Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Looked Like Her Mother
Penelope stared at the screen.
“No.”
The woman tied to the chair had Eleanor’s eyes.
Eleanor’s mouth.
Eleanor’s small scar above the right eyebrow from a childhood fall.
Penelope knew that scar.
She had touched it thousands of times.
“Mom?”
Gabriel stumbled toward the monitor.
His face had turned gray.
Dominic whispered something in Italian.
Catherine covered her mouth.
Samuel Vale smiled from the adjacent feed.
“Surprised?”
Penelope stepped closer.
“Where is she?”
“Where she has always belonged.”
Her fists clenched.
“You said she died.”
Samuel’s smile widened.
“I said nothing. Other people told you she died.”
Penelope looked at Gabriel.
“You saw the body?”
Gabriel shook his head helplessly.
“I didn’t know she was sick.”
Dominic said, “I saw her after.”
Penelope turned.
“In the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“And afterward?”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“The funeral home handled everything.”
“Closed casket.”
He nodded.
Of course.
Because apparently no one in this family was permitted a normal death.
Penelope turned back to the screen.
“Let her go.”
Samuel chuckled.
“You sound like her.”
“Let her go.”
“Come to Vale Tower.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“No.”
Samuel looked toward his camera.
“Dominic Moretti.”
“Samuel.”
“How disappointing. You’ve become old.”
“So have you.”
Samuel laughed.
“You always had your father’s lack of imagination.”
Dominic’s hand tightened around the edge of the table.
Penelope looked at him.
Samuel knew exactly where to hurt.
“Penelope comes alone,” Samuel said.
“No,” Gabriel replied.
Samuel’s expression changed.
“Gabriel.”
The hatred between them seemed almost physical.
“You should have stayed dead.”
“You first.”
Samuel smiled again.
“You always were amusing.”
Penelope stepped between them and the monitor.
“If I come, you release my mother.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Everyone turned toward Dominic.
Penelope’s eyes narrowed.
“She’s my mother.”
“And Samuel lies.”
Samuel laughed.
“Smart boy.”
Dominic ignored him.
“He needs you physically present for something.”
Gabriel looked at the trust papers.
“Biometric authorization.”
Penelope frowned.
“For what?”
“The Santoro Trust has secondary safeguards,” Gabriel said. “Some transfers require direct biometric confirmation from the beneficiary.”
“So Samuel can’t take the money without me.”
“Correct.”
Samuel clapped slowly on screen.
“Very good.”
Penelope looked at her grandfather.
“You kidnapped my mother for money?”
Samuel’s expression became cold.
“No. I kept my daughter alive because she is my daughter.”
Eleanor spoke weakly.
“You kept me alive because killing me would have triggered the release.”
Everyone went still.
Samuel turned slightly toward her.
“Still sharp.”
Penelope leaned toward the monitor.
“What release?”
Eleanor looked directly into the camera.
“Evidence.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“The dead-man switch.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You built one?”
“Eleanor did.”
A faint smile touched Eleanor’s bruised face.
“I was always better with details.”
Penelope’s throat tightened.
Even now, her mother sounded like herself.
Samuel stood.
“If you want her breathing at sunrise, come upstairs.”
The feed went black.
Penelope immediately headed for the door.
Dominic blocked her.
“No.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“My mother is alive.”
“Which is exactly why you need to think.”
“I’ve been thinking for nine months that I buried her.”
Her voice broke.
Dominic softened but did not move.
“Samuel wants you emotional.”
“He succeeded.”
“He wants you reckless.”
“I’m working on it.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Penny.”
She turned.
His eyes were wet.
“I lost both of you once.”
“You didn’t lose us.”
The words came out sharper than intended.
“You left.”
Gabriel flinched.
Penelope exhaled.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“I have to go.”
“I know.”
Gabriel looked at Dominic.
“We need a plan.”
For the first time, the two men stopped behaving like rivals from an old war.
Dominic nodded.
“Building access?”
Gabriel pulled up blueprints.
“Vale Tower has three elevator banks. Samuel will control the main one.”
“Service?”
“Likely.”
“Roof?”
“Helipad.”
Catherine added, “Sub-basement connects to the old freight tunnel.”
Dominic looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I helped Samuel acquire the property in 1994.”
Penelope stared.
“You people have had very busy lives.”
No one disagreed.
They formed a plan.
Penelope would enter through the lobby.
Alone, visibly.
Dominic and Gabriel would use the freight tunnel.
Catherine would coordinate from outside.
Penelope hated being bait.
But she understood the necessity.
Before leaving, Gabriel stopped her.
He removed the broken watch from his wrist.
The same one placed in the box earlier.
“You kept it?”
He nodded.
“After you scratched it, I never repaired the face.”
