Chapter 9 - THE PATRIARCH'S LAST LIE
Lorenzo didn't run.
That made it worse.
He sat in Michael's study the next morning drinking espresso when we returned.
Zach was asleep upstairs with two guards outside his room.
Regina was in custody.
My father was receiving medical care.
And Lorenzo looked irritatingly calm.
“You took the money,” Michael said.
“Yes.”
No denial.
No excuse.
Just yes.
“Why?”
“To keep it from Regina.”
“Then why move it into an account in Switzerland?”
Lorenzo looked at me.
“Because the money never belonged to Daniel.”
My father entered behind us using a cane.
“It belonged to the people Carlo stole it from.”
Lorenzo nodded.
Twenty-seven million hadn't simply been Moretti profit.
Carlo had skimmed pension accounts attached to port unions, subcontractors, and shipping investments.
Hundreds of workers lost money without ever knowing why their funds underperformed.
Daniel discovered it.
He encrypted the recovered amount before Carlo could reclaim it.
His plan had been restitution.
Not enrichment.
I suddenly felt ashamed that, for one brief moment at the terminal, I'd looked at that number and imagined what it could change.
Dad touched my shoulder.
“That's why your mother helped build the key.”
Michael stared at Lorenzo.
“So why Switzerland?”
“To hold it until federal investigators can establish legitimate claims.”
“Without telling anyone?”
“I trusted nobody.”
“That includes me?”
Lorenzo's silence answered.
Michael laughed once.
It wasn't amused.
His entire life seemed to contain fathers deciding secrecy was protection.
Mine too.
Before the argument could continue, Michael's attorney arrived with worse news.
Regina wanted a deal.
She had information about the corrupt law-enforcement official who protected Carlo years earlier.
The same official may have helped hide my father.
The name stunned everyone.
Deputy Commissioner Nathan Vale.
Not related to me despite the surname.
One of the most respected police officials in New York.
He had attended Carlo Moretti's funeral.
He had also signed the original report declaring my father's death accidental.
“He wasn't even assigned to that case,” Michael said.
Exactly.
Regina claimed Vale had been Carlo's silent partner.
After Carlo died, Vale took over pieces of the laundering network.
For years, Regina worked for him.
Tony worked for him.
Even the criminal auction had been his.
“Why would Regina expose him now?” I asked.
“To save herself,” Michael said.
Dad shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Regina is selfish, but she's terrified of Vale.”
“Then why talk?”
“Because she thinks he's going to kill her before she can testify.”
That afternoon, Regina was moved to a secure facility.
She never arrived.
The transport vehicle was struck at an intersection.
No guards were killed.
But Regina disappeared.
Someone had extracted her professionally.
Vale publicly condemned the incident and promised a full investigation.
Michael watched the televised statement without blinking.
Then Zach wandered into the room and climbed onto my lap.
His doctor had postponed the cardiac test after the kidnapping.
He rested his head against me.
“Is the witch gone?”
I brushed his hair back.
“Not yet.”
Michael turned off the television.
His phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Regina sat tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Deputy Commissioner Vale.
May you like
The message beneath it contained six words.
BRING DANIEL BELL OR SHE DIES.
