Chapter 8
Luca read the message twice.
Then deleted nothing.
Answered nothing.
He handed the phone to Marco.
“Trace it.”
“Already trying.”
Nico buried his face against Luca’s chest.
“This happened because I went outside.”
“No.”
Luca’s answer was immediate.
“They already had her before you opened that window.”
“How do you know?”
“The photograph.”
He showed Nico only enough to prove the background was not the lake property.
“They wanted us scared.”
Nico whispered, “It worked.”
Luca held him tighter.
“Me too.”
That honesty calmed the boy more than false courage would have.
Back inside, Marco isolated the message.
Sent through a relay.
Photograph metadata stripped.
No direct location.
But there was one clue.
Behind Elena’s chair, part of a wall sign showed two faded letters.
R E.
Luca stared.
“Could be anything.”
I zoomed in.
Below the letters was a red stripe.
I had seen something like it.
Not in the mansion.
At the old Moretti vineyard warehouse where staff stored event furniture.
“Moretti Reserve.”
Luca looked at me.
“What?”
“The old wine storage building. The painted logo says MORETTI RESERVE across the back wall.”
Marco pulled up photographs.
Same red stripe.
Same aged plaster.
Luca was already reaching for his coat.
Marco blocked him.
“No.”
“My mother is there.”
“Maybe.”
“Move.”
“It could be bait.”
“It is bait.”
Marco held his ground.
“That’s why you don’t walk in.”
Luca’s eyes went murderous.
Nico watched from the couch.
I stepped between the two men before testosterone ruined the only advantage we had.
“Dominic asked for Nico and the drive.”
Luca looked at me.
“So give him neither.”
Marco nodded.
“We make him believe we’re coming to trade.”
“And Elena?”
“We extract her.”
Luca hated the word extract.
I saw it.
His mother was not a package.
Neither was Nico.
Neither was I.
Still, we needed a plan.
Marco called trusted state investigators outside Moretti influence.
No local family contacts.
No private police favors.
Only two detectives and a federal agent who had been investigating Dominic’s companies for wire fraud.
The federal agent’s name was Rachel Kim.
She arrived before midnight wearing jeans, a dark jacket, and an expression that suggested rich families exhausted her.
She looked at Luca.
“Your uncle has been on our radar eighteen months.”
“For what?”
“Fraud, coercion, money laundering. We could never get someone inside.”
“You could have told me.”
“You sat on three boards with him.”
“I didn’t know.”
“That sentence seems popular tonight.”
I liked her immediately.
Luca did not.
But he respected her.
She reviewed the drive files.
Several contained ledgers linking shell companies to Dominic.
That explained why he wanted the drive destroyed.
One file showed payments to Vanessa’s family company beginning nine years earlier.
Another showed a transfer to Elena Moretti’s private account.
Luca went still.
“Fifty thousand.”
Same amount Sofia had supposedly taken.
Rachel looked at him.
“You recognize it?”
“My father said Sofia stole fifty thousand.”
“Looks like the money went to your mother.”
Marco frowned.
“Could have been routed through her without her knowledge.”
“Could have,” Rachel said. “Could also mean she was paid.”
Luca stared at the number.
There it was again.
The worst thing about family betrayal was not discovering somebody lied.
It was losing the ability to know which memories were real.
We left Nico with two federal officers at the lake house.
He resisted.
“I want to come.”
“No,” Luca said.
“They asked for me.”
“That is exactly why you’re staying.”
Nico looked at me.
“Claire?”
“He’s right.”
His face fell.
I crouched.
“I need you to do one job.”
“What?”
“Stay where the people protecting you can protect you.”
He frowned.
“That’s boring.”
“Most safe decisions are.”
He considered this.
Then removed something from his backpack.
The old half-photograph.
He handed it to Luca.
“For luck.”
Luca stared at it.
Then folded his half beside it and put both pieces in his inside pocket.
“I’ll bring it back.”
“You better.”
Luca hugged him.
Longer this time.
No hesitation.
Then we drove toward the old wine warehouse.
I was supposed to stay behind too.
I refused.
Rachel looked at my bandaged arm.
“You’re not law enforcement.”
“I know the building.”
“So does Luca.”
“I know the staff access corridor. He hasn’t been there in years.”
Luca looked at me.
“She’s right.”
Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Of course she is.”
The plan placed me nowhere near the entry team.
I remained in a command SUV behind a ridge with Rachel.
Luca hated that he was there too.
He wanted inside.
Rachel refused.
“If Dominic sees you before Elena is secure, he controls the room.”
“So I sit?”
“You sit.”
“I don’t sit.”
“Tonight you do.”
I almost smiled.
Luca caught it.
