Chapter 2 - The Secret Inside the RabbitElena Carter had never seen so many black SUVs arrive for something as ordinary as breakfast.
By seven the following morning, six vehicles were parked outside the small apartment building where she lived with Sophie in Queens.
Neighbors watched from behind curtains.
Elena stood at her kitchen window wearing an old sweatshirt and holding a mug she had forgotten to drink from.
“This is bad,” she whispered.
Sophie sat at the table eating cereal.
“Are we in trouble?”
Elena turned immediately.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Because I went in Mr. Moretti’s room?”
Elena crouched beside her.
“You saved someone’s life.”
“But I used my medicine.”
That was the real problem.
Elena had spent half the night calling pharmacies.
The replacement injector would cost more than she could currently afford.
Her bank account contained eighty-seven dollars.
Rent was due in six days.
She had started cleaning at the Moretti estate because the pay was better than hotel housekeeping, but she had only been employed there five weeks.
She couldn’t ask for an advance.
Not after yesterday.
Someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Elena stiffened.
“Stay here.”
She opened the door.
Marcus Vale stood outside.
No weapon visible, though Elena knew better than to assume he was unarmed.
Behind him was a woman in a gray suit carrying a pharmacy bag.
“Elena,” Marcus said, “Mr. Moretti would like to speak with you.”
“About what?”
“Sophie.”
Elena moved instinctively in front of her daughter.
“No.”
Marcus didn’t react.
“He also sent this.”
The woman offered the pharmacy bag.
Elena opened it.
Inside were four EpiPens.
She stared.
“Why four?”
“Mr. Moretti asked the pharmacist how many would make a parent stop worrying.”
Elena looked back at Marcus.
“I’m not comfortable taking gifts from him.”
“They aren’t gifts.”
“What are they?”
“According to Mr. Moretti, repayment of a debt that can never actually be repaid.”
Sophie appeared behind Elena.
“Is my bunny at his house?”
Marcus glanced down.
“Yes.”
“I forgot him.”
“That,” Marcus said, “is partly why we’re here.”
Elena noticed something in his voice.
“What happened?”
Marcus looked toward Sophie.
“We need to speak privately.”
Ten minutes later Sophie sat in the bedroom watching cartoons while Elena faced Marcus across the kitchen table.
He placed a plastic evidence bag between them.
Inside was the USB drive.
Elena’s confusion looked genuine.
“This was sewn into Sophie’s rabbit.”
Her face changed.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Where did the toy come from?”
“My husband gave it to Sophie.”
“When?”
Elena swallowed.
“Before he died.”
Marcus leaned back.
“What was his name?”
“Daniel Carter.”
“How did he die?”
Elena stared down at her hands.
“Car accident.”
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
Marcus asked quietly, “What did Daniel do for work?”
“He was an accountant.”
“For whom?”
Elena hesitated.
That hesitation answered the question before she spoke.
“A shipping company.”
“Name?”
“North Atlantic Freight.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
Elena noticed.
“You know it.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because North Atlantic Freight is owned through three holding companies controlled by Moretti Holdings.”
Elena went still.
“No.”
“Your husband worked for Alejandro.”
“He told me it was independent.”
“Daniel Carter was a forensic accountant attached to a division Alejandro personally ordered reviewed last year.”
Elena stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“This is a mistake.”
Marcus opened his phone and displayed an employee photograph.
Daniel.
Elena’s husband.
Smiling beneath the logo of Moretti Maritime Services.
She stared until the screen blurred.
“He lied to me.”
“Maybe to protect you.”
“From what?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Marcus looked at the USB drive.
“But I think he wanted someone to eventually find out.”
At the Moretti estate, Alejandro stood before a wall of windows overlooking the lawn.
Sebastian had arrived at nine that morning as if nothing had happened.
He entered the study carrying coffee.
“You look terrible,” Sebastian joked.
Alejandro turned.
“You heard?”
“Everybody heard. Allergic reaction?”
“So they say.”
Sebastian placed the coffee down.
“You should fire the kitchen staff.”
Alejandro studied him.
Twenty-four years of friendship had taught him every expression on Sebastian’s face.
Or so he had believed.
“You think someone made a mistake?”
“What else could it be?”
Alejandro walked closer.
“You remember when we were twelve?”
Sebastian smiled cautiously.
“Which disaster?”
“My father took us sailing. You pushed me into the harbor.”
“You deserved it.”
“You jumped in after me because I couldn’t swim.”
“You still can’t swim.”
Alejandro smiled.
“True.”
For a moment they were boys again.
Then Alejandro asked, “Would you still jump in?”
Sebastian’s smile faded slightly.
“What kind of question is that?”
Alejandro held his gaze.
“The kind a man asks after almost dying.”
Sebastian stepped closer and squeezed his shoulder.
“You’re my brother.”
Alejandro felt something inside him crack.
“Good.”
He stepped away.
“Then I know where I stand.”
Sebastian left twenty minutes later.
Alejandro waited until the door closed.
Then Marcus emerged from the adjoining library.
“Well?” Alejandro asked.
“He didn’t know we found the camera.”
“Keep it that way.”
Marcus placed the USB drive on the desk.
“Elena didn’t recognize this.”
“Can we open it?”
“It’s encrypted.”
“Find someone who can.”
“I already did.”
Marcus plugged the drive into an isolated laptop.
A password window appeared.
HINT: SOPHIE’S FIRST WORD.
Alejandro stared.
“Elena will know.”
When Elena arrived at the estate that afternoon, she refused to bring Sophie inside until every guard was informed that the child was not to leave her sight.
Alejandro met them personally.
Sophie immediately pointed.
“My bunny.”
The stuffed rabbit sat on his desk.
Alejandro picked it up.
“I kept him safe.”
She took it, hugging it tightly.
“His name is Mr. Buttons.”
“I’m glad Mr. Buttons survived.”
Elena did not smile.
“You wanted my daughter’s first word?”
Alejandro nodded.
“What was it?”
Elena looked at Sophie.
“Moon.”
Marcus typed MOON.
The screen flashed.
ACCESS GRANTED.
A folder appeared.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Financial ledgers.
Wire transfers.
Photographs.
Recorded conversations.
Then a video file labeled:
IF YOU ARE WATCHING THIS, I AM DEAD.
Elena covered her mouth.
Marcus clicked.
Daniel Carter appeared on the screen.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
“Elena,” he began, “if this reaches you, I’m sorry.”
Elena’s knees weakened.
Alejandro pulled out a chair.
She sat without noticing.
Daniel continued.
“I found theft inside Moretti Maritime. Millions. Maybe more. But the money isn’t the worst part.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“The money is financing something Alejandro Moretti does not know about.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Someone inside his family is building a second organization beneath his own.”
Marcus glanced toward Alejandro.
Daniel swallowed.
“And if I disappear, the man responsible is Sebastian Moretti.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Alejandro remained motionless.
The recording continued.
“But Sebastian isn’t working alone.”
Daniel leaned toward the camera.
“There is someone closer to Alejandro.”
Alejandro frowned.
“Who?”
Daniel said the name.
And for the second time in twenty-four hours, Alejandro Moretti discovered that someone he loved wanted him dead.
May you like
“His sister,” Daniel whispered.
“Isabella.”
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