Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS THERE WHEN LUCA DIED
Julian Price stood outside Dante's private study when I saw him again.
Tall.
Gray-eyed.
A faint scar near his right ear.
Exactly as I remembered.
Six years earlier, he'd stood inside our little apartment in Little Village and told my mother the foundation couldn't provide any more assistance.
Now he worked for Celeste Bowmont.
And according to Dante, he'd been with Luca Moretti shortly before Luca was killed.
I stopped in the hallway.
Julian noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
"Can I help you?"
I lowered my gaze.
"Just passing through."
He stepped closer.
"You look familiar."
My stomach tightened.
"Do I?"
He studied me.
Then smiled.
"Have we met?"
I shook my head.
"Not that I remember."
The lie tasted bitter.
But my instincts told me not to reveal anything before investigators had a chance to examine the records.
Julian moved aside.
I continued toward the kitchen.
Only when the door closed behind me did I realize my hands were shaking.
Patricia noticed immediately.
"Serena?"
I turned.
"Yes?"
"What's wrong?"
I hesitated.
Then whispered:
"Julian Price was at my family's apartment years ago."
Her expression changed.
"Are you certain?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
Patricia looked toward the hallway.
Then lowered her voice.
"Serena, don't confront him."
"I wasn't planning to."
She took my hand.
"Good."
Something about her fear frightened me more than Julian's smile.
That evening, Dante's attorney began reviewing the old foundation records.
Several beneficiaries had been approved for payments that later disappeared from the system.
My mother's name appeared on the list.
Maria Cruz.
I stared at the document.
"That's her."
Dante looked toward me.
"She should have continued receiving assistance."
I nodded.
"But she didn't."
His expression darkened.
The records showed that her eligibility had been overridden by someone using a financial administrator's credentials.
The same authorization code appeared on hundreds of other files.
One name was attached to the account.
Arthur Bowmont.
Celeste's father.
The initial review suggested substantial funds had been diverted from the foundation into companies connected to the Bowmont family.
But the financial trail wasn't the only disturbing discovery.
The archived records contained a handwritten note from Luca.
Dante recognized his brother's writing immediately.
The foundation isn't the real target.
Find the hospital contracts.
I frowned.
"Hospital contracts?"
Dante looked toward his attorney.
"Bowmont Capital financed several private medical facilities."
My chest tightened.
My mother had received treatment at one of those facilities.
I remembered the billing disputes.
The unexplained charges.
The medications she was told she couldn't afford.
Then Dante's attorney opened another file.
A contract from the medical facility.
Its ownership records included a company called Northstar Health Management.
The same company Arthur Bowmont used to administer the Moretti foundation.
My stomach tightened.
"So the same people controlled both the assistance fund and the hospital?"
The attorney nodded.
"Through separate entities."
I looked at Dante.
He looked back at me.
For the first time, we understood that Luca might have discovered more than stolen scholarship money.
Then the attorney opened the final document.
A report signed by Luca Moretti six years earlier.
Its title was:
UNAUTHORIZED PATIENT BILLING AND FOUNDATION DIVERSION.
Beneath it was a handwritten warning.
If anything happens to me, ask Valentina what she found.
May you like
Dante went completely still.
Because his mother had apparently known about the scheme long before she began becoming mysteriously ill.
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