Chapter 12 - THE BODYGUARD WHO SOLD HIS LOYALTY
Vincent Russo had worked for Arthur Romano for seventeen years.
He knew Arthur's routines, finances, enemies, and private security arrangements.
He'd been the first man Arthur called after I rescued him.
And now Elena's recording named him as someone Arthur should never trust.
Arthur slowly released Rosie from his embrace.
His face had gone pale.
"Play that again."
Eleanor pressed the button.
Elena's voice filled the room.
"Arthur, if you're hearing this, there's one person you must never trust. Vincent Russo."
The recording ended.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Arthur stood.
"I need to make a call."
I stepped toward him.
"Arthur."
He looked at me.
"Not here. Not in front of Rosie."
He nodded.
Outside, the cold lake wind moved through the trees.
Arthur called Agent Miller.
He didn't call Vincent.
That detail mattered.
For the first time, he was questioning the loyalty of a man he'd trusted with his life.
Miller listened to the recording.
Then asked something strange.
"Mr. Romano, who arranged the doctor that treated you after the alley?"
"Vincent."
"Who knew Maeve's apartment address?"
"Vincent."
"And who arranged security for her brother?"
Arthur went completely still.
"Vincent."
I felt sick.
Danny.
I pulled out my phone and called him.
He answered immediately.
"Maeve?"
"Are you safe?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Where are you?"
"Campus police moved me to a secure residence hall yesterday. They said your investigator requested it."
I closed my eyes in relief.
"Good. Stay there."
Arthur looked at me.
For the first time, I saw fear and guilt fighting inside his eyes.
"Vincent knew everything," he whispered.
"Then we make sure he doesn't know what happens next."
Agent Miller arranged protective measures for Rosie, Nicholas, Eleanor, and Danny.
She also began investigating Vincent's communications.
Within hours, investigators discovered payments from Walter Carmichael.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Transferred through accounts connected to the fraudulent adoption network.
But the biggest payment was dated the night Arthur was attacked.
Half a million dollars.
Vincent had been paid to betray his employer.
Arthur stared at the evidence.
"He knew about my children."
I couldn't answer.
"He watched me grieve."
His voice cracked.
"He sat beside me at Elena's funeral."
I reached for his hand.
Arthur looked at me.
"How do you trust anyone after something like this?"
I thought about my mother.
About the secrets she kept.
About the little girl upstairs who'd waited nine years for a father she thought might never come.
"Carefully," I said. "But you don't stop trusting everyone."
He squeezed my hand.
Then Agent Miller called again.
"We arrested Walter Carmichael."
I exhaled.
"Thank God."
"His sister Evelyn is cooperating. She's admitted to falsifying medical records."
Arthur closed his eyes.
Miller continued.
"She's also given us evidence against Vincent."
"What evidence?"
"A recorded conversation."
The recording began.
Walter Carmichael's voice sounded nervous.
"We were supposed to kill Romano in the alley."
Vincent answered coldly.
"No. He had to be found alive."
My stomach dropped.
Walter asked, "Why?"
Vincent laughed.
"Because the waitress needed to recognize him."
Arthur's grip tightened around my hand.
Then Vincent said something that made every nerve in my body freeze.
"Patrick Nolan left his daughter the only evidence that can destroy us."
A pause.
"And until Maeve Nolan leads us to it, Arthur Romano stays alive."
I looked at Arthur.
The toolbox.
My father's journal.
The photograph.
We'd already found so much.
But apparently, something even more important was still missing.
Then I remembered the one thing my father had given me before he died.
A small brass key.
I'd worn it on my key ring for eight years.
May you like
And engraved on its head was a number.
417.
