Chapter 8 - Sofia’s Brave Little LieRosa knew something was wrong the moment the driver missed the turn toward Queens.
Marcus grabbed Julian and pulled him behind a stone pillar.
Evelyn dropped beside the wall.
Theodore shouted from somewhere in the darkness.
“Teresa!”
A second crash came from the rear of the house.
Not gunfire.
A window.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Stay down.”
Emergency lights failed to activate.
That meant the outage was deliberate.
Julian’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
Rosa.
For one insane second, he considered answering.
Then Marcus whispered, “Move.”
They crossed into an interior hallway.
Outside, tires screamed.
Someone was leaving the property.
By the time power returned three minutes later, Charles was gone.
So was Theodore.
The room overlooking the ocean stood empty.
A wheelchair-accessible side door had been forced open.
Julian stared at it.
“Where is my father?”
Teresa emerged from the kitchen trembling.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“Two men.”
Marcus ran outside.
Theodore’s vehicle was gone.
Charles’s car was gone.
Julian called Rosa.
She answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
“How did you know?”
“You stopped answering.”
“I’m fine.”
“Julian.”
“Charles took my father.”
Rosa went silent.
Then, “Come home.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
“You don’t know where they went.”
“We’ll find them.”
“And then what?”
Julian looked toward the empty driveway.
“I finish this.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Thousands of miles away, Sofia slept beside her.
“Listen to yourself.”
“What?”
“You sound like them.”
The accusation struck.
“You think I’m like Charles?”
“I think you’re becoming obsessed with winning.”
“My father was kidnapped.”
“I know.”
“And you want me to walk away?”
“I want you to understand the difference between justice and destruction.”
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“That’s easy for you to say from New York.”
Rosa went quiet.
He regretted it instantly.
“Rosa.”
“No. You’re right.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“My mother is dead because your family spent decades hiding from consequences.”
“I know.”
“And Sofia almost lost me because I spent years doing the same thing in my own life.”
Julian frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Rosa’s voice broke.
“My husband didn’t die in an accident.”
Julian went still.
Rosa had told the staffing agency she was widowed.
Sofia knew only that her father was gone.
“What happened?”
“He was abusive.”
Julian said nothing.
“Not at first,” Rosa continued. “At first he was funny. Charming. He remembered birthdays. He cooked. He danced with Sofia when she was a baby.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“Then he lost his job. Started drinking. Started blaming me.”
Julian sat down.
“Rosa…”
“One night he hit me while Sofia was in the next room.”
Julian’s hand tightened around the phone.
“I left.”
“What happened to him?”
“He followed us three months later. Drunk. Angry. He drove off after I threatened to call police.”
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“He crashed.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For years I thought if I had handled things differently, he would be alive.”
“You didn’t cause his death.”
“I know that now.”
She paused.
“But anger made him believe every next step was justified because of the last one.”
Julian understood.
“You think that’s happening to me.”
“I think it could.”
He looked toward the ocean.
“I don’t know how to stop.”
“Come home when you can.”
“What about my father?”
“Find him.”
Her tone was steady.
“But don’t lose yourself while you do.”
The line ended.
Marcus returned with information.
Traffic cameras had captured Charles’s vehicle heading east toward a private marina.
By afternoon, authorities quietly joined the search.
Charles’s political connections made Marcus cautious.
Theodore’s disappearance could not remain secret indefinitely.
At the marina, they found the abandoned car.
Blood stained the passenger seat.
Julian’s stomach turned.
A security recording showed Theodore being moved onto a yacht.
Charles boarded afterward.
The vessel departed twenty-three minutes before police arrived.
Its registration led to a Luxembourg trust.
Its transponder had been disabled.
But Marcus’s investigator found a likely destination.
A small private harbor in southern Spain.
They flew by helicopter.
Night had fallen when Spanish authorities intercepted the yacht twelve miles offshore.
Julian was not permitted aboard.
He waited at the harbor.
Forty minutes later, Marcus received a call.
Theodore had been found alive.
Charles had not.
The crew claimed Charles transferred to another vessel earlier.
Theodore arrived by ambulance.
He had a head wound but was conscious.
Julian stood beside the stretcher.
For a second, father and son simply stared at one another.
Then Theodore whispered, “He has the original ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The foundation accounts.”
“Why does he want it?”
“Because it proves everything.”
“Where is he going?”
Theodore’s eyes closed.
“New York.”
Julian felt the world tilt.
“Why?”
“The ledger isn’t complete without Margaret’s recordings.”
Julian looked at Marcus.
The cassette recorder.
The red room.
Charles was going back to Mercer House.
Where Rosa and Sofia were staying.
Julian pulled out his phone.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
He called security.
A guard answered.
“Mercer residence.”
“Put Rosa on.”
A pause.
“Sir, Ms. Alvarez left thirty minutes ago.”
Julian froze.
“Left where?”
“She received a message that her landlord had discovered a leak in her apartment. She took Sofia.”
“Who sent the car?”
Silence.
“Sir?”
“What car did she take?”
“She said one of your drivers came.”
Julian looked at Marcus.
“I didn’t send one.”
He called Rosa again.
This time someone answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then Charles spoke.
May you like
“Come home, Julian.”
The call ended.
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