Chapter 9 - THE FATHER WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD|
Daniel didn't move for several seconds.
He simply stared at the elderly man standing in Giovanni Moretti's office.
His father.
The man whose funeral he remembered.
The man whose grave he had visited every Christmas.
The man who had apparently chosen to remain dead rather than return to his family.
"Thirty-four years," Daniel whispered.
Peter lowered his head.
"I know."
Daniel laughed once.
The sound was broken.
"You know?"
Peter took a step forward.
"Son—"
"Don't call me that."
Peter stopped.
Daniel's eyes filled.
"My mother cried herself to sleep for years."
"I know."
"She worked two jobs because she thought you were gone."
Peter covered his face.
"I know."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Then where were you?"
Nobody spoke.
The rain struck the theater windows.
Somewhere beyond the office, an old sign creaked in the wind.
Peter finally lowered his hands.
"I was hiding."
Daniel stared at him.
"From Salvatore?"
"From what I'd done."
Luca stood beside the desk.
"Tell us."
Peter looked toward him.
"You resemble Anthony."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"That's what everyone keeps saying."
Peter nodded.
"It's true."
"Then tell me where he is."
Peter's eyes filled.
"I can't."
Luca stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know."
Daniel shook his head.
"You're lying."
Peter looked hurt.
"I've lied about many things."
He swallowed.
"But not that."
Luca folded his arms.
"Then start with the truth."
Peter looked toward the notebook.
"Anthony discovered Salvatore's financial operation when he was twenty-seven."
"He tried to warn Giovanni."
"Giovanni believed him."
Peter paused.
"I was responsible for protecting the records."
Daniel's face hardened.
"And you sold them."
Peter nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Money."
The answer was so simple that it felt obscene.
Peter looked at his son.
"I had debts."
"Then you should have asked for help."
"I was ashamed."
Daniel stared at him.
"So you betrayed your friends?"
Peter began crying.
"I thought Salvatore only wanted the documents."
Luca's voice sharpened.
"What happened?"
"Salvatore ordered Anthony brought to an abandoned warehouse."
"Did you take him there?"
Peter nodded.
Daniel looked sick.
Peter continued.
"Anthony thought we were meeting an investigator."
Luca's fists tightened.
"What did Salvatore do?"
"He demanded the original records."
"Did Anthony give them to him?"
"No."
Peter stared at the floor.
"Anthony refused."
Luca waited.
"Then?"
"Salvatore's men attacked him."
Daniel turned away.
Peter's voice broke.
"I tried to stop them."
Luca looked at him coldly.
"After you delivered him."
Peter nodded.
"Yes."
He wiped his eyes.
"I know what that makes me."
The office remained silent.
Peter continued.
"Anthony was badly injured, but he was still alive when Salvatore left."
Luca leaned forward.
"What happened next?"
"I called Giovanni."
Luca frowned.
"Giovanni came?"
Peter nodded.
"He and I got Anthony out."
"Where?"
"To a private clinic."
"Did he survive?"
"Yes."
Luca stopped breathing.
Peter looked up.
"He survived."
Daniel stared at his father.
"Then why did everyone believe he died?"
"Because Salvatore's people were still looking for him."
Peter swallowed.
"Giovanni arranged new documents."
Luca's voice became quiet.
"Where did Anthony go?"
"At first, to Canada."
"And after that?"
Peter shook his head.
"I don't know."
Luca studied him.
"You expect me to believe Giovanni helped my father escape and never told my mother?"
Peter hesitated.
"Giovanni believed Eleanor would be safer if she knew nothing."
Luca looked away.
Another lie told in the name of protection.
Another life damaged by people deciding what someone else could bear.
Daniel spoke suddenly.
"And what happened to you?"
Peter's eyes filled.
"Salvatore discovered I'd helped Anthony escape."
"Did he threaten you?"
"He threatened your mother."
Daniel went still.
Peter continued.
"He said he'd kill her unless I disappeared."
"So you staged your death."
Peter nodded.
"The warehouse fire gave us an opportunity."
