Chapter 7
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Matteo said:
"Gabriel killed Victor."
Luca looked at him.
"We don't know he's dead."
"A gunshot. Blood. Gabriel holding the chip."
"We don't know."
Matteo nodded.
"Fine. We don't know."
But his face said he believed it.
Vanessa's fate was worse.
Unknown.
Gabriel had the chip.
And the two men who seemed to control the network were turning on each other.
Daniel's team traced the video call for eleven seconds.
Enough.
A hotel near O'Hare.
We arrived with federal agents this time.
Not local police.
Matteo had contacted a prosecutor he trusted from seven years ago.
She had not been on the ledger.
Special Agent Naomi Reed met us in the lobby.
Forty-five.
Calm.
No patience for Moretti family drama.
She looked at Luca.
"You understand that if we recover evidence of crimes committed by your company, I don't care who your father is."
Luca glanced toward Adrian's hospital.
"At this point, neither do I."
She nodded.
"Good."
The hotel room was empty.
Victor wasn't there.
Gabriel wasn't there.
Vanessa wasn't there.
But there was blood.
And a message written across the mirror.
BRING ADRIAN TO TERMINAL 5.
Matteo stared.
"Terminal Five isn't open."
Naomi frowned.
"What is it?"
"Old private aviation terminal west of the main airport."
Luca looked at Daniel.
"Our family used it years ago."
Adrian knew it.
Gabriel knew it.
Victor knew it.
The message wasn't about Vanessa.
It was about Adrian.
I looked at the blood on the carpet.
"Whose is that?"
A forensic tech tested quickly.
No answer yet.
But near the bed, I saw something small.
An earring.
Diamond.
Vanessa's.
I picked it up with a tissue.
Luca looked at it.
His face didn't soften.
But something in his eyes did.
Not love.
Maybe guilt.
Maybe memory.
"She's alive," I said.
"How do you know?"
"Because if Gabriel wanted you to think she was dead, he'd leave more than an earring."
Naomi looked at me.
"Who are you?"
"Mia."
"Last name?"
"Torres."
"Role?"
I glanced at Luca.
"Apparently terrible at staying out of things."
Matteo laughed.
Naomi did not.
At the hospital, Adrian refused to stay put.
He had surgery.
A bullet wound.
Doctors ordered bed rest.
He stood anyway.
Luca almost physically shoved him back into bed.
"You are not going."
Adrian looked at the mirror message on Daniel's phone.
"He wants me."
"Exactly."
"If I don't go, he kills Vanessa."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"She helped him."
"She also saved that chip from Victor."
"Maybe."
Adrian looked at me.
"Mia?"
I hesitated.
"I think she was trying to stop him."
Luca looked annoyed.
"Everyone has decided Vanessa is redeemable now?"
"No."
I met his eyes.
"Trying to do one right thing doesn't erase twenty wrong ones."
He went quiet.
Adrian nodded.
"Fair."
Naomi entered.
"We can use Adrian as controlled bait."
Luca turned.
"No."
Adrian smiled weakly.
"You don't get a vote."
Luca stared at him.
"You're my father."
"Apparently that gives you even less control."
Matteo muttered:
"Family trait."
Before leaving for the hospital, Sophia asked for ten minutes alone with me.
We sat in the breakfast room.
She wrapped a towel around the cut on her cheek.
"You really didn't know your mother worked for Elena?" she asked.
I froze.
"What?"
Sophia stopped.
Clearly she had said more than she intended.
"My mother?"
She closed her eyes.
"I shouldn't have said that yet."
"Too late."
She studied me.
"Rosa Torres?"
My heartbeat kicked hard.
"Yes."
Sophia set down the towel.
"Rosa was one of Elena's bookkeepers."
Mrs. Carter had just told me the same thing.
Hearing it twice made it real.
"Why does everyone in this house know my mother except me?"
"Because she wanted you outside this world."
"What world?"
Sophia gestured around us.
"This one."
Money.
Secrets.
Men who died and came back.
People who used companies like weapons.
I shook my head.
"She was a nurse."
"After she left here."
"Why did she leave?"
Sophia looked toward the door.
"Ask Mrs. Carter."
"I'm asking you."
She hesitated.
"Because Rosa found a payment she wasn't supposed to see."
"What payment?"
"I don't know."
"Who made it?"
Sophia looked at me.
"Adrian."
My stomach tightened.
"So my mother was involved in this too."
"No."
Sophia's voice sharpened.
"Don't confuse seeing corruption with participating in it."
I thought of myself finding the black phone.
Fair point.
"What happened after she found the payment?"
"Elena helped her leave."
"Why?"
"Protection."
"From who?"
Sophia stared at me for so long that I knew I wouldn't like the answer.
Then an agent entered and interrupted us before she could say it.
At the time, I thought that was bad luck.
Later, I realized it might have saved Sophia's life.
