CHAPTER6 — THE ACCOUNT
Chapter 06 - CHAPTER6 — THE ACCOUNT
The account had been opened thirty-one years earlier.
Jodi sat across from Hector in a private room at one of his downtown offices, staring at a bank statement that looked like something from another universe.
Her name was on it.
Not Anna Russo.
Not Jodi Bell.
Jodi Russo.
The balance was more money than she could understand.
"I don't want this."
Hector leaned back.
"That doesn't matter."
"It should."
"Not to the people trying to get it."
Jodi looked at the statement again.
"Why did my father hide this?"
"Because money makes people honest only when they have nothing to lose."
She looked at him.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
He didn't smile.
"It's a warning."
For the first time since the ballroom, they were alone.
Jodi noticed the small scar near his jaw.
"Did my father really save your life?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you say he tried to kill your father?"
Hector's expression tightened.
"My father."
She waited.
"He was killed twelve years ago."
"By Daniel?"
"That's what I believed."
"And now?"
"Now I don't know."
Jodi studied him.
"You hate not knowing."
"Everyone does."
"No. You especially."
He looked at her.
There was something almost gentle in his eyes.
It disappeared quickly.
A knock came.
His lieutenant entered.
"Boss, we found the sniper."
Jodi stood.
"Alive?"
"No."
Hector's face went cold.
"Where?"
"Dead in an abandoned warehouse."
"Who killed him?"
"We don't know."
The lieutenant placed a photograph on the desk.
The dead man had a tattoo on his wrist.
Jodi recognized it.
Her father had drawn the same symbol in the margins of her childhood notebooks.
A circle split by a vertical line.
"What is that?" Hector asked.
Jodi couldn't answer.
Her mouth had gone dry.
"My father used to tell me it was a family symbol."
Hector looked at the photograph.
"That's not a family symbol."
"What is it?"
"A mark."
"Of what?"
Hector's voice lowered.
"An old organization."
Jodi felt cold.
"Which organization?"
He looked at her.
"The one my father and yours belonged to."
She stared at him.
"You said our fathers were enemies."
"They were."
"Then why did they share the same mark?"
Hector didn't answer.
The office door opened again.
This time it was a woman.
Elegant. Blonde. Forty-something.
She walked in as if the building belonged to her.
Hector stood.
"Claire."
Jodi watched them.
Claire smiled.
"I heard you found the Russo girl."
Jodi stiffened.
Hector said nothing.
Claire turned to Jodi.
"You look exactly like your mother."
Jodi's blood ran cold.
"Have you met her?"
Claire's smile faded.
"Of course."
"Where is she?"
Claire looked at Hector.
May you like
Then she said quietly,
"She's been sitting three floors below us for the last twenty minutes."
