Chapter 6 - THE WAREHOUSE UNDER THE OLD NAME
The warehouse looked abandoned.
That meant nothing in Matteo’s world.
Arthur’s men watched from a distance.
No assault.
No dramatic entry.
Not yet.
Matteo had learned one useful thing from Norah.
Sometimes the person who waits learns more than the person who attacks.
Luca entered alone.
He emerged forty minutes later carrying a metal case.
Then a second car arrived.
The driver stepped out.
Matteo saw the photographs moments later.
He recognized the man.
Victor Shaw.
Chief financial officer of Rossi Maritime.
Fifty-eight.
Trusted.
Quiet.
Employed by Matteo’s father before Matteo was old enough to understand spreadsheets.
Arthur stared at the image.
“Victor?”
Matteo’s anger hardened.
Victor had access to everything.
Legitimate companies.
Estate structures.
Tax attorneys.
Insurance.
The Raven trust.
It suddenly made sense.
Luca was ambition.
Victor was architecture.
They had been working together.
“Follow them.”
The men did.
Victor and Luca separated.
The metal case went with Victor.
Matteo ordered no interception.
Not until they knew where it led.
Meanwhile, Salvatore found a secure way to deliver Thomas Bennett’s envelope to Norah through her attorney.
Attorney.
That surprised Matteo.
Of course she had one.
Norah had prepared properly.
Her attorney contacted Matteo’s legal counsel with one message:
MRS. ROSSI IS SAFE. ALL FUTURE COMMUNICATION REGARDING PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL MATTERS SHOULD BE MADE THROUGH COUNSEL UNLESS SHE INITIATES DIRECT CONTACT.
Mrs. Rossi.
Still his wife.
For now.
The words hurt more than he expected.
Then another message arrived.
Norah had initiated formal separation.
Matteo stared at the screen.
Arthur stood near the window.
He did not speak.
Smart.
After five minutes Matteo asked:
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Do you think she’ll divorce me?”
Arthur hesitated.
Matteo looked at him.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
The honesty stung.
“Why?”
Arthur’s expression stayed neutral.
“Because she already left once in her mind before she left the house.”
Matteo remembered the kitchen.
I’m conceding.
He had thought it meant surrender.
It meant she had stopped fighting for him.
His phone buzzed.
Norah.
One message.
Dad left records. Salvatore delivered them.
Matteo typed:
Are you safe?
Three dots.
Yes.
Then:
The records prove Victor Shaw helped Luca’s father move money years ago. Luca continued it.
Matteo typed:
Come home.
He deleted it.
Then wrote:
What do you need from me?
A long pause.
Finally:
Nothing.
That word hurt worst.
Then another message arrived.
Actually, one thing.
Matteo stared.
Tell me the truth about Harper. All of it. No excuses.
He sat down.
For the next twenty minutes, Matteo typed everything.
The first kiss.
The first hotel.
The lies.
How many times.
How long.
No euphemisms.
No blaming stress.
No saying Harper meant nothing as though that made betrayal better.
When he finished, his finger hovered over SEND.
Then he pressed it.
Norah did not reply.
An hour passed.
Then two.
Finally:
Thank you for telling the truth once I no longer had to beg for it.
Nothing else.
Arthur entered.
“We found Victor.”
“Where?”
He placed a map on the table.
Victor had taken the case to a private records facility outside Boston.
A shell company owned the unit.
The registered owner:
HARPER LANE.
Matteo stared.
Harper.
May you like
His mistress.
And suddenly the affair collided directly with the conspiracy.