Because the answer she was about to give was Gabriel Voss.
The plan was simple.
Which meant it was terrible.
Adrian would arrive at Terminal 5.
Wearing body armor.
Federal tactical teams hidden nearby.
Luca and Matteo were ordered to remain in a surveillance van.
I was ordered to remain at the hospital.
This time I actually agreed.
Then Mrs. Carter called.
"Mia."
Something was wrong.
"What happened?"
"I'm at the estate."
"I know."
"There's a woman here."
"What woman?"
"She says her name is Sophia Hale."
Luca's former fiancée.
The woman connected to the cufflink case.
I stood.
"Why is she there?"
"She says Elena told her to come if Adrian ever returned."
My skin went cold.
"Don't let her leave."
Sophia Hale was waiting in the library when I arrived with two agents.
She was elegant.
Forty.
Blonde hair.
No visible fear.
She looked at me.
"You must be Mia."
"How do you know?"
"Mrs. Carter told me."
That answer was too easy.
"Why are you here?"
She held a sealed envelope.
"For Luca."
"What's inside?"
"I don't know."
"Then open it."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because Elena made me promise."
I almost laughed.
"Elena has been dead eleven years."
Sophia's face softened.
"Promises don't expire when people die."
That line shut me up.
I called Luca.
He answered from the surveillance van.
"Mia?"
"Sophia Hale is here."
Silence.
Then:
"What?"
"She has an envelope from your mother."
Matteo's voice came in the background.
"Open it."
Sophia heard.
"No."
Matteo said, "Who's refusing?"
"Sophia."
"Tell her I said hello."
Sophia rolled her eyes.
"Tell Matteo he still owes me three hundred dollars."
Matteo went quiet.
Then:
"That's her."
Sophia handed me the envelope.
"I'll allow Luca to authorize you."
Luca said:
"Open it."
I did.
Inside was a photograph.
And a handwritten letter.
The photograph showed Elena.
Adrian.
Domenico.
Victor.
Gabriel.
And Sophia.
All together.
Date stamped twelve years ago.
I stared at her.
"You knew them."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Luca's voice came through.
"Read the letter."
I unfolded it.
My dear Luca,
If Adrian returns, do not trust the first story he tells you.
My heart started pounding.
I continued.
He will tell you Gabriel corrupted him.
He will tell you Domenico betrayed him.
Some of that is true.
Not all.
Luca said:
"Keep reading."
Adrian did not hire Gabriel.
Adrian and Victor built the network together.
The room seemed to tilt.
Matteo's voice:
"No."
I read.
Your father loved you. He loved Matteo. He loved me. But love does not make a man innocent.
Luca was silent.
Sophia watched me.
The letter continued.
When Adrian discovered Victor was ordering killings, he wanted out. But before that, he approved surveillance, bribery, intimidation, and financial sabotage.
Matteo whispered:
"Dad lied."
Luca said nothing.
Then I read the final paragraph.
There is one person who knows the entire truth.
Sophia.
I looked up.
She looked suddenly tired.
Luca's voice was ice.
"Sophia."
She stepped toward the phone.
"Hi, Luca."
"You knew my father was alive?"
"No."
"You knew what he did."
"Some."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your mother begged me not to."
"Why would she do that?"
Sophia's eyes filled.
"Because she was afraid you'd kill him."
Nobody spoke.
Then an agent shouted from the hall.
The live feed from Terminal 5 had changed.
Gunfire.
Adrian had arrived.
Gabriel had appeared.
Vanessa was with him.
Hands bound.
Luca's voice snapped through the phone.
"I'm going in."
Naomi shouted:
"Stay in the van!"
Then the feed cut.
Sophia grabbed my arm.
"Mia."
"What?"
"There's something Luca doesn't know."
I stared.
She whispered:
"Adrian wasn't the target of the plane crash."
"Who was?"
Sophia looked toward the phone.
"Matteo."
My stomach dropped.
"Why?"
"Because Matteo found out who Gabriel's real client was."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, the library window shattered.
A bullet struck the wall.
Agents pulled us down.
Sophia screamed.
A second bullet hit the lamp.
Outside, a motorcycle sped away.
One agent fired.
Missed.
I looked at Sophia.
"Who was the client?"
She was bleeding from glass cuts across her cheek.
She whispered:
"Luca."
I stared.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Sophia's eyes were terrified.
"Someone using Luca's identity ordered Matteo's death."
At Terminal 5, Luca's voice suddenly returned through the open phone.
"Mia?"
I grabbed it.
"Luca."
Gunfire echoed behind him.
He sounded breathless.
"We found Vanessa."
"Is she alive?"
"Yes."
"Gabriel?"
"Gone."
"What about Adrian?"
Silence.
"Luca?"
His voice changed.
"He's gone too."
"What do you mean?"
"Adrian left with Gabriel."
I stared at Sophia.
May you like
Luca continued.
"Voluntarily."
