Chapter 6 - The Sister Arthur Should Never Have Touched|
At seven twenty-three that morning, Mateo Viscanti received a phone call that changed the direction of the entire investigation.
The caller was his younger sister, Elena.
Genevieve had seen Elena's photograph during her undercover research.
At thirty-one, she was a pediatric nurse who operated a charitable medical supply program independent of her brother's more controversial businesses.
Unlike Mateo, Elena avoided publicity.
She spent her weekends organizing free clinics and delivering medication to families who couldn't afford it.
Her brother quietly paid for the program's operating expenses, although Elena had repeatedly refused to let his name appear on any promotional material.
Now her voice shook so badly that Mateo barely recognized it.
“Mateo, don't come to the clinic.”
He stood immediately.
“Elena, what's wrong?”
“Arthur sent men here.”
Every person in the room turned toward him.
“Are you safe?”
“For now.”
“Where are you?”
“In the supply office.”
“Lock the door.”
“I already did.”
A sharp crash sounded through the phone.
Elena gasped.
Mateo's face drained of color.
“Elena?”
“Someone's coming.”
“Listen to me.”
There was another crash.
“Go through the rear exit.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
A man's voice sounded in the background.
“Put the phone down, Elena.”
Mateo gripped the device.
“Who is that?”
Elena began crying.
“I'm sorry.”
The connection ended.
For several seconds, Mateo didn't move.
Then he reached for his coat.
Gabriel immediately stepped toward him.
“I'll bring the car.”
Genevieve moved between them.
“Where do you think you're going?”
“To get my sister.”
“You don't know where they've taken her.”
“I know where the clinic is.”
“And Arthur knows you'll go there.”
Mateo's expression hardened.
“Move.”
Genevieve didn't.
“No.”
“Genevieve.”
“I said no.”
His eyes flashed.
For one dangerous instant, she saw the man whose reputation had made half the waterfront afraid to speak his name.
Then she saw something beneath it.
A terrified older brother.
She lowered her voice.
“Arthur wants you frightened enough to make a mistake.”
“My sister is in the hands of a man who tried to kill me.”
“I know.”
“Then don't ask me to sit here.”
“I'm asking you to help me bring her home alive.”
Mateo stared at her.
The anger slowly drained from his face.
“What do you need?”
“Everything you know about her clinic, her security, and anyone who could have arranged this.”
Within minutes, Harris had contacted the appropriate NYPD units and requested an urgent response to the clinic.
Penelope called Elena's medical director.
Gabriel contacted the building's legitimate security contractor.
Genevieve began reviewing Elena's recent activities.
She found something immediately.
Three days earlier, Elena had submitted a formal complaint to the Aster Foundation about a shipment of pediatric dialysis supplies that never arrived at her clinic.
The foundation had claimed the supplies were delivered by Viscanti Shipping.
Elena had checked the receiving records.
There was no delivery.
Instead, someone had forged her signature on the paperwork.
Genevieve showed Mateo the complaint.
“Did you know about this?”
He shook his head.
“Why would Elena contact Arthur directly?”
“Because she believed his foundation was responsible for the missing supplies.”
Mateo stared at the document.
“Those supplies were supposed to help children.”
Genevieve nodded.
“Arthur wasn't just laundering money through fake charities.”
She opened another file.
“He was diverting real donations, too.”
The missing supplies had been sold through a chain of intermediaries, with the proceeds flowing into accounts connected to Aster executives.
Elena had unknowingly discovered the fraud.
Now Arthur had taken her.
Mateo turned away and braced both hands against the table.
“When Elena was nine, our mother made me promise I'd protect her.”
Genevieve remained silent.
“She knew what my father was.”
His voice grew quieter.
“She told me Elena deserved a life that didn't belong to the family business.”
“Your mother sounds wise.”
“She was.”
“Did you keep your promise?”
Mateo closed his eyes.
“I thought I did.”
Genevieve looked at the photograph on Elena's complaint.
The young woman was smiling beside a group of hospital volunteers.
“You gave her the freedom to become someone different.”
Mateo turned toward her.
“Then why is she paying for my enemies?”
Genevieve had no comforting answer.
A notification appeared on Penelope's laptop.
An encrypted email had arrived through an anonymous forwarding service.
Its subject contained only three words.
YOUR WEDDING GIFT.
Attached was a video.
Mateo pressed play.
Elena sat inside a poorly lit industrial room, her wrists restrained in front of her.
Her hair was disheveled, and a bruise marked her cheek.
Behind her stood a man in a dark jacket.
Marco Bellini.
Genevieve felt Mateo go rigid beside her.
Marco looked directly into the camera.
“Arthur sends his congratulations.”
Elena struggled.
“Mateo, don't listen to him.”
Marco tightened his grip on her shoulder.
“Quiet.”
Mateo took one step toward the screen.
Genevieve caught his arm.
Marco continued.
“Midnight tonight, Pier Forty-Seven.”
He smiled.
“Bring the Sinclair woman and whatever Mara Chen gave her.”
Genevieve felt cold spreading through her body.
“Come alone,” Marco said.
“Or your sister dies before your engagement announcement reaches tomorrow's newspapers.”
The video ended.
Mateo stood motionless.
Then he reached for his phone.
Genevieve stopped him.
“Who are you calling?”
“Men who can solve this.”
“No.”
“Genevieve, this isn't a courtroom.”
“And Arthur is counting on that.”
He pulled away.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that Elena is alive because Arthur needs something from us.”
“For now.”
“Which means we have leverage.”
Mateo looked at her with an expression so desperate that it almost broke her composure.
“She's all I have left.”
Genevieve took a slow breath.
“No,” she replied softly.
“You also have a chance to stop the man who did this.”
Mateo looked down at her.
She held his gaze.
“But only if you're willing to stop being the man Arthur expects you to be.”
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Mateo placed his phone on the table.
“What do we do?”
Genevieve turned toward Harris.
“We find Mara Chen.”
Penelope's phone rang before anyone could answer.
The caller displayed no name.
She activated the speaker.
A woman spoke in a frightened whisper.
“Is Genevieve Sinclair there?”
Genevieve stepped forward.
“Who is this?”
The woman began crying.
“Mara Chen.”
The room fell silent.
Genevieve gripped the table.
“Mara, where are you?”
“Somewhere Arthur hasn't found yet.”
“We need you.”
“I know.”
The woman took a shaky breath.
“But there's something you need to understand before you open those files.”
“What?”
Mara's next words made Genevieve look directly at Mateo.
“Arthur Pendleton didn't just steal money from the Viscanti family.”
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A pause.
“He built his entire empire using the evidence Salvatore Viscanti died trying to bury.”
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