Eighty Three
Ash
We were getting closer I could tell. The tall palm trees of Southern California surrounded us as we drove up the circular driveway. A large Spanish style home with strong Mediterranean influences sat before us.
“Wow. Nice house.” Ayden gaped.
I shrugged. It was nice, but I’d seen better. I looked over at Ayden. Wealth was new to him.
Despite the warm sunshine of the day, there was a strange coldness to the house. As we stood at the door, my eyes traveled over the heavy wood and the black iron hinges. An odd choice for a modern house such as this. The door looked as if it belonged on a 17th century castle.
“What’s with the door?” Ayden whispered.
“Not sure.” I punched the doorbell. Nerves coiled my stomach as we waited for a reply. I tapped my foot impatiently as Ayden fumbled in his pocket. I knew he was aching to light up. “Go ahead.”
Ayden sighed with relief and popped a cigarette in his mouth. Lighting it, he exhaled smoke.
I knew he was trying desperately to quit, but just staying off heroin was a huge victory for him. One addiction at a time, I thought.
“Do you think this is where she still lives?” Ayden whispered.
“I doubt she’d still live with her parents at this age, but hopefully they know where she is.”
Then, the door opened with a loud crack. A small woman standing no more than five feet tall looked up at us. Her long navy blue dress extended down to her ankles. Her dour face was deeply lined. “Yes? May I help you?” Her voice was high pitched with a thick European accent it sounded like it belonged to someone much younger and more attractive.
Ayden could barely speak.
“My name is Ashton Blackthorne and this is my brother, Ayden. We are looking for the Moretti family.”
She shook her head. “No longer live here. This is the Steinberg residence now.”
My heart sank. Ayden’s face fell.
“Do you know where the Morettis went?”
Her horrible face lit up as she cackled. Her teeth were stained yellow perhaps from smoking. Long white hair was coiled atop her head in a massive bun. “Hell, I would imagine.”
My eyes widened in shock. That wasn’t the answer I was expecting. “What do you mean?”
She dissolved into paroxysms of coughing. Yep, she was a smoker.
I nudged Ayden.
He tossed his cigarette into the grass.
“They’re dead and good riddance to ‘em all.”
“All?” Horrified, I imagined beautiful little Amelia dead laid out in a silk lined coffin.
She shook her head. “Not all of them. Just the ones that lived here.”
“How long ago?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Why you asking all these questions?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. What my brother should’ve mentioned is we are looking for Amelia Moretti. She is our half-sister,” Ayden spoke up in a surprisingly articulate way I didn’t knew he possessed.
“I see. Well, my back is bad I can’t stand here very long. Come on in. We can sit in the courtyard.”
Ayden shot me a glance as we followed the old woman past the door into a courtyard. She gestured for us to sit.
The open courtyard was beautiful. I was relieved to see that my sister had lived in such a nice home.
“So, Amelia Moretti is your sister, you say?” She fumbled with a package of some brand of cigarettes.
“Here let me.” Ayden reached across with his lighter.
She waved him away. “Got it myself, boy.”
Ayden shrank back as we watched her gnarled old hands shaking as she lit the cigarette.
“Yes, Amelia may be our half-sister. We just found out we’re brothers.”
“Really?”
I nodded anxious to get the information we came for and leave. I could barely tolerate looking at her.
She tapped her cigarette against a glass ashtray. “Well, I’ve been here for the past twenty years or so. I worked for the Morettis briefly before Mrs. Moretti died.”
“So you knew Amelia?”
She nodded.
I felt elated. Perhaps she had some insight as to where she might’ve gone.
“Sure did. She was a pretty little thing, but there was something about her….” She trailed off.
“Like what?” Ayden asked sitting on the edge of his seat.
“I couldn’t put my finger on it. She scared me, she really did. Had an odd way about her. Look, I’m from Romania. Fucking Nazis gassed my whole family back in World War II at Auschwitz. I’m lucky to be alive.”
Perhaps that was why she looked so worn.
“Wow. I’m so sorry.”
She waved her hand. “We were what they called Gypsies. Hitler hated us. Wanted all my people dead. I only escaped because of my twin sister.”
Twins? There were two of them? I shuddered.
“You were one of Mengele’s twins?” Ayden looked at her his eyes wide.
She nodded pulling up her sleeve. A faded number was tattooed on her right arm. “Yes, I was. Don’t like to talk about it much. My sister died a few years back. Being a twin was the only reason we were spared. When the camp was liberated, we came here.”
It was an interesting story, but what did it have to do with Amelia I wondered. “Ma’am—”
“My name is Estra.”
“Estra, I appreciate what you must have gone through, but what does this—”
“—have to do with Amelia? I was getting to that, boy. My people believe in curses, supernatural things if you will. That girl, Amelia, she had powers.”
“What kind of powers?”