“Why?”
“So I’d remember you.”
Anger and love collided inside her.
“That was a terrible strategy.”
“I know.”
He placed the watch in her hand.
“Press the crown twice.”
She did.
A tiny light blinked.
“Tracker?”
“And microphone.”
She looked at him.
“You’ve become annoyingly useful.”
He smiled.
“Runs in the family.”
Dominic stood near the door.
Watching.
Penelope approached him.
“You have something to say?”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
“If this goes wrong—”
“No.”
His brow furrowed.
“No farewell speeches.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You were.”
He sighed.
“Fine.”
Penelope looked at him.
“Also, stop calling me your future wife.”
Dominic’s mouth curved.
“That seemed to bother Vincent.”
“It bothers me.”
“More than Vincent?”
“Different category.”
His smile disappeared.
“Penelope.”
She waited.
“Be careful.”
She nodded.
“You too.”
Vale Tower stood six blocks away.
The lobby was empty when Penelope entered.
Too empty.
A security guard pointed toward the private elevator without speaking.
She stepped inside.
Only one button was illuminated.
Top floor.
The doors closed.
As the elevator climbed, Penelope looked at herself in the mirrored wall.
Black satin gown.
Disheveled hair.
Blood stain on the side from Carlo.
No weapon.
No training.
And somehow she was going to confront an eighty-six-year-old criminal patriarch who had spent decades controlling everyone around her.
The elevator stopped.
Doors opened.
Michael Arden waited.
Early forties.
Expensive suit.
Nervous eyes.
“Ms. Hayes.”
“Mr. Arden.”
He looked surprised.
“You know me.”
“You’ve been forging marriage contracts in my name. I thought I should learn yours.”
His mouth tightened.
“Come with me.”
He led her into a vast boardroom overlooking Manhattan.
Samuel sat at one end.
Vincent stood near the windows.
Eleanor remained tied to a chair.
Penelope’s breath stopped.
Her mother looked thinner.
Older.
But alive.
“Mom.”
Eleanor began crying.
“Penny.”
Penelope rushed toward her.
Vincent intercepted.
“Not yet.”
Penelope looked at him.
“You’ve already been slapped once tonight.”
He smiled.
“So have you, emotionally speaking.”
She hated him.
Samuel gestured.
“Sit.”
Penelope remained standing.
“You kidnapped my mother.”
Samuel shrugged.
“She is my daughter.”
“She’s a person.”
“A sentimental distinction.”
Penelope looked at Eleanor.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not badly.”
Samuel sighed.
“She exaggerates.”
Penelope turned.
“Touch her again and I’ll—”
“You’ll what?”
He looked amused.
“Slap me too?”
Penelope smiled without humor.
“If the opportunity presents itself.”
Samuel laughed.
“I understand why Dominic likes you.”
“I don’t care.”
“Oh, you will.”
He slid a tablet across the table.
“Authorize the transfer.”
Penelope looked at the screen.
Nine hundred and twelve million dollars.
She almost laughed.
“You expect me to sign that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I will release Eleanor.”
“And afterward?”
“You and Dominic marry.”
Penelope stared.
“Excuse me?”
Samuel leaned back.
“The trust requires it.”
“Then you kill me.”
Samuel’s eyes gleamed.
“You read the contract.”
“I can read. It’s one of my many surprising talents.”
Vincent looked away, hiding a smile.
Samuel’s face hardened.
“You do not understand the position you are in.”
Penelope pressed the watch crown twice.
Under the table.
She hoped Gabriel heard everything.
“What position is that?”
Samuel nodded toward Michael.
He opened a briefcase.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Surveillance.
One image showed Dominic entering Penelope’s apartment building three months earlier.
She looked closer.
“What is this?”
Samuel smiled.
“The part of the story Dominic never told you.”
Penelope’s stomach tightened.
Michael placed another photograph down.
Dominic speaking with a doctor outside Eleanor’s hospital room.
Another.
Dominic handing the doctor an envelope.
Another.
The death certificate.
Signed by the same doctor.
Penelope’s hands went cold.
Samuel leaned forward.
“Your mother did not die.”
“I know that now.”
“But Dominic wanted you to believe she did.”
Penelope looked at Eleanor.
Her mother’s eyes filled with fear.
“Penny, don’t—”
Vincent covered Eleanor’s mouth.
Samuel smiled.
“Ask your future husband why he paid the doctor who declared your mother dead.”
Penelope stared at the photographs.
Then the private elevator chimed behind her.
Someone was coming up.
Samuel’s smile widened.
“Perfect timing.”
The doors opened.
Dominic stepped out.
Alone.
May you like
Hands visible.
And Michael Arden quietly pulled a gun behind Penelope.
