Chapter 4 - ROSIE'S CONFESSION
Rosie descended the stairs slowly.
Vincent's men immediately surrounded her.
She didn't seem concerned.
“Move,” Vincent ordered.
Rosie stopped.
“You've spent twenty years believing our father was murdered.”
“He was.”
“No.”
Rosie looked at Elena.
“He wasn't the victim.”
Elena's stomach dropped.
“What are you saying?”
Rosie placed a folder on the table.
“Your mother and my father were partners.”
Vincent shook his head.
“That isn't possible.”
Rosie opened the folder.
Inside were photographs of Rosa and Vincent's father.
They were standing together outside Bellini's Bakery.
Another photograph showed them entering a bank.
Another showed them signing documents.
Elena stared.
“My mother worked for him?”
“She did more than work for him.”
Rosie pulled out a financial ledger.
“She helped him move money.”
Vincent snatched it.
“These numbers…”
“Illegal accounts,” Rosie said.
Salvatore shook his head.
“That's not the whole story.”
Rosie looked at him.
“You would say that.”
Salvatore's voice hardened.
“You know what happened.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell her.”
Rosie looked at Elena.
“Your mother discovered that our father was planning to sacrifice Vincent.”
Elena looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because Vincent had seen something he wasn't supposed to see.”
“What?”
Rosie leaned closer.
“A list.”
“What list?”
“The names of every person who had been paid to protect the Moretti organization.”
Elena's blood ran cold.
“And my mother?”
“Your mother stole it.”
Vincent stared at Rosie.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“You let me spend twenty years thinking my father was killed by strangers.”
Rosie's eyes filled with tears.
“I was seventeen too.”
Vincent's expression softened for only a moment.
Then Elena noticed something.
The photograph Rosie had brought wasn't old enough.
The paper looked almost new.
She picked it up.
“Where did you get this?”
Rosie hesitated.
“An archive.”
“No.”
Elena turned the photograph over.
A timestamp was printed on the back.
Three months ago.
Her mother's visit.
The photograph had been taken recently.
Elena looked at Rosie.
“You've been watching my mother.”
Rosie's face changed.
“She contacted us.”
“Us?”
Before Rosie could answer, every light in the basement went out.
A gunshot echoed upstairs.
Vincent immediately pulled Elena behind him.
Another shot.
Then another.
Someone screamed.
Rosie whispered:
“They found us.”
Vincent looked toward the staircase.
“Who?”
Rosie answered:
“The person who has been cleaning up Night 17 for twenty years.”
May you like
Then the basement door slammed shut.
And the steel lock clicked from the outside.
