Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO BE AFRAID|
Norah woke to the smell of damp concrete.
Her wrists were tied to a metal chair, and a single overhead light flickered above her. Somewhere beyond the walls, machinery groaned.
She tried to move her hands.
The restraints tightened.
A man stepped out of the shadows.
Victor Costa.
He wore a dark coat and looked irritated rather than angry, as though her presence had inconvenienced him.
“Good evening, Norah.”
She stared at him.
“You stole my wages.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“That's an ugly way to describe a bookkeeping arrangement.”
“You kept me working for a debt that didn't exist.”
“Your father made a mess. Someone had to pay for it.”
“My father is dead.”
“Yes,” Victor said. “And his death would have remained a closed matter if he had known when to stop asking questions.”
Norah felt sick.
“Did you kill him?”
Victor walked around her chair.
“I didn't pull the trigger.”
The words were almost casual.
“But you arranged it.”
He said nothing.
Norah understood.
She had spent two years believing her father's death was a tragedy she could never explain. Now the man responsible was standing in front of her, speaking as though her grief were an administrative inconvenience.
“Why?”
“Your father found financial records that should never have existed. He believed he could expose people more powerful than himself.”
“And you were afraid.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Fear is a useful emotion, Norah. It keeps people alive.”
“Not my father.”
“No. Your father made the mistake of thinking integrity would protect him.”
Norah looked directly at him.
“And you made the mistake of thinking I would stay quiet forever.”
Victor struck the table beside her chair.
“Do not confuse courage with stupidity.”
“Do not confuse silence with surrender.”
For several seconds, he stared at her.
Then he laughed softly.
“Roman has been spending too much time around you.”
Norah's heart tightened at the sound of Roman's name.
“Where is he?”
“On his way.”
Victor leaned closer.
“He'll bring the ledger. He'll hand it over. Then we'll see whether the great Roman Costa is willing to sacrifice his empire for a maid.”
Norah forced herself to breathe evenly.
“He won't give you the original.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“You sound very certain.”
“Because he finally understands what it means to be wrong.”
Victor's expression turned cold.
Before he could respond, a door opened behind him.
Arthur Voss entered the room.
He looked at Norah, then at Victor.
“Is she unharmed?”
“For now,” Victor replied.
Arthur adjusted his cuff.
“You were instructed not to involve her directly.”
“Roman found the ledger. We had to create leverage.”
Arthur's gaze sharpened.
“You were supposed to retrieve the evidence, not create another witness.”
Norah's pulse quickened.
Another witness.
That meant there had been others.
Arthur stepped toward her.
“Your father was given an opportunity to walk away. He refused.”
“He was threatened,” Norah said.
“He was warned.”
“He was murdered.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“Words like that have consequences.”
“Then perhaps you should have considered that before you helped arrange his death.”
Arthur slapped her.
The sound echoed through the room.
Norah tasted blood.
For a moment, fear threatened to overwhelm her. Then she remembered her father's letter, the blue ledger, and Roman's promise that she would be allowed to choose her own future.
She lifted her chin.
“You can hurt me,” she whispered. “But you can't make the truth disappear.”
Arthur looked toward Victor.
“Get ready. Costa will be here soon.”
Victor left the room.
Arthur followed, but before closing the door, he turned back.
“One thing you should understand, Norah. Roman Costa is not the hero you imagine.”
Norah's voice was steady.
“I don't need him to be a hero.”
She met Arthur's eyes.
“I need him to stop being the kind of man who lets people like you get away with murder.”
The door slammed.
Norah sat alone in the flickering light.
Then she noticed something beneath the chair.
A small metal clip.
One of the restraints had loosened.
She began working at it with trembling fingers.
Outside, engines approached the freight terminal.
May you like
Roman Costa had arrived.
And Victor had no idea that Norah was already preparing to escape.
