Chapter 7 - BLOOD DOESN'T LIE
Norah waited until morning to tell Dante.
She placed both photographs on his desk.
Then she showed him the necklace.
Dante stared at it.
"Where did you get this?"
"My mother."
"What was her name?"
"Margaret Hayes."
Dante slowly sat down.
"Rachel Hayes was her sister."
Norah shook her head.
"She never told me about a sister."
"Did your mother ever mention Elena?"
"Once. When I was little. She said Elena was a woman who tried to help her."
Dante turned the pendant over.
The engraving was small, but unmistakable.
E.M.
Elena Moretti.
"Norah, your mother wasn't simply connected to my sister."
He looked into her eyes.
"She was involved in whatever Elena was investigating."
Nico found an old storage facility registered under Margaret Hayes's name.
Inside were boxes of documents, photographs, and a small cassette recorder.
Norah recognized her mother's handwriting.
One envelope was addressed to her.
FOR NORAH, WHEN SHE'S OLD ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND.
She opened it with trembling fingers.
The letter was brief.
Her mother had written that she had witnessed something terrible while working as a legal assistant for Victor Moretti. She had helped Elena collect evidence of financial crimes, police corruption, and the disappearance of several women.
When Elena died, Margaret had hidden the evidence.
She had changed her identity and raised Norah far from Bellhaven.
The letter ended with one sentence.
If the Morettis ever find you, ask them what happened to your father.
Norah lowered the paper.
"My father?"
Dante looked at Nico.
"Find Margaret's old records."
That afternoon, Grant made another mistake.
He called Tyler.
He claimed Norah had stolen confidential police information and that the Moretti family had kidnapped her.
Tyler immediately contacted the detective assigned to the assault investigation.
Within an hour, he was arrested on an unrelated evidence-tampering warrant.
But before he was taken away, he sent Norah one final message.
You don't know what your mother did. Ask Dante who ordered your father's murder.
Norah read it twice.
Then she walked into Dante's office.
"Did you know my father?"
Dante looked at her.
"No."
"Did your family?"
He said nothing.
That silence was enough.
"Tell me."
Dante stood.
"Your father was a detective. Thomas Hayes."
Norah's eyes filled.
"My mother told me he died in a car accident."
"He was investigating my uncle."
"What happened?"
Dante looked down.
"He was killed before he could testify."
Norah stepped back.
"And you knew?"
"I found out this morning."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
She wiped her tears.
"My whole life has been built around lies."
"Norah—"
"Don't."
She walked away.
Dante didn't follow.
For the first time since she had entered his world, he understood that protecting her wasn't the same as controlling what she knew.
That evening, Nico discovered a hidden file in Margaret's archive.
It contained a recording.
A woman's voice spoke first.
Then a man answered.
The man sounded exactly like Dante.
But the date on the recording was six years earlier.
And the words were chilling.
"Elena is becoming a problem," the voice said.
Dante listened in silence.
May you like
Then he heard his own voice answer:
"Then make sure she never gets the chance to expose us."
