Chapter 10 - THE MAN THEY LEFT BESIDE THE CHICAGO RIVER|
Daniel Russo survived because a night-shift worker heard him calling for help.
The police found him injured near a loading entrance behind the industrial building where his car had been abandoned.
He was conscious long enough to identify Adrian Vale before paramedics took him to the hospital.
When Luca told me, I sank into a chair and cried.
Not because the danger was over.
It wasn't.
But someone had survived an attempt to silence him.
And I desperately needed to believe that the people telling the truth would live long enough to see justice.
Daniel suffered a concussion, broken ribs, and several deep cuts.
The doctors expected him to recover, though he would need time and careful monitoring.
Detective Ramirez arranged for his statement to be taken when he was medically able.
By then, the police had already begun looking for Adrian.
His office was empty.
His company phone was switched off.
And his assistant claimed he had canceled every appointment for the next several days.
For the first time since the nightmare began, someone with real power was running.
But I knew what frightened people sometimes did.
They searched for someone weaker to blame.
Later that morning, Maya explained what Daniel's emergency email appeared to show.
Adrian and Victor Hale had been negotiating over distressed property loans connected to parts of Luca's business empire.
If enough financial irregularities were exposed, lenders could demand repayment, suspend financing, or take other actions that would place valuable properties at risk.
Victor's companies were positioned to purchase some of that debt and profit from any resulting crisis.
The $2.4 million transfer was part of a much larger pattern of suspicious transactions intended to move money while creating evidence against an innocent employee.
My name had been selected as the apparent culprit.
And my mother's identity had been used to connect the stolen funds to me.
"Why me?" I whispered.
Maya's expression softened.
"Because they believed you couldn't defend yourself."
I shook my head.
"There are dozens of people working at the mansion."
"Yes."
"But you were desperate for your wages, caring for a sick parent, and dependent on your employer for housing and income."
I stared at the floor.
"They knew I wouldn't have money for a lawyer."
"They likely counted on that."
I covered my face.
I'd thought poverty meant worrying about rent, groceries, and hospital bills.
I'd never imagined it could make someone believe they had the right to steal my name.
That afternoon, Daniel was transferred to a private hospital room.
Luca and Naomi spoke with investigators before visiting him.
I remained with my mother until Maya told me Daniel had asked to see me.
I hesitated outside his door.
He looked so fragile beneath the blankets.
Purple bruises marked his face, and one arm rested in a sling.
When he saw me, his eyes filled with tears.
"Claire, I'm sorry."
I stepped closer.
"For what?"
"For approving payroll reports without recognizing the fraud."
I shook my head.
"You didn't know."
"I should have checked more carefully."
He swallowed painfully.
"When the payments started moving through unusual accounts, I accepted Adrian's explanations."
"Why?"
"Because he was the chief financial officer."
Daniel looked away.
"And because I believed someone with a title that important wouldn't risk everything for something so cruel."
I sat beside his bed.
"What happened that night?"
He took a breath.
"Someone sent me a message claiming to have the original ledger and asked me to meet near the river."
"Why did you go alone?"
"Because I thought the person was afraid to speak openly."
His voice trembled.
"I was wrong."
He described arriving at the industrial building and seeing Adrian waiting beside another vehicle.
Adrian demanded access to the files Daniel had already preserved.
When Daniel refused, two men approached.
He tried to escape but was attacked.
"Did they get the ledger?" I asked.
Daniel managed a weak smile.
"No."
"I'd already sent the important portion to my wife and prepared a copy for the investigators."
He looked at me.
"They kept asking where the original documents were."
"Did you tell them?"
"No."
His eyes darkened.
"Adrian said your mother should have died before anyone examined the hospital records."
The words struck me so hard I could barely breathe.
I stood abruptly, knocking my chair backward.
Daniel reached toward me.
"Claire, I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"Don't apologize."
I stared at the floor, fighting the urge to scream.
My mother had been thrown into freezing rain.
She'd been denied dignity, medicine, and shelter.
And the people responsible were angry that she'd survived to tell the truth.
I suddenly understood something important.
They weren't afraid of Luca Moretti's money.
They were afraid of what my mother remembered.
When I returned to her room, Mom was awake.
She smiled faintly when she saw me.
"Come here, sweetheart."
I sat beside her.
She brushed my hair away from my face as she'd done when I was a child.
"You're carrying too much," she whispered.
I tried to smile.
"I've got you."
She shook her head.
"You were never supposed to carry the whole world to keep me alive."
Then she reached into the drawer beside her bed and removed a small folded envelope.
"A nurse found this tucked inside my old discharge folder."
My heart quickened.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a copy of another financial authorization.
At the bottom was my mother's forged signature.
May you like
And above it, in bold letters, were the words I had been dreading.
"AUTHORIZATION TO TRANSFER ACCOUNT CONTROL TO CLAIRE BENNETT."
