PART 4 — THE LEDGER BENEATH THE WATER
The elevator dropped so violently that Sofia’s scream tore through the darkness.
My body slammed against the wall.
Isabel hit the floor.
Alexander grabbed the metal railing with one hand and Sofia with the other.
Then the emergency brakes caught.
The elevator stopped with a crash that knocked the breath from my lungs.
For several seconds, all I could hear was Sofia crying and Isabel gasping.
“Everybody answer me,” Alexander shouted.
“I’m here,” I said.
“Sofia?”
“I’m okay.”
“Isabel?”
“My ankle.”
Alexander pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
The elevator was tilted slightly.
One corner had dropped lower than the others.
Isabel sat against the wall clutching her ankle.
Blood ran from a cut above Sofia’s eyebrow.
I crawled toward her.
“Let me see.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I said I’m okay.”
Her voice was different now.
Not frightened.
Angry.
Alexander noticed it too.
He looked at his daughter.
Sofia wiped the blood from her forehead.
“They tried to kill us.”
Alexander said nothing.
“They tried to kill Mom.”
Still nothing.
“And they’ve been controlling everyone for years.”
She looked at him.
“I’m done being scared.”
That sentence changed something in the elevator.
Alexander nodded once.
“Good.”
Then he turned toward the ceiling panel.
“We’re getting out.”
He climbed onto the railing and pushed.
The emergency hatch opened.
A shaft of dim light appeared above us.
“We’re between the fourth and fifth floors,” he said.
“Can we climb?”
“We don’t have another choice.”
Alexander pulled himself through first.
Then he reached down for Sofia.
I hated watching her climb.
Her ribs were bruised.
Her arms shook.
Her wedding dress was still torn.
But she refused to stop.
When Alexander pulled her onto the fifth-floor landing, she turned immediately.
“Mom.”
“I’m coming.”
Isabel tried to stand and nearly collapsed.
I wrapped her arm around my shoulder.
Together we climbed.
By the time all four of us reached the hallway, my hands were bleeding.
Alexander looked toward the stairwell.
“We can’t use the lobby.”
“Then where?” I asked.
“Parking garage.”
Isabel shook her head.
“They’ll be waiting.”
Alexander stared at her.
“How many exits?”
“Three.”
“How many men?”
“At least five.”
Sofia whispered, “How do you know?”
Isabel hesitated.
“I lived with them for fourteen months.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Isabel looked away.
“How many men?”
“Seven.”
“And weapons?”
Silence.
“Isabel.”
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
“Guns?”
She nodded.
Alexander pulled out his phone.
“No signal.”
Of course.
The elevator sabotage had probably damaged something, or someone had jammed the building.
Then I remembered.
“My neighbor.”
Alexander looked at me.
“Who?”
“Mrs. Holloway. Fifth floor. Apartment 5D.”
“You trust her?”
“She’s seventy-nine and hates everyone equally.”
Alexander almost smiled.
“Perfect.”
We moved down the hallway.
I knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked harder.
“Mrs. Holloway!”
A lock turned.
The door opened three inches.
One suspicious blue eye appeared.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
“What are you doing running around dressed like that?”
I looked down.
My blouse was torn.
My hands were bleeding.
Sofia still wore half a wedding dress.
Isabel looked like she had escaped captivity.
Alexander looked ready to kill someone.
“It’s a long story.”
Mrs. Holloway opened the door wider.
“I assume the men with guns downstairs are part of it.”
We froze.
“You saw them?”
“I see everything.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“Ma’am, do you have a landline?”
She looked offended.
“Of course I have a landline. I don’t trust those little tracking rectangles.”
For the first time that morning, someone had made the right life choice by accident.
Alexander called Detective Monroe.
She answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Fifth floor. Apartment 5D.”
“We’re already responding.”
“How?”
“Your elevator alarm triggered building security.”
Alexander looked at me.
“Good.”
“No,” Monroe said.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“Someone called building security thirty seconds before the elevator dropped and told them the alarm was a malfunction.”
Isabel whispered, “Daniel.”
Monroe continued.
“We have units three minutes away.”
Alexander lowered his voice.
“There are armed men in the building.”
“How many?”
“Seven.”
“Stay inside.”
“I need to get my daughter out.”
“You need to stay alive.”
Alexander looked toward the door.
“Detective, Carmen has Isabel’s brother.”
