Chapter 14 - The Mother Who Never Died|
Enzo survived the shooting, though the bullet left him unable to stand without assistance.
Tomasso placed him under guard in a private clinic, where no visitors were allowed without approval. He wanted answers, but the older man had finally begun to fear the consequences of speaking.
The blackbird pin led them to a woman named Sofia Bellini.
She had worked as Elena Moretti's personal assistant for fourteen years. After Elena's death, she had vanished from Chicago, leaving behind no forwarding address.
Marco found her living in a small house outside Milwaukee.
Tomasso wanted to bring her in immediately.
Caterina insisted on going herself.
"If she helped my mother hide Mateo, she may be the only person who knows what really happened."
They arrived at the house just before sunset.
Sofia opened the door with a kitchen knife in her hand.
She was in her late fifties, with gray hair and tired eyes. When she saw Caterina, the knife slipped from her fingers.
"My God," she whispered. "You look exactly like her."
Caterina stepped inside.
"You knew my mother was in danger."
Sofia shut the door.
"I knew Lorenzo wanted her silenced. I didn't know how far he would go."
"Did you help her hide Mateo?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you disappear?"
"Because someone told me Elena was dead, and the next morning I found a bullet through my bedroom window."
Caterina felt her pulse quicken.
"What do you mean, someone told you?"
Sofia looked toward Tomasso.
"Before I tell you anything, I need to know whether he has brought you here to finish what his uncle started."
Tomasso placed his gun on the table and stepped away from it.
"I came because my father asked me to protect the child."
Sofia studied him.
Then she walked to a locked cabinet and removed a small metal box.
Inside were letters, hospital records, and a photograph of Elena standing beside a woman in a dark coat.
The woman wore a blackbird pin.
Caterina recognized her face from the wedding.
"That's impossible," she whispered.
Tomasso examined the photograph.
The woman was older now, but unmistakable.
Elena Moretti.
Caterina's mother.
Sofia nodded.
"Your mother survived the night everyone said she died. Lorenzo arranged a false death certificate. He believed she had suffered a fatal heart attack, but she escaped through the service tunnel before he could finish what he started."
Caterina sat down.
"Where is she?"
Sofia looked at the photograph.
"That is the question I have been asking for six years."
Tomasso frowned.
"Why would she leave Caterina behind?"
"Because Lorenzo threatened to kill her daughter if she returned. Elena believed that keeping you apart was the only way to protect you."
Caterina's eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained steady.
"She let me believe she was dead."
"She thought you were safer grieving her than searching for her."
"She was wrong."
Sofia reached into the box and handed her a sealed envelope.
"She left this for you. I was told to give it to you only if you married a Barbieri."
Caterina broke the seal.
Inside was a single page.
My darling girl, if you are reading this, the war has begun again. Find the woman who wears my face in the old photographs. She is not me. And whatever you do, do not let Tomasso take you to the lake house.
Caterina read the final line aloud.
Tomasso looked up sharply.
"The lake house?"
"My family had a property near Lake Geneva," he said. "My father used it for private meetings. It was sold years ago."
Sofia shook her head.
"It was never sold."
She removed another document from the box.
The property had been transferred to a trust in Elena's name three weeks before her supposed death.
Caterina stared at the paper.
Her mother had not merely survived.
May you like
She had prepared a place to hide.
And she had left one final warning: the woman who wore her face was not her.
