Chapter 13 - THE DAUGHTER OF A MURDERER
For the first time in years, Damon Bianchi couldn't trust his own memories.
Victoria Hale.
The woman he'd planned to marry.
The woman who had stood beside him at charity galas, funerals, business dinners, and family celebrations.
She wasn't who she claimed to be.
"Mother, what do you mean?"
Evelyn's breathing sounded ragged.
"Charles raised her. But her real father..."
A door slammed.
The call ended.
Damon immediately contacted the police detective leading the investigation.
The evidence from the vault had already been turned over.
Now investigators were preparing a coordinated operation at the medical facility.
Damon insisted on accompanying them to a secure staging location.
Delaney went with him.
During the drive, Adrian Moretti called.
"I found the second file."
Damon sat straighter.
"Where?"
"Frank arranged for it to be hidden in a safety deposit box under Margaret's maiden name."
"What's inside?"
"An original recording from the night Thomas died."
Damon closed his eyes.
"Send it to the detectives."
Minutes later, the recording reached the investigation team.
Thomas Bianchi's voice filled the SUV.
"Charles, you can't keep doing this. Those patients were innocent."
Another man answered.
Charles Hale.
"You have no idea how much money is involved."
"Then I'll tell the authorities myself."
A chair scraped.
Then a third voice spoke.
"Thomas, don't make this difficult."
Damon froze.
He knew that voice.
It belonged to his late father's former business partner.
Victor Sloane.
A man who had supposedly died sixteen years earlier.
The recording continued.
Thomas sounded furious.
"You stole from me. You endangered my wife. And now you're threatening my family?"
Victor laughed.
"Your family was always your weakness."
A gunshot cracked through the recording.
Delaney flinched.
Then silence.
Damon's face had turned white.
Victor Sloane.
The man who had taught him to play chess.
The man who had visited his home every Christmas.
The man whose funeral Damon had attended as a young adult.
He had murdered Thomas Bianchi.
Adrian's voice came through the phone.
"Victor faked his death after investigators began connecting him to the medical fraud operation."
Damon swallowed.
"And Victoria?"
"Her birth records identify Victor Sloane as her biological father."
Delaney looked at Damon.
"She knew?"
Adrian hesitated.
"There's evidence she learned the truth several years ago."
Damon closed his eyes.
His engagement.
His mother's illness.
The stolen money.
All connected.
He had unknowingly invited the daughter of his father's murderer into his home.
The detective's radio crackled.
"Teams approaching the medical facility."
Damon leaned forward.
"Any sign of Evelyn?"
"Thermal imaging confirms multiple occupants."
Then another voice interrupted.
"Movement at the rear entrance."
A pause.
"Female hostage being transferred."
Damon's heart stopped.
A photograph appeared on the command monitor.
Evelyn was being pushed toward a waiting van.
May you like
Beside her stood Victoria.
And Victoria was holding a gun.
