Chapter 6 - THE LAST RECIPE
“My mother died in a car accident.”
Aurora said the words firmly, as though repeating them could keep her world from collapsing.
Dante didn't respond immediately.
The threatening message had been sent from an encrypted number.
But its meaning was unmistakable.
Someone knew something about Elena Reyes's death.
And they believed that knowledge would make Aurora cooperate.
“Did anyone investigate the accident?” Dante asked.
“The police did.”
“What did they find?”
“A truck crossed into her lane during a storm. The driver disappeared.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Disappeared?”
“Yes. They never found him.”
He called an investigator he trusted.
“Find the complete accident report for Elena Reyes. Seventeen years ago. I want the original evidence inventory.”
Aurora sat silently.
For years, she had accepted the official explanation because questioning it hurt too much.
Now she wondered whether her mother had been running from someone.
And whether Aurora had unknowingly been living under that person's control ever since.
An hour later, Dante received the report.
He read several pages without speaking.
Then he turned his computer toward her.
“The truck belonged to a shell company.”
Aurora leaned forward.
“Which company?”
“Whitlock Transportation.”
Her breath caught.
“Richard?”
Dante nodded.
“There's more.”
According to the accident investigation, Elena had called emergency services minutes before the collision.
The recording had been marked missing.
But a partial transcript survived.
Aurora stared at the final recorded sentence.
If anything happens to me, tell Aurora to remember the birthday cake.
Tears filled her eyes.
“My mother made me the same cake every birthday.”
Dante gently asked, “What kind?”
“Vanilla sponge with strawberries.”
“Did she have a special recipe?”
Aurora suddenly froze.
“Yes.”
She looked at Dante.
“And I memorized it when I was twelve.”
But what she remembered next had nothing to do with baking.
May you like
Every year, her mother had written the same seven numbers underneath the recipe.
And Aurora finally understood why.
