Chapter 12 - The Bodyguard Who Opened the Wrong Door
The betrayal came from someone Lorenzo trusted with his life.
His name was Victor Mancini.
He'd worked for the Vitali family for fourteen years.
He accompanied Lorenzo to private meetings, supervised security arrangements, and had access to restricted buildings.
For years, Lorenzo believed Victor was loyal.
Now the evidence suggested otherwise.
Marco reviewed security footage from the night someone followed me home.
The black sedan had entered a parking garage owned by one of Lorenzo's companies.
Its driver used a security pass registered to Victor.
I stared at the screen.
"That's the man outside my apartment."
Marco nodded.
Lorenzo stood beside us.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
"Where is Victor?"
Marco hesitated.
"He left the office an hour ago."
Lorenzo reached for his phone.
Then stopped.
Instead, he looked at the federal investigator seated across from him.
"Can you find him?"
The investigator nodded.
"We're already working on it."
I watched Lorenzo carefully.
He could've called armed men.
He could've threatened Victor's family.
He could've handled the situation the way everyone expected a mafia boss to handle it.
But he didn't.
He chose a different path.
That evening, Victor was detained at a private airfield outside Newark.
Investigators recovered false passports, cash, and financial records connecting him to Adrian's companies.
He agreed to cooperate after speaking with an attorney.
His testimony helped explain how Adrian had manipulated Lorenzo's business and family for more than a decade.
But there was one detail that changed everything.
Victor hadn't been the person who arranged Isabella's disappearance.
He had only helped maintain the deception years later.
The original plan had involved Adrian and a corrupt doctor.
I looked at Lorenzo.
"Dr. Bellini?"
He shook his head.
"No. Isabella's doctor was named Samuel Hart."
Marco checked the records.
Samuel Hart had died three years earlier.
But his former nurse was still alive.
Her name was Margaret Evans.
She lived in Pennsylvania.
Only forty miles from where I grew up.
Investigators interviewed her the next morning.
Margaret explained that Isabella had been brought into the clinic following the bridge incident.
She was pregnant and frightened.
The doctor had been instructed to keep her isolated.
But Margaret had secretly helped Isabella communicate with someone outside the facility.
"Who?" the investigator asked.
Margaret hesitated.
Then gave a name.
"Eleanor Morgan."
My grandmother.
The woman who had raised Daniel.
May you like
The woman who had always told me to be careful around powerful men.
And the woman who had apparently known Isabella was alive all along.
