Chapter 12 - THE TRUTH INSIDE THE BULLET
Vincent left after delivering his ultimatum.
He gave Salvatore forty-eight hours.
Then the SUVs disappeared down the quiet street.
I waited until Sofia was safely inside before speaking.
“We need to examine the fragment again.”
Salvatore looked at me.
“You think he's lying?”
“I think he's telling us just enough truth to manipulate us.”
We returned to the mansion that evening.
The metal fragment had already been transferred to an independent forensic laboratory under documented custody.
The preliminary report arrived shortly after midnight.
It was consistent with a projectile fragment.
But the surprising part wasn't its composition.
It was its position.
The fragment's location and surrounding tissue changes suggested it had entered from a different angle than the injury described in Salvatore's original medical records.
The old hospital report claimed he had been shot from the front.
The fragment suggested a shot from behind and to his right.
I placed the two reports side by side.
“Salvatore, where was Carmine standing during the ambush?”
He closed his eyes.
“Behind me.”
My stomach dropped.
Then he shook his head.
“No. He didn't shoot me.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because Carmine was wounded protecting me.”
“Where?”
“His left shoulder.”
I looked at the photographs from the harbor.
Carmine wore a dark jacket.
There was blood on his shoulder.
But something bothered me.
“Was he treated at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“By Vincent?”
Salvatore opened his eyes.
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
“What if the evidence was arranged to make you believe Carmine saved you?”
Salvatore stared at the wall.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he called Marco.
“Find the original ballistics report.”
Marco returned an hour later with a scanned police document.
Most of the pages had been altered.
But one handwritten note remained.
SECOND SHOOTER POSITION: NORTH SERVICE WALKWAY.
Salvatore's face changed.
“The north walkway.”
“What about it?”
“That's where Isabella was standing.”
I felt cold.
“Your wife?”
He nodded.
“She told me she was watching the shipment from there.”
I remembered the video.
Isabella telling my father to move Salvatore before Vincent arrived.
Suddenly, the pieces shifted.
“Salvatore, what if Isabella wasn't hiding from you?”
He looked at me.
“What if she was hiding because she witnessed the shooter?”
Before he could answer, Marco entered.
“Boss, we found something.”
He placed a photograph on the desk.
It showed the north service walkway on the night of the ambush.
A man stood behind the railing.
Holding a weapon.
The image was blurry.
But his face was visible.
Carmine.
Salvatore stared at the photograph.
Then Marco quietly added:
“There's more.”
He placed a second photograph beside it.
This one showed Carmine handing the weapon to Vincent Hale.
And behind them stood a third person.
May you like
A woman.
Isabella Lombardi.