Monroe went silent.
“You have Isabel Vega with you?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
Then Monroe said, “Do not move.”
The way she said it bothered me.
Alexander heard it too.
“Why?”
“There are things you don’t know.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can’t over the phone.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Rachel.”
It was the first time he used her first name.
“Tell me.”
She exhaled.
“Isabel Vega was officially declared dead six months ago.”
Everyone turned toward Isabel.
She stared at the phone.
“No.”
Alexander’s voice became cold.
“You said she was missing.”
“That’s what Marcus’s private search showed.”
Monroe continued.
“Police records were updated six months ago. Dental remains were supposedly matched.”
Isabel whispered, “They buried someone under my name.”
Nobody spoke.
Monroe continued.
“If Carmen arranged that, Isabel legally stopped existing.”
Sofia stared at her.
“Why would they do that?”
Isabel answered herself.
“So nobody would keep looking.”
Mrs. Holloway slowly backed away from us.
“I’m going to make coffee.”
Nobody stopped her.
Alexander spoke into the phone.
“What about Sofia’s deed?”
“We’ve frozen movement on the property.”
“And Daniel Mercer?”
“We’re checking him.”
“Don’t check. Arrest him.”
“We need evidence.”
“I have my dead brother on video naming him.”
Monroe went silent.
“You have what?”
Alexander looked at the laptop bag.
“A recording from Nathan.”
“Do not send it electronically.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is watching the case.”
That sentence froze the room.
Alexander stared at the phone.
“Inside your department?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then who can we trust?”
Monroe lowered her voice.
“For now, me.”
The line disconnected.
Alexander stared at the phone.
Isabel laughed bitterly.
“Welcome to Carmen’s world.”
Sofia sat down.
I crouched beside her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
At least she wasn’t pretending anymore.
“I married a man whose family has been hunting my father for years.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“No.”
“Mom, there were signs.”
“There are always signs after you know where to look.”
She stared at me.
“I defended him.”
“You loved him.”
“I defended his mother.”
“You wanted your marriage to work.”
“I told you that you were judging them.”
“Yes.”
“I told Dad I didn’t need him.”
Alexander looked away.
Sofia’s voice broke.
“I was wrong about everyone.”
I held her face.
“No. You were lied to by people who practiced lying for a living.”
She started crying again.
Before I could say more, Mrs. Holloway returned.
“Police are downstairs.”
Alexander walked to the window.
Three marked vehicles had arrived.
Two officers entered the building.
Another remained outside.
Then a black SUV accelerated away from the curb.
“Carmen’s men are leaving,” I said.
Isabel shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Those were the obvious men.”
My stomach tightened.
Alexander turned.
“Meaning?”
“Carmen never sends only one layer.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Everyone froze.
“Police,” a man called.
Alexander didn’t move.
Another knock.
“Dallas Police Department. Open the door.”
Mrs. Holloway walked toward it.
Alexander caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“What?”
He looked through the peephole.
Two uniformed officers stood outside.
“Police,” he whispered.
Isabel looked terrified.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“I recognize one.”
Alexander turned slowly.
“From where?”
“The Robles house.”
The knock came again.
“Mr. Bennett, we know you’re inside.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
“How do they know my name?”
No one answered.
The officer outside continued.
“Detective Monroe sent us.”
Alexander lifted the landline.
He dialed Monroe again.
No answer.
The officer knocked harder.
“We need to evacuate you.”
Isabel whispered, “He used to eat dinner with Carmen every Thursday.”
My heart started pounding.
Alexander set down the phone.
“Back bedroom.”
Mrs. Holloway frowned.
“That’s my sewing room.”
“Today it’s an escape route.”
We moved.
The pounding at the front door became violent.
“Police! Open now!”
Alexander looked at Mrs. Holloway.
“Fire escape?”
She pointed.
“Window.”
He opened it.
Metal stairs ran down the back of the building.
“Sofia first.”
“No,” Sofia said.
Alexander stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Isabel first. Her ankle is hurt.”
Alexander looked at his daughter.
Something almost like pride moved across his face.
“Fine.”
We helped Isabel through.
Then Sofia.
Then me.
Alexander climbed last.
The front door exploded open just as he closed the window.
We descended.
Fourth floor.
Third.
Second.
A voice shouted above us.
“They’re outside!”
