Chapter 7 - THE LETTER FROM MONTANA
Alessandro didn't confront Elena immediately.
He asked Rebecca to review the staffing agency's records.
The results arrived the next morning.
Westbridge Domestic Staffing had been incorporated six months earlier.
Its registered address belonged to a vacant office.
Its director had no employment history in domestic services.
And its largest payment came from a company linked to Matteo Salvatore.
Alessandro stared at the documents.
Elena hadn't simply found a job.
Someone had arranged for her to be hired.
He felt anger rise.
Not toward her.
Toward the people who had placed a frightened pregnant woman inside his home without her knowledge.
***
Elena was folding baby clothes when Alessandro knocked on the cottage door.
She opened it cautiously.
“Is something wrong?”
“I need to show you something.”
He handed her the agency records.
She read them.
Her expression changed.
“Matteo?”
“Yes.”
“But I never met him.”
“I believe you.”
She looked up sharply.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the records suggest you were being used without your knowledge.”
Elena sat down.
Her hands trembled.
“I thought I found the agency online.”
“You did.”
“I filled out the application.”
“Yes.”
“They interviewed me.”
“Yes.”
She stared at the paper.
“Then they sent me here.”
Alessandro nodded.
Someone had built a false employment opportunity around her.
But why?
The answer arrived that afternoon.
A courier delivered an envelope to the estate.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena standing outside a bus station in Modesto.
Taken three months earlier.
On the back were four words.
SHE BELONGS TO MERCER.
Alessandro's face hardened.
He handed the photograph to investigators.
Then went to Elena.
She stared at it.
Her lips parted.
“He found me.”
Alessandro sat across from her.
“We don't know when the photograph was taken or who sent it.”
“Daniel.”
“Possibly.”
She covered her face.
“I thought I escaped.”
Alessandro waited.
Then Elena lowered her hands.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No what?”
“I'm not doing this again.”
She stood.
“I'm not running from one place to another until my daughter grows up afraid of every knock on the door.”
Alessandro watched her.
“What do you want to do?”
Elena took a breath.
“I want to tell the truth.”
***
The next day, Elena met with investigators.
She provided Daniel's messages.
The shipping records she had copied before leaving Montana.
The names of employees who might have witnessed irregular transactions.
And the details of his threats.
She also agreed to provide a formal statement regarding the staffing agency.
For the first time, Elena was no longer hiding from the evidence.
She was helping assemble it.
That night, she sat beside Midnight's stall.
Alessandro approached quietly.
“How are you?”
“Terrified.”
He nodded.
“Understandable.”
She looked at him.
“But I'm not leaving.”
He sat beside her.
“Then we'll work with the authorities to make sure you have a plan.”
Elena smiled faintly.
“You're getting better at this.”
“At what?”
“Not ordering people around.”
Alessandro looked offended.
“I'm excellent at taking advice.”
She laughed.
“No, you're not.”
He smiled.
May you like
And for a moment, the danger surrounding them seemed far away.
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