Chapter 11 - THE FATHER WHO BECAME A GHOST
Rosie had imagined a hundred reasons her father might have disappeared.
Fear.
Shame.
Danger.
Even betrayal.
But never this.
"The FBI?" she repeated.
Dante's voice came through the phone.
"Michael Hastings has been helping investigators track Carlo Vescari's financial network."
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
"For how long?"
"Almost six years."
Rosie sank into a chair.
Six years.
Her father had been alive, working with federal investigators, while she and Antonella believed he had abandoned them.
"Why didn't he contact me?"
Dante hesitated.
"Because someone inside the investigation compromised his identity."
Lorenzo looked sharply at the phone.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Rosie felt her throat tighten.
"Then how do we know he's safe?"
"We don't."
The line disconnected.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lorenzo turned toward the detective.
"I want your federal contact here."
The detective nodded.
"Already requested."
Rosie stood.
"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me the truth."
Nobody argued.
An hour later, Special Agent Evelyn Carter arrived.
She was in her early forties, with short dark hair and the composed expression of someone accustomed to difficult conversations.
She sat across from Rosie.
"Miss Hastings, I understand you have questions."
Rosie laughed bitterly.
"Just a few."
Agent Carter nodded.
"Your father was recruited as a confidential source after he discovered his adoption records had been falsified."
Rosie leaned forward.
"Why was he sedated?"
Carter's expression darkened.
"Several months ago, he was abducted by people connected to Vescari. We believe they used medication to keep him compliant."
Rosie felt sick.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
"Have you seen him?"
"Not since his disappearance."
Rosie's hope faltered.
Carter continued.
"But we have evidence he escaped their custody."
Lorenzo frowned.
"What evidence?"
Carter placed a photograph on the table.
A security image from a gas station outside Milwaukee.
Michael Hastings stood beside a dark sedan.
Rosie covered her mouth.
He looked older.
Thinner.
But unmistakably alive.
"That's him."
Carter nodded.
"The image was captured four days ago."
Rosie reached toward the photograph.
"Where is he now?"
"We believe he's trying to reach someone he trusts."
"Who?"
Carter looked toward Lorenzo.
"Your grandmother."
Rosie's heart pounded.
Then Carter slid another document across the table.
It was a letter.
Handwritten.
Addressed to Rosie.
Her father's words filled the page.
My beautiful Rosalina,
If this reaches you, please understand that I never stopped being your father.
I stayed away because I believed my presence would put you in danger.
But I made a mistake believing silence could protect you forever.
Tears streamed down Rosie's face.
She kept reading.
There is something I must tell you before we meet.
The man you know as Lorenzo Bianca is not responsible for our family's suffering.
But someone in his organization is.
Rosie slowly looked up.
Lorenzo's expression had changed.
"Who?" he asked.
Agent Carter opened another photograph.
It showed Mateo standing beside Carlo Vescari.
The date was three weeks earlier.
Rosie's blood turned cold.
Lorenzo stared at his most trusted friend.
May you like
The man who had stood beside him for fifteen years.
And realized the betrayal had been much closer than anyone imagined.