Alexander pushed us faster.
At ground level, we entered an alley.
A gray sedan waited thirty yards away.
Isabel stopped.
“No.”
“What now?” I asked.
“That car.”
“What about it?”
“It belongs to Daniel.”
The driver door opened.
Daniel Mercer stepped out.
Alexander stopped dead.
Daniel wore a navy suit.
Perfect tie.
No weapon visible.
He smiled.
“Alexander.”
Sofia whispered, “Run.”
Daniel lifted both hands.
“If I wanted you dead, the elevator would’ve reached the basement.”
Alexander took one step toward him.
“That was you?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Carmen.”
Daniel glanced at Isabel.
“She always did enjoy theater.”
Isabel spat toward him.
“You buried someone under my name.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“That was unfortunate.”
Sofia recoiled.
Alexander moved so quickly I barely saw it.
He crossed the distance between them and punched Daniel in the face.
Daniel hit the car.
Blood ran from his nose.
Alexander grabbed his jacket.
“You knew Nathan.”
Daniel smiled through the blood.
“Very well.”
“You betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
The simplicity of the answer was disgusting.
Alexander tightened his grip.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Daniel looked past Alexander.
“Carmen ordered it.”
My heart stopped.
Alexander’s voice shook.
“Who carried it out?”
Daniel smiled.
“That’s the wrong question.”
Alexander slammed him against the car.
“What is the right question?”
Daniel looked at Sofia.
“Who helped?”
Silence.
Sofia stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel laughed.
“Nathan didn’t die because Carmen was powerful.”
He looked at Alexander.
“He died because someone close to him opened the door.”
Alexander’s face drained.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at me.
My blood turned cold.
“No.”
Daniel smiled.
“Elena knows.”
Alexander turned slowly.
“Elena?”
“I don’t.”
Daniel laughed.
“Oh, she does.”
I stepped toward him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“May 16, 2014.”
I froze.
The motel.
Nathan’s video was recorded that day.
Daniel watched my face.
“There it is.”
Alexander whispered, “Elena?”
A memory hit me.
A phone call.
Nathan.
Twelve years earlier.
One night before he died.
I had buried it so deeply I had almost convinced myself it never happened.
My hands began shaking.
“He called me.”
Alexander stared at me.
“What?”
“Nathan called me the night before the accident.”
Daniel smiled.
“Finally.”
Alexander’s voice cracked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he made me promise.”
“What did he say?”
I closed my eyes.
Nathan’s voice returned as clearly as if twelve years had not passed.
“Elena, if Alex asks where I am, tell him you don’t know.”
Alexander stared at me.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“What else?”
I looked at him.
“He said somebody inside your company was following him.”
“Daniel?”
“He didn’t say.”
Daniel leaned against the car.
“Tell him the rest.”
I felt sick.
Alexander shouted, “What rest?”
I whispered, “Nathan gave me something.”
Alexander stopped moving.
Sofia stared at me.
Isabel stared at me.
Even Daniel became still.
“What?” Alexander asked.
“A key.”
His expression changed.
“What key?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
“In something I knew you would never touch after the divorce.”
Alexander stared at me.
Then understanding spread across his face.
“Our wedding album.”
I nodded.
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“You still have it?”
“Yes.”
For the first time since he appeared, Daniel looked frightened.
He reached inside his jacket.
Alexander reacted immediately.
But Daniel didn’t pull a gun.
He pulled out his phone.
“You just answered the one question Carmen couldn’t answer for twelve years.”
My stomach dropped.
Alexander grabbed the phone.
Too late.
Daniel had been recording.
He smiled.
“Thank you, Elena.”
Alexander punched him again.
Daniel collapsed.
“Mom,” Sofia whispered.
I turned.
“We have to get back to your apartment.”
“No,” Isabel said.
“Why?”
“Because Carmen heard that.”
Alexander stared down at Daniel’s phone.
The screen showed an active call.
Connected.
CARMEN.
Alexander lifted it.
“You want the key?”
Carmen’s voice came through.
“I want what it opens.”
“Come get it.”
“Alexander,” I whispered.
He held up one hand.
Carmen laughed.
“You think anger makes you dangerous.”
“No.”
Alexander looked toward me.
“Losing everything does.”
Then he ended the call and smashed Daniel’s phone against the pavement.
Daniel groaned.
“You idiot.”
