CHAPTER12 — THE LAST LIE
Chapter 12 - CHAPTER12 — THE LAST LIE
The police called it an execution.
Hector called it a message.
Jodi called it the end of the world she had known.
Three days passed.
Hector disappeared into his office.
He stopped sleeping.
Stopped eating.
Stopped speaking unless necessary.
Jodi stayed because leaving felt wrong.
She found him one morning sitting alone in the ballroom where everything had begun.
The chandeliers were still.
The champagne tables had been removed.
The room looked ordinary.
That was almost cruel.
"You should sleep," she said.
"So should you."
"I'm not the one running on coffee."
He looked at her.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I know."
"Jodi."
"No."
She sat beside him.
"I'm tired of people deciding what is best for me."
He looked away.
She continued.
"My father did it. My mother did it. Victor did it. Your father did it."
"And now?"
"You."
Hector was silent.
"I know."
She took his hand.
He looked down at their fingers.
"You should hate me."
"I did."
"And now?"
"I don't know."
That was the most honest answer she could give.
Then Hector's phone rang.
He answered.
A voice said, "The account has been emptied."
Hector stood.
"What?"
"All the Russo money."
Jodi felt her stomach drop.
"Who did it?"
A pause.
Then:
"Jodi."
She looked up.
Her own bank account had transferred everything.
Not to Victor.
Not to Hector.
To a private account under a name neither of them recognized.
MARA BELL.
But Mara was dead.
Or so they had been told.
Jodi stared at the screen.
"No."
Hector looked at her.
"What?"
"She's alive."
He understood.
"Then we find her."
They drove through the night.
The trail led to a small coastal town three hours away.
At the address was an old house.
The door was unlocked.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Jodi as a child.
Hector as a boy.
Elena.
Daniel.
Victor.
Mara.
And one photograph that made Jodi stop.
It showed her father standing beside a newborn baby.
Not Jodi.
Another baby.
A boy.
On the back was written:
HECTOR'S BROTHER.
Jodi looked at Hector.
He went pale.
"I don't have a brother."
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
They looked toward the staircase.
A man's voice called down.
"You do."
Hector raised his weapon.
The man appeared.
He was about thirty.
He had Hector's face.
And Victor's eyes.
He smiled.
"My name is Adrian Richie."
Jodi whispered, "Who are you?"
He answered.
"The man who has been protecting you from Victor."
Hector stared at him.
"That's impossible."
Adrian smiled.
"No."
May you like
He lifted a photograph.
"What's impossible is that you still believe Victor is the villain."
