Page 65 of Code Name: Dante

Alice’s office felt too small for the storm of emotions churning inside me, wondering what he’d discovered at the compound. Surely, if he had news of my mother, he wouldn’t wait thirty more minutes to tell me.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked.

I shook my head. “I’ve never been so anxious.” Not even in the time it took to get the results of my DNA test, I thought but didn’t say.

When I saw Alessandro arriving, I raced toward the front door and down the steps. He was barely out of the vehicle before I rushed into his arms. He cupped my cheek and stared into my eyes but didn’t speak.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I met my sister today.” His voice, usually so steely and confident, was thick with emotion.

“My God. I don’t even know what to say,” I blurted.

“She’s the spitting image of our mother at that age.” He took a shaky breath. “But she’s terrified. She acted as though she was being watched, except according to Tank, thermal imaging didn’t pick up the presence of anyone other than our team anywhere on the compound.”

My heart sank. So my mother wasn’t there? The disappointment nearly leveled me. I’d been so convinced she would be.

“What’s the next step?” I asked.

“There’s only one person who has all the answers, other than the woman or women who have spent their lives in hiding. My brother.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m heading to the city. Now. He doesn’t get to keep playing games with our lives.”

A noise behind us made me jump. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Gram standing a few feet from us. Her face was ashen. How long had she been there? How much had she heard?

“You’re going to get us all killed,” she seethed, her hands gripping her cane so hard her knuckles were white.

“Gram—”

“No.” She shook her head sharply. “All these years, I’ve protected you. And her. You don’t know what you’ve done. What you’ve set in motion.”

“What I’ve done?” I cried, my own emotions finally boiling over. “Wanting to know whether my mother is dead or alive? Wanting to meet her?” Alessandro stood beside me, holding my hand, but he didn’t intervene.

“Your mother made her choice. She chose to keep you safe, even if it meant—” The words burst from her like they’d been held back too long. Then she stopped, pressing her lips together.

“Even if it meant what?”

But she was already turning away, her cane tapping a sharp rhythm on the floor as she retreated. The sound echoed through the quiet house like a metronome, counting down to something inevitable.

I went to follow her, but Alessandro stopped me. “Give her time,” he said.

I knew he was right, but it was so hard not to push.

He led me into Alice’s work area and motioned for me to take a seat, but I didn’t. I couldn’t sit still while I felt as though my heart might beat out of my chest.

“We need to let Admiral and Grit know I’m headed to Manhattan. Security on the compound needs to be elevated to high alert,” he said to Alice.

“They’re on their way inside now,” she responded, looking at her phone. “Excuse me for a minute.”

“My mother?” I asked.

Alessandro shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

My eyes filled with tears.

“I’m not leaving the jail where Vincent is being held until I have the answers as to where she and my mother are. I promise.”

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