Chapter 12 - THE MOTHER THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE TOUCHED
Elena had never been afraid of Bianca Russo.
Not truly.
Bianca could humiliate her.
Insult her.
Turn her husband's attention elsewhere.
But threatening Isabella Moretti crossed a line Elena would never ignore.
Rachel immediately alerted the investigators.
The video was preserved.
The meeting room was secured.
And Bianca, who had expected Elena to panic, discovered that panic was the one thing she wasn't getting.
“Where is Isabella?” Elena asked.
Bianca smiled.
“Bring me the ring.”
“You don't know where it is.”
Bianca's smile faltered.
Elena stepped closer.
“Dante gave it to the authorities.”
“That isn't possible.”
“Then your people have been lying to you.”
Victor suddenly grabbed Bianca's arm.
“What did you do?”
She pulled away.
“Exactly what you told me!”
“I told you to secure the evidence, not kidnap an old woman!”
The room went silent.
Bianca looked toward the federal investigators.
Victor realized his mistake immediately.
But it was too late.
His words had been recorded.
Elena's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
She's at the old Riverside property.
Elena stared.
Then another message appeared.
Don't trust the person who sent the first threat.
The sender attached a photograph.
Marco DeLuca.
Standing outside a warehouse.
But he wasn't alone.
Luca Moretti stood beside him.
Elena's breath caught.
She turned toward Rachel.
“Where's Luca?”
Rachel looked around.
He had left the meeting before it began.
Elena called him.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
The investigators began coordinating with police to locate Isabella.
Elena provided the Riverside address and every document she possessed.
She did not rush toward the warehouse herself.
She knew that would only give the kidnappers another hostage.
Instead, she stayed with the investigators while they worked.
Forty minutes later, a call came through.
“Mrs. Moretti?”
Elena recognized the voice.
Marco.
“You need to listen carefully.”
Her hands tightened around the phone.
“Where's Isabella?”
“Safe.”
“Let me speak to her.”
A pause.
Then Isabella's voice came through.
“Elena?”
Elena almost collapsed with relief.
“I'm here.”
“Sweetheart, don't let them frighten you.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I'm fine.”
Marco returned to the line.
“Victor's men brought her here. Luca and I got her out before they moved her again.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“You were working with Luca?”
“For three years.”
“Then why did he tell me you were compromised?”
“Because Victor had people listening. We needed Dante to distance himself from me.”
Elena thought of Marco's arrest.
The threat in the hospital.
The years of deception.
“You could have told me.”
“I know.”
He sounded exhausted.
“But there's something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“Bianca didn't plan the marriage breakup alone.”
Elena's blood went cold.
“Who helped her?”
Marco hesitated.
Then he spoke a name.
A name Elena had trusted since childhood.
May you like
Margaret Whitmore.
Her own aunt.
