Chapter 5 - NORA WAS NOT AT THE SAFE HOUSE
Victor did not go to the residence.
That surprised Matteo.
Instead, he called Chicago police through an attorney, provided the impersonation report, and asked the residence to lock down visitor access.
Then he waited.
Every instinct told him to move.
Nora’s letter told him what moving meant.
Proof that leaving was necessary.
So he stayed.
The man claiming to be Victor disappeared before police arrived.
Security footage captured him.
Not Daniel.
Not anyone Victor recognized.
Professional enough to conceal his face.
But the car plate traced to a leasing company used by North Harbor Clinical Supply.
The same vendor receiving money from Sylvia’s account.
The network was tightening.
Then the residence director called back.
“Nora is not here.”
Relief and fear collided.
“Was she?”
“I can’t disclose—”
“Please.”
Victor surprised himself with the word.
Please.
The director paused.
“She contacted us three days ago.”
Before leaving.
“She asked about emergency housing.”
“Did she book?”
“No.”
“She changed her mind.”
“Or used the call as misdirection,” Matteo said.
Victor almost smiled.
That sounded like Nora.
Then Elise Grant sent another message.
Nora had arranged something else.
A legal consultation.
Family attorney.
Not a Rinaldi attorney.
Marisol Vega.
Specialized in family law and protective planning.
Victor felt the word like a blade.
Protective.
Had Nora believed he would hurt her?
He had never hit her.
Never threatened the children.
But control can frighten without bruises.
He knew that now.
His counsel contacted Marisol only to transmit one message:
I will not use private security to locate Nora or the twins. I will communicate through counsel until she chooses otherwise.
No demand for address.
No custody threat.
No money leverage.
Then Victor transferred regular household funds into an account Nora already controlled.
Not extra.
Not a bribe.
Her own accessible money.
He left a note:
For the babies’ ordinary expenses. No conditions.
Hours passed.
At noon, Marisol replied:
Received.
Nothing else.
Victor stared at that one word longer than he should have.
Then Sylvia arrived.
He almost refused to see her.
But she had brought documents.
“Daniel’s accountant emailed me.”
“What?”
“He’s panicking.”
The accountant, Peter Shaw, discovered irregular entities connected to North Harbor.
One name mattered:
N.M. Holdings.
Victor frowned.
“Nora Maria?”
Sylvia shook her head.
“No.”
The company predated Nora.
Registered owner hidden.
Then she showed him incorporation records.
Original managing member:
NICHOLAS MORETTI.
Victor stopped.
Nick Moretti.
Old Rinaldi rival.
Supposedly dead eight years.
But the company had filed taxes last year.
Alive?
Maybe not.
Entities survive founders.
Then Matteo read the filings.
Current authorized signer:
Daniel Mercer.
So North Harbor tied back to Daniel.
But why invoke Nick Moretti’s name?
Victor’s father had gone to war with Moretti decades earlier.
Bad blood.
Using a dead rival’s company could misdirect suspicion.
Then Sylvia said:
“There’s one more thing.”
She looked ashamed.
“Daniel paid for my apartment.”
Victor stared.
“What apartment?”
“The one I moved into last year.”
“I thought you paid.”
“So did I.”
A relocation stipend came through her firm.
Actually funded by North Harbor.
Daniel had been placing her near Victor.
Not merely professionally.
Geographically.
Her building was two blocks from Rinaldi headquarters.
Victor finally understood.
Daniel had identified a weakness.
Then curated it.
Again:
No one forced Victor into Sylvia’s bed.
But someone built the hallway.
Then Matteo received a call from internal audit.
They found a direct payment from North Harbor to someone in the penthouse household.
$9,000.
Recipient:
MARTA BIANCHI.
The night nurse Nora fired two weeks after the twins came home.
Why?
Victor remembered only that Nora “didn’t trust her.”
He had accused Nora of being exhausted and overreacting.
May you like
Marta had been reporting the twins’ medication schedule to Daniel Mercer.
And Nora had caught her.
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