Alexander leaned over him.
“Where is Mateo?”
Daniel smiled weakly.
“Pelican Point.”
Isabel gasped.
“My brother?”
“He’s alive.”
“Where?”
Daniel coughed.
“Old bait warehouse beside the pier.”
Alexander pulled Daniel upright.
“You’re coming with us.”
Daniel laughed.
“You won’t make it.”
“Why?”
“Because Carmen already has someone at Elena’s apartment.”
I felt ice run through my body.
“The album.”
Daniel nodded.
Alexander grabbed my shoulders.
“Think. Is the key still inside?”
“I haven’t opened that album in years.”
“Where exactly?”
“Bottom drawer of my bedroom dresser.”
Alexander looked toward the building.
Police sirens grew louder in the distance.
“We need to choose.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Between the key and Mateo.”
Isabel’s face crumpled.
“No.”
Alexander’s eyes moved from her to me.
Then to Sofia.
Carmen had designed it perfectly.
Go home, lose Mateo.
Go to Pelican Point, lose the key.
Daniel watched us.
“That’s what she does.”
Alexander stared at him.
“What?”
“Makes you choose which person you can live with losing.”
Sofia suddenly stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She wiped dried blood from her cheek.
“We don’t choose.”
Alexander frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“We split up.”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“You and Isabel go to Pelican Point.”
“And you?”
“Mom and I get the key.”
“Absolutely not.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“You spent ten years trying to protect us by making decisions for us.”
Alexander froze.
She continued.
“Look how that worked.”
His face tightened.
Sofia’s voice softened.
“I love you, Dad. But I’m done letting men decide what risks I’m allowed to take.”
I stared at my daughter.
Twenty-four hours earlier, she had been a bride begging everyone to approve of her choices.
Now she looked like someone who had finally met herself.
Alexander hated the plan.
I could see it.
But finally he nodded.
“One condition.”
“What?”
“You call Monroe from Mrs. Holloway’s landline before entering the apartment.”
“Fine.”
“And if anything feels wrong, you leave.”
“Fine.”
“And—”
“Dad.”
He stopped.
Sofia almost smiled.
“We’ll be careful.”
Alexander looked at me.
“Elena.”
“I’ll protect her.”
He swallowed.
“I know.”
Those words carried ten years inside them.
Then we separated.
Alexander and Isabel took Daniel’s car toward Galveston.
Sofia and I returned through the alley.
Police had entered the building.
We avoided the front and climbed the fire escape.
By the time we reached the fifth floor, Mrs. Holloway was standing in her doorway holding a cast-iron frying pan.
“Two fake policemen ran when the real policemen arrived,” she announced.
I almost hugged her.
“Landline?”
“Kitchen.”
I called Monroe.
This time she answered.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Alexander?”
“Going to Pelican Point.”
A long silence.
“With Isabel?”
“Yes.”
“Stop him.”
My heart dropped.
“Why?”
“Because we just identified the county employee from the hotel footage.”
“Who?”
Monroe exhaled.
“Isabel Vega’s brother, Mateo.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He was the man who handed Javier the documents.”
I looked at Sofia.
Her face changed.
Monroe continued.
“If Daniel told you Mateo is being held captive, that may be a lie.”
“Isabel said Carmen has him.”
“We found bank transfers.”
“What transfers?”
“Payments from Robles Holdings to an account under Mateo Vega’s name.”
Sofia whispered, “Isabel lied.”
I remembered everything.
How conveniently she appeared.
How she knew the number of armed men.
How she knew the exits.
How she had the memory card.
I felt sick.
“Call Alexander,” Monroe said.
“I can’t. His phone had no signal.”
“Try now.”
The line disconnected.
I called.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Sofia grabbed my arm.
“We have to warn him.”
“I know.”
Then I looked toward the bedroom.
The key.
“We get it first.”
We entered my apartment with two real officers.
The place had been torn apart.
Drawers open.
Furniture overturned.
Pictures smashed.
My bedroom looked destroyed.
I ran to the dresser.
Bottom drawer.
Empty.
“No.”
Sofia came behind me.
“Mom?”
“The album’s gone.”
My heart dropped.
They had beaten us.
Then Sofia pointed.
“What’s that?”
A small white envelope lay beneath the dresser.
My name was written across it.
ELENA.
I recognized the handwriting.
