Chapter 11 - THE TRAITOR AT THE FAMILY TABLE|
Nobody spoke for almost a full minute.
The laptop screen had gone dark.
Matteo's voice was gone.
And I was sitting at the little kitchen table, holding my stomach as though I could keep my husband close by holding the child he'd left behind.
Leonardo stared at the screen.
His eyes were wet.
Then he whispered, "Play the last part again."
Anthony hesitated.
"Leonardo—"
"Please."
The attorney restarted the video from the final minute.
Matteo appeared.
His dark hair fell across his forehead.
He looked frightened, but determined.
The person behind this isn't hiding in the clinic.
He sits at our family table.
And he's been doing business with you for years.
The screen went black again.
Leonardo leaned back.
"Richard."
Anthony frowned.
"Maybe."
Leonardo turned.
"What do you mean, maybe?"
"Richard attended family dinners, but the wording could refer to someone else."
I nodded slowly.
"Matteo was specific."
Leonardo looked at me.
"What?"
"He said the person sat at your family table."
I swallowed.
"And he said that person did business with you."
Anthony's expression changed.
"That describes several people."
Leonardo frowned.
"Richard, Bianca, some senior partners."
I stared at the empty screen.
"Who was at the engagement dinner?"
Leonardo looked confused.
"What?"
"The people sitting near you."
I remembered polishing the silverware before the guests arrived.
I remembered placing name cards at the long table.
And I remembered one man who had spoken sharply to me when I accidentally touched his briefcase.
"Was Vincent there?" I asked.
Leonardo froze.
"Vincent?"
"Vincent Caruso."
Anthony slowly lifted his eyes.
"Your chief financial officer."
Leonardo frowned.
"Why are you asking about him?"
I hesitated.
"I saw him speaking with Bianca several times."
"That isn't unusual."
"I know."
I looked at my hands.
"But once, I heard them arguing."
Leonardo leaned forward.
"When?"
"About two weeks ago."
"What did they say?"
I closed my eyes.
I could still picture the hallway outside Leonardo's private study.
I'd been carrying clean towels upstairs when I heard Bianca's voice.
She sounded furious.
You said the paperwork was finished.
Then Vincent answered.
It will be finished when the girl signs.
My eyes opened.
"The paperwork," I whispered.
Leonardo stared.
"What paperwork?"
"I don't know."
I looked toward Anthony.
"Bianca said something about a signature."
His expression sharpened.
"Did you hear Vincent mention Emma's name?"
I shook my head.
"But Bianca called someone 'the girl.'"
Leonardo exhaled slowly.
"Vincent handled the financial side of the merger."
Anthony was already typing.
"He also supervised the company accounts that made payments to the Romano Foundation."
A terrible silence followed.
"Did Matteo trust him?" I asked.
Leonardo looked away.
"At first."
"What changed?"
"He accused Vincent of hiding transactions."
Anthony turned toward him.
"When?"
"During the final month of Matteo's life."
I closed my eyes.
Another piece had fallen into place.
But it didn't make me feel better.
It made me realize how many people had watched my husband walk toward danger without stopping him.
That evening, Detective Hayes arrived with new information.
Investigators had identified several financial transfers authorized through the accounts Vincent supervised.
Some had gone to the Romano-controlled medical consulting company.
Others had gone to shell companies connected to Arthur Pike.
And one transfer had been routed through an account that belonged to the trucking company involved in Matteo's death.
Leonardo stared at the records.
"Vincent approved these?"
Hayes nodded.
"His credentials were used."
"Could someone else have used them?"
"That's being investigated."
Anthony studied the dates.
"These transfers began before Matteo discovered the scheme."
Hayes looked at Leonardo.
"Which suggests the financial operation existed independently of his investigation."
I frowned.
"So Matteo didn't create the problem."
"No," Hayes said.
"He uncovered it."
Leonardo rubbed his face.
"I've known Vincent for almost twenty years."
His voice sounded hollow.
"He was at my father's funeral."
Anthony looked up.
"He also managed some of your father's business accounts."
Leonardo stared at the floor.
"I trusted him with everything."
I reached for his hand.
"Trusting someone doesn't make you responsible for every choice they make."
He looked at me.
"But it does mean I have to face what happened under my name."
I nodded.
"Then face it."
His expression softened.
For a moment, he looked so much like Matteo that my chest hurt.
