Chapter 5 - THE UNCLE WHO SOLD HIS OWN FAMILY
Victor Bellini had been my grandmother's younger brother.
As a child, I remembered him as the man who brought expensive chocolates at Christmas and disappeared before dinner.
Grandma never spoke about him after I turned twelve.
I assumed they'd argued over money.
Now I was learning he might have betrayed the people closest to him.
I met Rebecca at her office.
Adrien arrived separately, accompanied by his attorney.
I didn't want a secret meeting inside a restaurant connected to my family's past.
I wanted records.
Witnesses.
And people accountable for what they said.
Rebecca placed Grandma's bank receipts on the table.
"These payments need investigation."
Adrien nodded.
"My legal team has collected records connected to Harbor Security Services."
I looked at him.
"How long have you known Victor was involved?"
His expression tightened.
"I suspected for years. I didn't have evidence connecting him to Daniel's disappearance."
I folded my arms.
"Then don't tell me conclusions you can't prove."
He nodded.
"Fair."
For the first time, I realized the most powerful thing I could do with Adrien Moretti was ask him to stop talking like a man who already knew everything.
Rebecca reviewed the financial trail.
Harbor Security Services had received money from Grandma.
But it had also received payments from businesses associated with Angelo Moretti.
Some transfers occurred near the time my father disappeared.
Others continued long afterward.
Then Rebecca uncovered an old insurance claim.
My father had apparently been listed as a beneficiary of a life-insurance policy purchased through one of the shipping businesses.
I stared.
"Why would Dad have insurance through Angelo Moretti's company?"
Adrien looked equally confused.
"That wasn't standard practice."
Rebecca continued examining the file.
Then her expression changed.
"The policy was amended shortly before Daniel disappeared."
My heart tightened.
"Who changed it?"
She checked.
"Victor Bellini."
I covered my mouth.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Then Adrien's attorney found another document.
A letter from Daniel Caruso to a state investigator.
It described suspicious shipping payments and falsified cargo records.
Dad had been collecting evidence.
He hadn't simply been an electrician working at the docks.
He'd discovered something dangerous.
My throat tightened.
"What happened to the letter?"
Rebecca looked toward the document.
"It was never formally received by the investigator."
I stared.
"Why?"
"We don't know yet."
Then she found a routing note.
The letter had been redirected through a private courier service.
Owned by Victor Bellini.
My stomach twisted.
Everything led back to him.
The insurance policy.
The security payments.
The missing letter.
The warehouse.
And my father's disappearance.
Then Adrien looked toward me.
"Emma, I need to tell you something."
I folded my arms.
"What now?"
He took a breath.
"My father wasn't the only person who knew Daniel."
I stared.
"Who else?"
"My mother."
My heart tightened.
"Your mother?"
Adrien nodded.
"Her name was Isabella Moretti."
I recognized it.
Isabella had been a respected Chicago philanthropist.
She died fifteen years earlier.
Adrien continued.
"She kept a private journal. I found Daniel's name in it."
My heart pounded.
"What did she write?"
Adrien looked down.
May you like
Then whispered the words that changed everything.
"She believed Daniel Caruso was trying to save her life."
