”
Elena nodded.
“He's here.”
Leo placed the flowers near the headstone.
“Hi, Grandpa.”
Elena's throat tightened.
Robert approached with a cemetery employee. He carried a folder containing the transfer records.
The employee explained that a small metal container had been placed in the grave vault at the family's request. It had been recorded as personal effects and was to be released to Elena during the relocation.
The container was brought out.
Elena opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a brass key, a folded note, and a photograph of her father standing beside Dante's late father.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written a date.
Six months before Dante's father died.
Elena unfolded the note.
The key opens box 418 at the Lakeshore Trust. Do not let Victoria know you have it.
Her father's handwriting shook toward the end.
Mia looked over her shoulder.
“Lakeshore Trust?”
Robert nodded.
“It's a private records facility. Your father had an account there.”
Elena placed the key in her pocket.
A car door slammed behind them.
Dante approached with Marco and another guard. He stopped several feet away, keeping his distance.
“I came because Robert called me.”
Elena looked at the attorney.
Robert raised his hands.
“I thought it was safer if he knew we were here.”
Dante's gaze moved to the container.
“Did you find the key?”
Elena's expression hardened.
“How do you know about it?”
“Your father told me he had left something at the cemetery. He said you would understand when the time came.”
“You knew?”
“I knew there was a key. I didn't know where he had hidden it.”
Elena held up the note.
“Then you can explain why he was afraid of Victoria.”
Dante looked at the photograph.
“Your father believed Victoria was using the shipping accounts to move money to a company controlled by someone outside the Moretti organization.”
“Who?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Why did you marry her?”
“Because she threatened to expose the false evidence against you. She also told me she had copies of the records your father found. She said if I didn't marry her, she would give them to the people who wanted to take control of my organization.”
Elena stared at him.
“So she used me to force you into marriage, and used the records to keep you there.”
“Yes.”
“And you let her.”
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
Elena looked away.
Dante stepped closer, then stopped when she glanced at him.
“I should have told you,” he said. “I should have trusted you to make your own choice.”
“You should have.”
“I can't change that.”
“No.”
“But I can help you find out what happened to your father.”
Elena looked down at Leo, who was crouched near the flowers, studying a small beetle.
“I'm not doing this for your organization.”
“I know.”
“I'm doing it for my father. And for my son.”
Dante nodded.
“Then that's what we'll do.”
The cemetery employee finished the transfer paperwork. Robert placed the container in a secure case.
As they walked toward the cars, Elena noticed a man standing near the cemetery gate. He wore a dark cap and held a phone to his ear.
When he saw her looking, he turned away.
Marco noticed too.
“Boss.”
Dante followed his gaze.
The man began walking.
Marco's security guard moved toward the gate, but Dante raised a hand.
“Don't chase him. Get the plate number.”
Elena's stomach tightened.
“Was he following us?”
“Possibly.”
“Victoria?”
“I don't know.”
Dante looked at Leo.
“Get them to the car.”
Elena lifted her son.
“I'm not going anywhere with you.”
“Then take your own car. But don't go back to the hotel alone.”
She studied his face.
For once, he was not ordering her.
He was asking her to consider the danger.
“Fine,” she said. “But Mia comes with us.”
“Of course.”
As the cars pulled away, Elena looked back at her father's grave.
The past had followed her home.
May you like
And now it had a key.
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