Chapter 11 - BACK TO CAYO LUCERO
Giovanni flew to Cayo Lucero that night with Emilio, Clarissa, Luca, and Rafael.
He wanted the children left behind.
They refused.
"Mom trusted us with this first," Clarissa said.
Giovanni had no answer.
The island looked beautiful from the air and threatening from the ground.
Palm trees bent in warm wind while armed men watched the private runway from unmarked vehicles.
Rafael led them to Elena's abandoned hotel.
The storage room had been emptied since the children escaped.
One thing remained on the floor.
A strip of Elena's red scarf.
Giovanni recognized it from the last morning he saw her alive.
They followed a set of numbers written inside the scarf hem to the ruined monastery on Rafael's map.
Beneath the altar, they found a tunnel leading toward the cliffs.
The tunnel walls were lined with old shipping manifests and photographs of politicians, executives, and Moretti associates.
Emilio realized the island had once been used as a transfer point for hidden money and identities.
At the far end, they found Marco chained to a metal chair.
He was alive.
Older, thinner, but unmistakably Elena's brother.
Giovanni cut him free.
Marco looked at the music box and laughed bitterly.
"Elena fooled them after all."
"Who killed my wife?" Giovanni demanded.
Marco looked past him toward Luca.
Then toward Rafael.
Finally, he said, "Neither of them."
A gun clicked behind Giovanni.
As they crossed the tunnel, Clarissa found fresh candle wax and bottled water, proof that somebody had used the monastery within the last day.
Marco's wrists were bruised, but his first concern was whether Elena's body had been buried yet.
When Giovanni said no, Marco whispered, 'Good,' and refused to explain.
Giovanni knew then that even the coffin was part of Elena's plan.
May you like
Teresa's voice came from the darkness.
"He means me."