Daniel stared at him.
"You let us bury an empty coffin."
Peter began sobbing.
"I thought it was temporary."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Thirty-four years?"
"I wanted to come back."
"Then why didn't you?"
Peter couldn't answer.
That silence hurt Daniel more than anything else.
Luca looked toward the metal box.
"Where are the original financial records?"
Peter nodded at the notebook.
"Giovanni kept the copies Anthony left with him."
"Are they enough?"
"If the supporting bank records are authentic, possibly."
Luca opened the notebook.
Pages of handwritten entries filled it.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Company accounts.
Some were decades old.
Others were more recent.
"Why are there entries from five years ago?"
Peter looked surprised.
"Giovanni continued investigating."
Luca turned the pages.
"He was dying."
"Yes."
"And he was still investigating Salvatore?"
Peter nodded.
"He wanted to make things right."
Luca stared at the handwriting.
For years, he had believed Giovanni spent his final months arranging the family's business affairs.
Now he discovered that his father had been trying to repair a betrayal nearly four decades old.
Peter pointed toward a series of entries.
"Those are transfers through shell companies."
Luca frowned.
"Bellini Maritime."
"Yes."
"That's still operating."
Peter nodded.
"And Salvatore is still stealing."
Daniel looked up.
"From whom?"
"Employees."
Peter's expression darkened.
"Retirees."
"Families who believe their pensions are secure."
Luca closed the notebook.
"We're taking this to federal investigators."
Peter looked frightened.
"Salvatore has people everywhere."
"Then we'll go through an independent attorney and make sure multiple investigators receive copies."
Daniel nodded.
"I can arrange that."
Peter shook his head.
"You don't understand what he'll do."
Luca stared at him.
"I understand exactly what he's already done."
His phone suddenly rang.
Olivia.
He answered immediately.
"Olivia?"
I could hear the tension in his voice.
"Mr. Moretti, you need to come back."
He straightened.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Mrs. Carter."
His face changed.
"Is she hurt?"
"No."
I swallowed.
"But someone sent a package."
"What package?"
"A small cardboard box."
"From whom?"
"There's no return address."
Luca looked toward Daniel.
"Don't open it."
I hesitated.
"It's already open."
His voice sharpened.
"Olivia, what was inside?"
I stared at the object lying on the kitchen table.
"A photograph."
"Of what?"
"Mrs. Carter."
"Taken when?"
"About twenty minutes ago."
Luca went completely still.
I continued.
"She's standing in the garden."
His jaw tightened.
"Who took it?"
"I don't know."
Then I looked at the message written across the photograph.
My hands began trembling.
"There's something written on the back."
Luca closed his eyes.
"Read it."
I swallowed.
Then whispered:
"YOU SAVED HIS MOTHER ONCE."
"YOU WON'T SAVE HER TWICE."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Luca asked:
"Is Margaret with you?"
"Yes."
"Bring her inside and stay away from every window."
I nodded.
"Okay."
But before he could say anything else, Mrs. Carter called my name.
I turned.
She was standing in the kitchen doorway.
Her face had gone completely pale.
"Olivia."
I hurried toward her.
"What's wrong?"
She pointed toward the photograph.
"That isn't from today."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She stepped closer.
Her hands began shaking.
"Look at the dress."
I looked down.
Mrs. Carter was wearing a navy cardigan in the photograph.
But the picture showed her in a pale yellow dress.
A younger face.
Darker hair.
A little boy holding her hand.
Luca.
Mrs. Carter began crying.
"That picture was taken thirty years ago."
My stomach tightened.
"Then why did they send it?"
She turned it over.
Beneath the threatening message was a second line.
Written in smaller letters.
Mrs. Carter read it.
Then covered her mouth.
I leaned closer.
The words were almost invisible.
But I could make them out.
Ask Margaret what happened to Anthony's last letter.
Mrs. Carter sank into a chair.
And whispered:
"Oh, God."
I stared at her.
"What letter?"
May you like
She began crying.
"The one I promised Giovanni I would never show Luca."