Her eyes widened as she leaned forward. “The power to hurt people. I saw it with my own eyes. There was another girl who lived here. She was the Morettis’ real daughter. She and Amelia didn’t get along. One day, I saw Amelia staring at her then the girl falls down the stairs and breaks her leg.”
Ayden stifled a laugh. “That doesn’t mean she was cursed. Sounds like a gift to me.” Ayden winked at me.
Estra grabbed Ayden’s arm.
He jumped feeling her gnarled hand on his flesh.
“Don’t bullshit me, boy. The girl had power. I steered clear of her.”
“So what happened to Amelia? The rest of the family?”
She shrugged grabbing another cigarette. “Mr. Moretti….he was a very bad man. I’ve seen a lot of evil in my life, but that man—he was the devil himself.”
Hairs began to stand up on the back of my neck. “Why?”
Her eyes misted with tears. “Those poor little girls….Mr. Moretti-he did things to them. Oh God, I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know until I left here how bad things had been.”
I swallowed hard. “So, he forced himself on them?”
She nodded tears spilling down her face. “I faced Dr. Mengele, one of the most evil men who ever lived, but Mr. Moretti was almost as bad.”
“Wow,” Ayden whispered. He dragged on his cigarette.
She grabbed a tissue from the pocket of her dress. “I don’t think anyone knew how bad he was until Mrs. Moretti died. He would have men in here to be with the girls. I had my suspicions, but I told myself I was overreacting.”
“Amelia too?”
She nodded breaking into sobs. “Yes. I don’t like to think of these things. I should’ve done more to protect them.”
“So what happened?”
She waved her hand trying to compose herself. “One day, I guess Amelia had decided she’d had enough. She took off in the middle of the night. No one ever saw her again. Mr. Moretti searched high and low for her, but she was gone. She was 18, so I suspect there wasn’t anything the authorities could do. Soon after, Mrs. Moretti died of a heart attack.”
“And the rest of the family?”
“Mr. Moretti had a son. He left around the same time Amelia did. Their daughter left a few years later. It was rumored she committed suicide. Mr. Moretti sold this house to another family, the Steinbergs and they asked me to stay on as a housekeeper. I was glad to be rid of Mr. Moretti, so I did.”
I sighed. “So is Mr. Moretti—”
“Dead? Yes, they found pieces of his body near the Chicago River—”
“Pieces?”
She waved her hand. “He had dealings with the Sicilian Mafia. They did all sorts of illegal activities. Perhaps they just decided to get rid of him. I was glad to hear he was gone. Evil, just evil.”
Stunned, we both sat back. I was saddened to hear that our sister had been subjected to abuse. Both my brother and my sister had been abused. Maybe we were all cursed just like Estra said. But then why had I escaped unscathed? “Estra, do you have any idea where Amelia might have gone?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Do you have any pictures of her?”
She thought a moment and nodded. “I kept some pictures of the children. I cared for them so long it seemed as though they were my own. Stay here and I’ll see if I can find it.” She waddled off.
“My God, Ash, I had no idea.” Ayden ran his hands through his hair.
My mind was reeling. Who knew where Amelia could be now? Was she even still alive?
Estra came shuffling back into the room. In her hand, she carried a small red box. “I think they might be in here. Let me look.” She thumbed through the contents of the box finally retrieving a small photo. “Here you go. This is the Moretti children. That’s Amelia right there.” She handed us the picture.
She looked exactly like I imagined she would. Her hair was long and dark cascading down her shoulders. She appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old. Her eyes still that penetrating icy blue stared at whomever was taking her picture. She was tall maybe around 5’8 wearing a pair of jean shorts and a black tank top. The Moretti’s son had his arm around her and was smiling. Another girl I assumed was their daughter was much shorter than Amelia and quite stout. She stood a few inches away from Amelia scowling.
“Ash, what do you think?” Ayden asked after a few moments.
“It’s her, all right.” I took my phone out to take a picture of the photo.
“What are you doing, boy? You can take the picture.” Estra pushed the photo towards me.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I hope you both find her. Maybe nice boys like you will be a good influence on her. I wish I could be of more help.”
“You’ve been a huge help. Thank you.” Both of us were eager to get out of there.
Jumping back into the car, I glanced over at Ayden.
He looked stricken. His face was white as a sheet.
“What’s wrong, Ayden? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
He shook his head. “Just that story—Estra, Amelia—my God, she might’ve been assaulted by that asshole Moretti.”
I nodded glumly. “But at least we have a more recent photo. I’m going to take it to Andrews. He may be able to help.”
Ayden looked out the window as we drove away. He was so quiet.
“Ayden, what’s going on? This isn’t just about Moretti.”
His hands shook as he opened a bottle of water. “Amelia—I think I know who she is, Ash.”
“What?”
Before he could answer, there was a huge bang as the car rammed into the back of a stopped vehicle. The air bag exploded into my face and all went black.