Chapter 4 - The Daughter Hidden in Plain Sight
The wedding ring lay in Leo Rossi's palm.
For several seconds, he could not breathe.
He knew that ring.
He had placed it on his wife's finger himself.
He had watched it disappear beneath the smoke on the night she died.
He had watched paramedics carry her body away.
He had buried her two days later.
There had never been any doubt.
His wife was dead.
So why was her wedding ring in a hidden room beneath his mansion?
And why had someone brought it here tonight?
Mateo pressed a hand against his bleeding shoulder.
"Leo."
Leo didn't answer.
"Leo, we need to move."
Still nothing.
Beatrice stood against the stone wall.
She was staring at the ring.
"That's my mother's."
Leo looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
She swallowed.
"But I remember it."
Her eyes closed.
Another fragment surfaced.
A woman kneeling in front of her.
A trembling hand brushing her hair away.
A silver ring catching the light.
A voice whispering,
"Promise me you'll remember."
Beatrice opened her eyes.
"I've seen it before."
Leo stepped toward her.
"Where?"
"When I was little."
"How little?"
"I don't know."
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
"Six, maybe."
Leo froze.
Six.
That was the same age Lily was now.
He stared at Beatrice as though seeing her for the first time.
Twenty-two years ago.
A little girl had lived inside this mansion.
A little girl who had supposedly disappeared.
A little girl whose mother was Elena Miller.
And somehow that little girl had grown into the woman who had spent the last eight years serving the Rossi family.
The woman who had saved his daughter.
The woman Lily trusted more than anyone.
His daughter.
His own blood.
Leo looked away.
The realization was too large to fit inside his mind.
Mateo broke the silence.
"We need to get out of this room."
"Why?"
"Because whoever shot at us knew exactly where we were."
Leo's eyes hardened.
"And they know what we found."
Mateo nodded.
"Which means we have a leak."
Beatrice looked toward the passage.
"Victoria."
Leo's expression changed.
"No."
She looked at him.
"You don't think she knew?"
"I think Victoria knows something."
"That's not the same thing."
Beatrice stared at him.
"Then who else could it be?"
Leo had no answer.
Suddenly footsteps echoed from the passage.
Everyone froze.
Mateo raised his weapon.
"Who's there?"
No response.
Another step.
Then another.
Leo pulled Beatrice behind him.
A figure appeared in the doorway.
The police officer who had led the search.
His gun was drawn.
Mateo's weapon immediately pointed at him.
"Drop it."
The officer froze.
"Mr. Rossi, I can explain."
"Drop the gun."
Slowly, the officer lowered it.
Mateo stepped forward and disarmed him.
Leo looked at the officer.
"Why were you in this house?"
"We received an anonymous tip."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"Who gave you the warrant?"
The officer hesitated.
Leo's voice dropped.
"Answer me."
The officer looked terrified.
"Judge Holloway."
Leo knew the name.
Holloway had handled several cases involving the Rossi family.
A man with an impeccable reputation.
A man who had always seemed untouchable.
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"Did you know this room existed?"
"No."
"Did you know Elena Miller's name was connected to this house?"
"No."
"Then why were you looking for this room?"
The officer said nothing.
Mateo stepped closer.
"You have five seconds."
The officer finally broke.
"The warrant didn't come from Judge Holloway."
Leo stared at him.
"What?"
"It was already signed when it reached my desk."
"By whom?"
The officer looked down.
"I don't know."
Leo's expression became cold.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then tell me what you do know."
The officer swallowed.
"The instructions were simple."
"What instructions?"
"Search the cellar."
"Anything else?"
"Find Beatrice Miller."
Silence.
Beatrice's face went pale.
Leo turned toward her.
The officer continued.
"And if she was alive..."
He looked directly at Beatrice.
"...bring her out."
Leo's eyes became murderous.
"Alive?"
The officer nodded.
"Those were the exact words."
Mateo looked at Leo.
