Chapter 4 - The Envelope Beneath the Door
At seven that evening, Elena returned to her apartment under a gray Chicago sky.
Alessandro had offered to arrange a ride.
She had refused twice before accepting, mostly because Marco explained that Ryan had been seen near her neighborhood.
She hated needing protection.
She hated even more that she did.
Sophie opened the apartment door before Elena could find her keys.
“Elena!”
Her younger sister wrapped both arms around her.
Then she stepped back.
“Oh my God.”
Elena turned her face away.
“It's not as bad as it looks.”
Sophie stared at the bruise.
“Did Ryan do this?”
Elena didn't answer.
Sophie began to cry.
“I knew it.”
“Soph.”
“You promised he was gone.”
“I thought he was.”
Sophie closed the door and locked it.
Their apartment was small but clean, with secondhand furniture and photographs of their mother above the bookshelf.
Elena had worked two jobs to keep it.
Sophie was studying nursing at a community college and worked weekend shifts at a grocery store.
They were surviving.
Sometimes that felt like an accomplishment.
Sometimes it felt like a sentence.
“Did you pay your lab fee?” Elena asked.
Sophie wiped her cheeks.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“I used the money you left.”
“That's what it was for.”
Sophie hesitated.
“Ryan called me.”
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“What did he say?”
“He said you were stealing from a wealthy family.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“He's lying.”
“I know.”
“He said anything else?”
Sophie looked frightened.
“He said if you didn't give him what he was owed, he'd make sure I couldn't finish school.”
For several seconds, Elena couldn't speak.
Then she pulled Sophie into another embrace.
“He won't touch your future.”
“How can you know?”
Elena had no answer.
A sound came from the hallway.
Something slid beneath the apartment door.
Both sisters turned.
A white envelope rested on the carpet.
Elena approached it slowly.
Her name was written across the front.
Inside were three photographs.
The first showed Sophie entering her college building.
The second showed Elena walking toward a bus stop.
The third showed their mother's grave.
Beneath the photographs was a handwritten message.
You can hide behind Moretti, but your sister still walks home alone.
Sophie began shaking.
“Elena, call the police.”
Elena reached for her phone.
Before she could dial, it rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Ryan's voice came through the speaker.
“Did you get my present?”
Elena's throat tightened.
“Leave Sophie alone.”
“Then stop making this difficult.”
“You have no right to threaten us.”
He laughed.
“Rights are expensive, sweetheart.”
She recognized the familiar cruelty hidden beneath his casual tone.
“What do you want?”
“The money.”
“I don't have it.”
“Then get it from your new boss.”
Elena gripped the phone.
“I'm not stealing anything for you.”
Ryan's voice hardened.
“You always were ungrateful.”
“I'm hanging up.”
“Ask Moretti about the Harbor Ledger.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
“The Harbor Ledger.”
Ryan spoke slowly, enjoying her confusion.
“Tell him Vanessa knows where it is.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at the screen.
Sophie reached for her.
“What did he say?”
Elena looked toward the envelope.
“He wants something from Mr. Moretti.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
She called Alessandro.
He answered on the second ring.
“Elena?”
She almost cried at the sound of his voice.
“I'm sorry to bother you.”
“You aren't.”
“Ryan sent photographs.”
His tone changed immediately.
“Of you?”
“And Sophie.”
A brief silence.
“Are you both inside?”
“Yes.”
“Doors locked?”
“Yes.”
“Call the police and report the threats.”
“I will.”
“Marco is nearby.”
Elena hesitated.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes?”
“Ryan told me to ask you about something.”
“What?”
“The Harbor Ledger.”
Silence stretched across the line.
Then she heard movement.
“Elena.”
His voice was different now.
Carefully controlled.
“Did Ryan say those exact words?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“He said Vanessa knows where it is.”
Alessandro didn't answer for several seconds.
When he finally spoke, his words frightened her more than Ryan's threats.
“Don't open your door for anyone you haven't verified.”
“Why?”
“Because the Harbor Ledger disappeared six years ago.”
Elena stared at the photographs in her hand.
“What is it?”
Alessandro exhaled.
“Evidence.”
May you like
“Of what?”
“Things powerful people would do almost anything to keep hidden.”
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