Chapter 7 - THE SECRET LUCA HAD NEVER CONFESSED|
Luca took my phone and immediately called Peter Kline's number.
No one answered.
He tried again.
This time, the call went directly to voicemail.
Detective Serrano was notified, and an effort to locate Kline began.
But by evening, the notary's office was closed, his apartment was empty, and nobody knew where he had gone.
I couldn't stop thinking about his frightened voice.
Someone had discovered that he was willing to expose the fraudulent documents.
And now he had vanished.
We returned to Evelyn Hart's office, where Rafael reported another disturbing discovery.
Caleb Dunn, the security escort assigned to Frank, had disappeared from his apartment that afternoon.
His company phone had been switched off.
His access credentials had been used to enter the Moretti mansion's east wing repeatedly over the previous three weeks.
"He's working for Voss," Luca said.
Rafael nodded.
"It looks that way."
Frank sat beside the window, staring at the Chicago skyline.
For most of the evening, he had refused to speak.
I brought him a cup of tea.
"Mr. Moretti?"
He looked at me.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
"Is something troubling you?"
He gave a sad smile.
"Everything is troubling me, Claire."
I pulled a chair beside him.
He glanced toward his son.
"Five years ago, I told Luca that Elias Voss was going to betray him."
Luca turned.
"Dad, not now."
Frank ignored him.
"I knew Elias was moving money through companies we couldn't properly identify."
"I knew he had threatened people who questioned him."
"And I knew Luca was beginning to trust him more than he trusted his own father."
Luca's face tightened.
"We were business partners."
"You were never partners, son."
"You were the name he wanted to use."
The room became silent.
Frank continued.
"Elena tried to stop the relationship before she died."
"After she was gone, I tried again."
"But Luca wouldn't listen."
Luca crossed toward the window.
"Voss brought us contracts worth millions."
"And Daniel Price paid for them with his life," Frank replied.
I looked at Luca.
His expression had changed completely.
For the first time, I saw something beneath his anger.
Shame.
He sat down across from his father.
"Daniel warned me about the route that night."
Frank closed his eyes.
Luca continued.
"He said someone had been asking questions about our security arrangements."
"He wanted to change the meeting location."
"I told him he was being paranoid."
His voice broke.
"He died because I thought being cautious made me look weak."
Nobody spoke.
Even Rafael lowered his eyes.
Luca looked at his father.
"I've spent five years blaming Voss for what happened."
"And I should."
"But I've never admitted how much my own arrogance contributed."
Frank leaned forward.
"Then don't waste another five years hiding from that truth."
I watched Luca reach for his father's hand.
It was a small gesture.
But in that moment, the years of distance between them seemed more painful than all the money they had lost.
Later, while Evelyn reviewed the legal documents, I found Luca standing alone in the hallway.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
He gave a humorless laugh.
"I'm the man everyone in this city is supposed to fear."
"And I couldn't even protect my own father from my wife."
"Vanessa worked very hard to make you doubt him."
"I let her."
His answer surprised me.
He looked at me directly.
"When my father told me that she had been speaking to him cruelly, I told him he was misunderstanding her."
I thought about the afternoon Frank had asked me to find the green book.
I remembered the way he had flinched when Vanessa entered.
"He needed someone to believe him," I said.
Luca nodded.
"And you did."
"I knew him."
Luca looked toward the office where his father sat.
"I should have known him better."
Before I could answer, Evelyn called us back inside.
She had obtained the original transaction records for the Lake Geneva property.
One signature appeared to have been copied from an unrelated document created years earlier.
The date of Luca's supposed approval also contradicted verified travel records.
But Evelyn had discovered something more significant.
The fraudulent document package contained the identification details of an additional witness.
Someone who supposedly saw Frank approve one of the transfers.
She turned her laptop toward us.
I stared at the name.
Claire Bennett.
My own name.
The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
"I never witnessed any signing," I whispered.
Evelyn looked at me carefully.
"Claire, have you ever given Vanessa a copy of your identification?"
I thought back.
Then I remembered.
Two months earlier, Vanessa had ordered every household employee to submit updated identification documents for what she called a routine payroll review.
I had handed her a photocopy of my driver's license.
Luca's expression became murderous.
"She used Claire's identity too."
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent a photograph.
It showed Peter Kline sitting in a dark room with his hands bound.
May you like
Beneath it was a message.
Give us the green book, or the notary disappears forever.
