Chapter 6 - THE MURDER ANTONIO ORDERED HIMSELF
Dominic laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because grief sometimes wore strange clothes.
“My father asked Marco to kill him?”
Teresa nodded.
“No.”
“Dominic—”
“No.”
“He was dying.”
That stopped him.
“What?”
“Pancreatic cancer.”
His father had never been sick.
Not visibly.
Teresa explained.
Antonio had six months at most.
At the same time, Enzo Bellini was threatening Maria, Dominic, and several witnesses.
Antonio created a plan.
His death would look like a robbery.
The organization would consolidate under Dominic.
Enzo would believe Antonio’s evidence died with him.
“And Marco?” Dominic asked.
“Antonio trusted him more than Enzo.”
“He was nineteen.”
“He was already protecting you.”
Dominic stared.
“Did Marco pull the trigger?”
Teresa looked down.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
“He shot my father.”
“At Antonio’s request.”
“That does not make it easier.”
“No.”
“Did my father suffer?”
“No.”
That answer came too quickly.
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
Teresa began crying harder.
“What?”
“He changed his mind at the last second.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“What did you say?”
“Antonio asked Marco to leave.”
“Then who killed him?”
Teresa closed her eyes.
“Enzo arrived.”
The story shifted again.
Marco had gone to the warehouse intending to obey Antonio.
Then couldn’t.
He left.
Enzo entered minutes later.
Antonio was found dead.
Marco believed Enzo killed him.
But Teresa had never seen the body.
“Then how do you know?”
“I don’t.”
Dominic stared.
Twenty years.
Every answer created another question.
Luca returned with ballistic records.
The weapon used to kill Antonio had been registered to Enzo Bellini.
That supported Teresa.
Then the old evidence report showed something strange.
The bullet recovered from Antonio did not match Enzo’s weapon.
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Then whose gun?”
The file had no result.
Because the comparison database returned no match.
But Luca had requested modern testing.
Now there was a match.
A weapon recovered eighteen years ago from another crime scene.
Owner:
Joseph Vale.
Teresa’s husband.
Dominic looked at her.
She went white.
“Joseph was dead before Antonio.”
“No.”
Luca shook his head.
“Officially, yes.”
Teresa whispered:
“Oh God.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
She covered her mouth.
“My husband wasn’t dead.”
Another fake death.
Another hidden life.
Then she confessed.
May you like
Joseph Vale had been an undercover federal informant working inside Enzo Bellini’s network.
And according to her, he was the last person who saw Antonio Vitali alive.
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