Nathan.
My hands began shaking.
I opened it.
Inside was the brass key.
They had taken the album.
But the key had slipped out.
And beneath it was a tiny strip of paper.
On it Nathan had written:
THE LEDGER IS NOT AT PELICAN POINT.
I stared.
Sofia read over my shoulder.
“Oh my God.”
Another line:
PELICAN POINT IS THE TRAP.
My blood went cold.
I grabbed my phone.
Alexander still didn’t answer.
Then another line:
THE REAL LEDGER IS WHERE ALEXANDER BURIED OUR FATHER’S WATCH.
Sofia whispered, “Where is that?”
I knew.
I had been there.
Years ago.
Before the divorce.
Before Nathan died.
A small cemetery outside Dallas where Alexander and Nathan’s father was buried.
After the funeral, Alexander had secretly buried his father’s broken watch beneath an oak tree beside the grave.
I looked at Sofia.
“We know where the ledger is.”
Her expression changed.
“But Dad is driving into a trap.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Alexander?”
No.
Isabel.
Her voice shook.
“Elena.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where is Alexander?”
Silence.
“Isabel?”
“I’m sorry.”
Sofia grabbed my hand.
“What did you do?”
Isabel began crying.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Then I heard Carmen’s voice in the background.
“Tell her.”
Isabel sobbed.
“We’re at Pelican Point.”
“And Alexander?”
Another silence.
Then a man screamed.
Alexander.
“ELENA, DON’T COME HERE!”
The phone shifted.
Carmen picked it up.
“Now we finally stop playing games.”
I gripped the key.
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing permanent.”
“Let him go.”
“Bring me Nathan’s key.”
I froze.
She knew.
Somehow she knew the key existed.
“Where?”
Carmen laughed.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“Pelican Point.”
I looked at Nathan’s note.
The trap.
“Come alone,” Carmen continued.
“And Elena?”
“Yes?”
“If you call Detective Monroe, Alexander dies before she leaves Dallas.”
The line went dead.
Sofia stared at me.
“We’re not going.”
“She has your father.”
“That’s exactly why we can’t.”
I looked at my daughter.
Then at the key.
Then at Nathan’s note.
For the first time, I understood what Nathan had planned.
Carmen believed the key opened something at Pelican Point.
It didn’t.
She had spent twelve years chasing the wrong location.
And now she had Alexander.
Sofia whispered, “What do we do?”
I closed my fist around the key.
“We stop playing Carmen’s game.”
“How?”
“We give her exactly what she wants.”
Sofia stared at me.
“The key?”
“Yes.”
“But the ledger—”
“Is somewhere else.”
Understanding spread across her face.
“We give her the useless key.”
“And while she’s focused on us—”
“Detective Monroe gets the real ledger.”
I nodded.
For the first time, we had something Carmen didn’t.
The truth.
But before I could call Monroe, one of the police officers entered the bedroom.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
“You need to see this.”
He handed me a tablet.
Security footage from the building lobby.
Timestamped twelve minutes earlier.
A woman walked through the front entrance while police surrounded the building.
No one stopped her.
She wore a baseball cap.
Dark glasses.
A hospital mask.
Then she turned toward the elevator camera.
Sofia gasped.
“No.”
I stared at the screen.
It was Isabel.
But Isabel had supposedly left with Alexander almost forty minutes earlier.
“That can’t be her.”
The officer frowned.
“Do you know this woman?”
Sofia’s voice trembled.
“Yes.”
Then she looked at me.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“If Isabel was here twelve minutes ago…”
My heart stopped.
“…then who left with Dad?”
The room went silent.
I called Alexander again.
This time someone answered.
No one spoke.
I could hear breathing.
“Alexander?”
A woman laughed.
Not Isabel.
Carmen.
“You finally noticed.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Sofia grabbed the phone.
“Where is my father?”
Carmen answered slowly.
“Your father never made it to Pelican Point.”
I felt my blood freeze.
“Then where is he?”
Carmen laughed.
“Exactly where Nathan died.”
The phone disconnected.
And suddenly I understood the final piece.
Nathan Bennett had never died in a boating accident.
Pelican Point had never been about the ledger.
It was the place Carmen used to bury people who got too close to the truth.
And now Alexander was there.
Not to find his brother’s secret.
To join him…………
TO BE CONTINUED IN LAST PART…