Hayes continued.
"Vincent is being questioned, and investigators are seeking additional records."
"Does he know about the flash drive?" Leonardo asked.
"Not from us."
Anthony closed his laptop.
"Then we should be careful about who has access to the information."
I looked toward the window.
The street was quiet.
A delivery truck was parked near the bakery.
A woman walked a small dog beneath the trees.
Everything looked normal.
But I had learned how deceptive normal could be.
The next morning, Leonardo called me.
He sounded different.
Tired.
Almost defeated.
"Emma, I need to ask you something."
"What?"
"Would you be willing to come to a meeting with Anthony and the investigators?"
I hesitated.
"About Vincent?"
"Yes."
"Why me?"
"Because you remember things the rest of us overlooked."
I looked toward Matteo's photograph.
He'd always told me I noticed details.
The way people held their coffee cups.
The way they looked at the door when someone entered.
The way a smile disappeared when the wrong name was mentioned.
"Okay," I whispered.
"But only if Dr. Carter says it's safe."
"Of course."
That afternoon, I joined the meeting remotely from the apartment while Leonardo, Anthony, and Detective Hayes sat in an interview room.
Hayes showed me several photographs.
Vincent at the mansion.
Vincent at a charity dinner.
Vincent speaking with Richard Romano.
Then he displayed one image from a security camera.
It showed Vincent standing beside a dark sedan outside the private clinic.
The date was four days after Matteo's funeral.
I gasped.
"I've seen that car."
Hayes leaned forward.
"Where?"
"Outside my apartment."
"Before you moved into the mansion?"
I nodded.
"It was parked across the street the day Arthur Pike came to see me."
Leonardo's expression hardened.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
My voice shook.
"There was a sticker on the back window."
Hayes enlarged the image.
A small white emblem was visible near the license plate.
I pointed.
"That one."
The detective nodded.
"We'll document that."
Then he showed me another photograph.
It had been recovered from Vincent's office.
Matteo was standing beside the same car.
But he wasn't alone.
A woman stood opposite him, holding a folder against her chest.
I recognized her immediately.
"Nora."
Hayes nodded.
"Yes."
I frowned.
"Why is she there?"
"The photograph was taken several weeks before the accident."
My heart began pounding.
"Matteo was meeting her."
Leonardo stared at the screen.
"Or someone was photographing their meeting."
Hayes nodded.
"That's what concerns us."
Then Anthony's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His face changed.
"What?" Leonardo asked.
Anthony looked up.
"Vincent has retained a criminal defense attorney."
Leonardo's expression hardened.
"That's his right."
"Yes."
Anthony swallowed.
"But his attorney has delivered a proposal."
"What kind?"
"He says Vincent is willing to cooperate."
Hayes leaned forward.
"Under what conditions?"
Anthony looked at his phone again.
"He wants protection from Richard Romano."
Leonardo frowned.
"Why?"
Anthony took a long breath.
"Because Vincent says Richard isn't the person who controlled the clinic."
I stared at the screen.
"Then who did?"
Anthony looked at Leonardo.
His expression was grim.
"According to Vincent, the entire operation was overseen by Margaret Hale."
The room went silent.
I remembered Margaret's frightened voice on the phone.
Her tears.
Her story about trying to help Matteo.
Her warning not to trust anyone.
And suddenly I wondered whether she had called me because she wanted to confess.
Or because she wanted to find out how much I knew.
Then Detective Hayes received another message.
He read it carefully.
"Margaret Hale has failed to appear for her scheduled interview."
Leonardo stood.
"Where is she?"
"We don't know."
My stomach tightened.
Hayes continued.
"Her office has been cleared out."
I stared at the screen.
"And the recording she promised?"
The detective shook his head.
"It hasn't been delivered."
Then he looked directly at me.
"Emma, did Margaret ask you anything about Matteo's suitcase?"
My entire body went cold.
I nodded.
"Not directly."
"What did she say?"
"She told me not to tell anyone where I found the evidence."
Hayes's expression darkened.
"Then she may have been trying to locate it."
I looked toward the old suitcase in the corner.
A few days earlier, it had been nothing more than a container for the belongings I couldn't bear to throw away.
May you like
Now it had become the reason powerful people were afraid.
And somewhere in Chicago, Margaret Hale knew that Matteo's secrets had survived him.
