Chapter 10 – The Mother Who Never Was
The diner felt colder the moment Chloe left.
I rushed over to the booth and pulled Ellie into my arms, holding her so tightly she squeaked. “I won’t let her take you,” I whispered fiercely into her curls. “I promise you, baby. I will never let her take you.”
Ellie was shaking. “She looked at me like I was a bug, Grandma.”
“She’s a bad person, Ellie,” I said, tears stinging my eyes. “But we’re going to stop her.”
Gabriel was already on his phone, pacing the length of the diner. “Marco. I need a judge on the payroll, now. I don’t care what it costs. Block any emergency custody orders filed by Richard Vance. And get a team to the First National Bank downtown. I need Frank Bennett’s safety deposit box opened in an hour.”
He hung up and looked at me. “We have until tomorrow morning to figure out what Frank left in that box. If it’s not enough to revoke her parental rights, the courts will force you to hand Ellie over.”
“Frank wouldn’t leave a weak insurance policy,” Linda said firmly. “He was a meticulous man. If he said it would protect Ellie, it will.”
An hour later, Gabriel’s armored SUV pulled up to the front of the First National Bank. I left Ellie at the diner with Linda and half a dozen of Gabriel’s heavily armed guards. I wasn’t taking any chances.
Gabriel escorted me into the bank. The manager, looking terrified at the sight of the famous Gabriel Moretti, bypassed all protocols and led us directly into the vault.
We found Frank’s box: Number 814.
I produced the death certificate and my ID, and the manager unlocked the box with his master key. He left us alone in the small viewing room.
My hands shook as I pulled the long metal drawer out and set it on the table.
Inside was a single manila folder and a small velvet jewelry box.
I opened the jewelry box first. Inside was my grandmother’s pearl necklace. I had lost it five years ago, right around the time Chloe left. I had cried for days, thinking I had misplaced a priceless family heirloom.
Gabriel frowned. “Why would he hide your necklace?”
I opened the manila folder.
Inside were police reports, pawn shop receipts, and a photograph.
I picked up the photograph. It was a still frame from a pawn shop security camera, dated five years ago. It clearly showed Chloe standing at the counter, handing over my grandmother’s pearl necklace in exchange for a thick stack of cash.
But that wasn’t the damning part.
The damning part was the man standing next to her in the photo.
It was Richard Vance. Thorne’s lawyer.
And in his hand, he was holding a clear plastic bag filled with white powder.
Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath. “She didn’t leave Ethan to go to a luxury retreat. She was buying drugs from the cartel. She stole your heirloom to pay off Richard Vance.”
I read the attached police report. Frank had hired a private investigator. He had tracked down the pawn shop, retrieved the necklace, and acquired the security footage. The investigator had documented Chloe’s severe addiction and her ties to the cartel.
“Frank didn’t go to the police,” I whispered, tears falling onto the file. “He knew if Chloe was arrested, child services might get involved and drag Ellie into the system. So he held onto it. He used it to force Chloe to leave town and stay away from Ethan and Ellie.”
“And it worked,” Gabriel said, his eyes hard. “Until Ethan tried to sell the diner to Thorne. Thorne realized the connection, called his cousin Richard, and they brought Chloe back to claim the property.”
Gabriel pulled his phone out and dialed a number.
“Marco,” Gabriel said, his voice terrifyingly calm. “I’m sending you a photograph. Send it to Richard Vance. Tell him if Chloe isn’t on a plane to Europe by midnight, I’m giving the photo to the FBI. He’ll lose his law license, and she’ll go to federal prison.”
Gabriel hung up and looked at me.
“It’s over, Mrs. Bennett,” he said softly. “You won.”
I held the pearl necklace to my chest and finally, for the first time in three days, I broke down and sobbed.