"They weren't looking for evidence."
"No."
Leo stared at Beatrice.
"They were looking for her."
Victoria was gone.
The guards found the back entrance unlocked.
Her car was missing.
Leo didn't need to ask where she had gone.
"Find her."
Mateo nodded.
"Already working on it."
Leo looked toward Lily's hospital bracelet lying on the kitchen counter.
He had promised himself that nothing would ever happen to his daughter again.
He had failed once.
He would not fail twice.
But now there were two women connected to him by blood.
One was his daughter.
The other was the daughter he had never known existed.
And both were in danger.
Leo turned toward Beatrice.
"You're coming with me."
She hesitated.
"Where?"
"Somewhere safe."
"I work here."
"Not anymore."
Her eyes widened.
"Mr. Rossi—"
"Leo."
She stared at him.
He had never asked her to call him that.
"I don't want you working for me."
Beatrice looked down.
"Because you think I'm your daughter?"
"Because someone is trying to kill you."
She raised her eyes.
"And if I am?"
Leo's voice softened.
"Then I've already lost twenty-two years."
Beatrice's eyes filled with tears.
Neither spoke.
Then Lily's voice came from the doorway.
"Bee?"
They turned.
Lily stood there.
A nurse was behind her.
Leo rushed toward his daughter.
"What are you doing out of bed?"
Lily ignored him.
She looked at Beatrice.
Then walked straight into her arms.
Beatrice froze.
Lily wrapped both arms around her waist.
"Don't go."
Beatrice closed her eyes.
She held the child gently.
"I won't."
Lily looked at Leo.
"Bee stays."
Leo looked at his daughter.
Then at Beatrice.
His voice was barely audible.
"She stays."
That night, Leo took Beatrice to the only place he trusted.
An apartment above one of his private businesses.
No staff.
No cameras connected to the Rossi network.
No known entrances except the one guarded by Mateo.
Beatrice stood by the window.
Chicago stretched beneath them.
She had never been this high above the city.
She had never felt more trapped.
Leo placed a file on the table.
"Your mother."
Beatrice looked at it.
"You found her?"
"I found records."
She opened the folder.
Elena Miller.
Born 1979.
Former nurse.
No criminal history.
No known enemies.
Then one line caught Beatrice's attention.
Employment: Rossi Family Medical Foundation.
She looked up.
"My mother worked for you?"
"She worked for my father."
Leo sat down.
"My father owned the foundation."
"Did you know her?"
"I was twenty."
Beatrice stared.
"What happened?"
Leo rubbed his forehead.
"I remember her."
"How?"
"She was the woman who told my father he couldn't keep buying doctors."
Beatrice almost smiled.
"That sounds like her."
Leo looked at her.
"You remember her?"
"Not clearly."
She touched the page.
"But I remember her voice."
"What did she sound like?"
"Kind."
A pause.
"Angry."
Leo nodded.
"That sounds right."
Beatrice turned another page.
Then stopped.
There was a photograph.
Elena.
Leo.
And another man.
Beatrice stared at him.
"Who is that?"
Leo's face changed.
He recognized the man.
It was his older brother.
Adrian Rossi.
The brother everyone believed had died before Leo inherited the family empire.
But Adrian was smiling in the photograph.
And Elena was standing between them.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence.
He knows.
Beatrice looked at Leo.
"Who knows?"
Leo stared at the picture.
"I thought my brother was dead."
The room went silent.
Then Mateo burst through the door.
"Leo."
"What?"
"We found Victoria."
"Where?"
Mateo looked grim.
"At the cemetery."
"Whose?"
He hesitated.
"Elena Miller's."
Leo stood.
"That's impossible."
Mateo shook his head.
"There's more."
He placed a photograph on the table.
Victoria was kneeling beside a grave.
And beside her stood a man.
Older.
Scarred.
Alive.
Leo stared at the photograph.
He knew that face.
May you like
His brother.
Adrian Rossi.
