Chapter 8
Norah tightened her grip on the phone.
“How do you know?”
“Because your mother believed you would only go there after you understood that Nico’s love was not the only thing he had inherited from his family.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the ledger is not about money.”
A silence followed.
Norah glanced at Mara.
“What is it about?”
Elias exhaled slowly.
“Your mother discovered something about the Moretti family twenty years ago.”
“What?”
“I promised her I would tell you only when you were free to decide what to do with the truth.”
“I am free now.”
“No.”
The answer was so immediate that Norah felt a chill move through her.
“You walked out of a penthouse,” Elias continued.
“That is not the same as being free.”
“Then tell me how to become free.”
“Open the room.”
“And after that?”
“Read the blue ledger.”
Norah’s voice shook despite her effort to control it.
“Why can’t you tell me what it says?”
“Because your mother wanted the truth to come from her hand, not mine.”
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
The man’s voice softened.
“That is why I have waited.”
Norah looked at the brass key again.
“Did you know she was ill?”
“Yes.”
“Did Nico know?”
Another silence.
This one lasted long enough to become an answer.
Norah’s chest tightened.
“Did he?”
“Ask him.”
“He will lie.”
“Then watch what he refuses to say.”
The line went dead.
Norah lowered the phone.
Mara was pale.
“Who was that?”
“Elias Varga.”
Mara’s eyes widened.
“You know him?”
“I know the name.”
“Norah, that man worked for Nico’s father.”
“I know.”
“Then you cannot go to Bell Street.”
Norah looked toward the window.
The city outside was brightening, but the morning seemed no less uncertain than the night.
“I have to.”
“You just escaped one secret.”
“No.”
Norah picked up the brass key.
“I escaped someone who thought I could be kept comfortable enough not to ask questions.”
Mara stood.
“Do you really think finding an old ledger will give you answers?”
“I don’t know.”
“What if it gives you something worse?”
Norah closed her fingers around the key.
“Then at least it will be mine to face.”
They left the apartment at 8:10 a.m.
Mara insisted on coming with her.
Norah did not argue.
They took a bus toward Bell Street, sitting near the back beneath a fogged window.
Norah kept expecting to see one of Nico’s cars following them.