Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO RAISED HIM
Vincent Caruso had taught Nicholas how to drive.
How to box.
How to identify a liar before the liar finished speaking.
After Antonio died, Vincent had stood beside Nicholas at the funeral and promised, “I’ll protect what your father built.”
Now Nicholas watched him walk through his home beside Evan Cole.
Rachel saw something rare in Nicholas’s face.
Pain.
Not fear.
Betrayal.
“What is he looking for?”
“The ledger.”
Nicholas closed the deposit box.
“Then we let him think he found it.”
Rachel looked at him.
“You want to bait him.”
“I want him talking.”
They created a copy.
Rachel changed three transaction lines so only someone familiar with Northstar would notice.
Daniel leaked a message through a compromised Valenti channel suggesting Nicholas was moving original evidence to a warehouse on the South Side.
Two hours later, Vincent arrived.
Evan came with him.
Nicholas watched through hidden cameras from an office across the street.
Rachel sat beside him wearing headphones.
Vincent entered the empty warehouse.
Evan looked nervous.
“You said she was dead.”
Vincent turned.
Rachel stopped breathing.
Evan continued.
“She was supposed to stay outside longer. I did exactly what you told me.”
Nicholas’s jaw clenched.
There it was.
The snowstorm had not been random cruelty.
It was attempted murder.
Vincent slapped Evan.
“You couldn’t even lock a freezing woman outside correctly.”
Rachel felt sick.
Nicholas reached for the door.
She grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“We need more.”
Inside the warehouse, Evan opened the false ledger.
“Where’s my money?”
“When Bennett is dead.”
“You said the wedding would handle it.”
“It was supposed to.”
Rachel’s heart pounded.
Evan had planned her death at their wedding.
The coded date had been real.
Vincent continued.
“Once Rachel died, Mercer would take the blame. The forged Valenti accounts would finish Nicholas. Two problems gone.”
Evan smiled nervously.
“And then?”
“Then Chicago belongs to people who understand how power works.”
Nicholas’s hand curled into a fist.
Rachel whispered, “Keep listening.”
Then Vincent said something they were not prepared for.
“There is one more loose end.”
“Who?”
“The Bennett woman.”
“Rachel?”
“No.”
Vincent looked straight toward the warehouse camera.
As if he knew it was there.
“Her mother.”
The video feed died.
Daniel stood.
“They found the signal.”
Nicholas turned toward Diane.
But Diane’s chair was empty.
Her coat was gone.
So was the bank ledger.
Rachel rushed to the hallway.
“Mom!”
No answer.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Rachel answered.
Vincent Caruso’s voice came through calmly.
“Bring me Nicholas Valenti, Rachel.”
May you like
A pause.
“Or this time, you lose both parents.”