“Something funny?”
“No, sir.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Don’t call me sir now.”
“Bad time to discuss titles.”
“Agreed.”
The entry team moved through the lower service tunnel at 1:18 a.m.
Camera feeds appeared on three monitors.
Empty corridor.
Dust.
Old barrels.
Then a voice came over radio.
“Visual on female hostage.”
Luca leaned forward.
Elena sat in the center office.
Bound.
Alive.
One man guarded her.
No Dominic.
No Vanessa.
“Where are they?” Luca whispered.
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Something’s wrong.”
Then every warehouse light went out.
The video feeds died.
Radio static.
Luca stood.
Rachel grabbed his arm.
“Stay.”
An explosion sounded from the far side of the property.
Not huge.
A flash charge.
Diversion.
Then another vehicle engine roared behind us.
Luca turned.
A black truck burst from the tree line.
Straight toward the command SUV.
“Down!”
The truck clipped our rear quarter panel.
Glass shattered.
I hit the floor.
My injured arm slammed metal.
Pain flashed white.
Luca pulled me away from the broken window.
Rachel drew her weapon.
The truck stopped fifty feet ahead.
Passenger door opened.
Vanessa stepped out.
She held a gun.
Not at us.
At herself.
No.
At a small remote detonator pressed beneath her chin.
Luca went still.
She smiled.
“You brought the drive?”
Rachel shouted, “Drop the weapon!”
Vanessa laughed.
“That isn’t a weapon.”
She lifted the remote.
“It’s insurance.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Where’s Dominic?”
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Do you really think he told me?”
“You kidnapped my mother.”
“No.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Dominic kidnapped your mother.”
“You helped him.”
“I survived him.”
The words changed the air.
Luca stared at her.
Vanessa’s eyes moved to me.
“You think Claire is different because she bleeds prettily and tells you the truth late?”
I said nothing.
Luca’s face hardened.
“Don’t talk about her.”
Vanessa laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason Dominic knew exactly how to pull you apart.”
She looked at me again.
“He watches attachments.”
Then back at Luca.
“Your father taught him.”
Rachel repeated, “Drop the gun and the remote.”
Vanessa ignored her.
“I can give you Dominic.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“In exchange for?”
“The drive.”
“No.”
“Then he disappears.”
“Still no.”
Vanessa’s hand trembled.
For the first time, I saw genuine fear in her.
Not fear of Luca.
Fear of Dominic.
She whispered, “He killed Peter.”
“We know.”
“He’ll kill Elena too.”
“She’s inside.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Luca’s face changed.
“What?”
“That isn’t Elena.”
The warehouse radio crackled.
A federal officer’s voice came through.
“Hostage secured.”
Rachel grabbed the radio.
“Confirm identity.”
A pause.
Then:
“Negative. Female is not Elena Moretti.”
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“Where is my mother?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“On Dominic’s plane.”
“The plane disappeared hours ago.”
“I know.”
“Where is it going?”
She looked at the remote.
Then at Luca.
“Your father’s island.”
Luca went white.
I had never heard of an island.
Rachel had.
Her eyes sharpened.
“Saint Aurelia?”
Luca turned.
“How do you know that name?”
Rachel’s answer made everything worse.
“Because your uncle bought half the government there.”
Vanessa began to lower the remote.
Then a red dot appeared on her chest.
Laser sight.
I saw it first.
“Vanessa!”
A shot cracked from the trees.
Luca tackled her sideways.
The bullet struck the truck door.
Federal agents fired toward the ridge.
Chaos exploded.
Vanessa screamed.
The remote flew from her hand.
I hit the ground.
Rachel dragged me behind the SUV.
A second shot.
Then silence.
Two agents disappeared into the trees.
Luca crouched over Vanessa.
She was alive.
Shaking.
The woman who had slapped me, cut my arm, hidden Nico, and lied for years now looked terrified enough to be human.
She grabbed Luca’s sleeve.
“Dominic has a second plan.”
“What?”
“If Nico is alive and legally recognized, Dominic loses the trust.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She coughed.
“You don’t understand.”
Her eyes found mine.
“He doesn’t need Nico dead.”
Luca’s face tightened.
“What does he need?”
Vanessa whispered:
“He needs you declared unfit to raise him.”
Then Rachel’s phone rang from the command vehicle.
One of the officers at the lake house.
She answered.
Her expression went blank.
“What happened?” Luca demanded.
Rachel looked at him.
“Nico’s gone.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
“The two agents are down. Alive, but drugged.”
Luca stared.
Rachel continued.
“There was no forced entry.”
I felt cold from scalp to feet.
“Then how?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“Nico opened the door for someone he recognized.”
