Chapter 11 - THE WIFE WHO MARRIED A LIE|
"What Rosa took from your family?"
I repeated Vanessa's words, struggling to keep my voice steady.
On the other end of the phone, she gave a bitter laugh.
"Do you know what it feels like to grow up being told that everything your family worked for was stolen by someone else?"
I stared at the dark windows of the mansion.
"Are you seriously blaming Rosa for what Victor did?"
"You don't understand anything."
"Then explain it."
Vanessa went silent.
For several seconds, I could hear traffic behind her.
Then she spoke.
"My uncle spent twenty years building his development company."
"Rosa found documents that could destroy everything."
"She had no right to interfere."
I felt anger rising in my chest.
"She was protecting people's homes."
"She was protecting her husband's interests."
"No," I said firmly.
"She was protecting people your uncle wanted to push out."
Vanessa's voice became sharp.
"You're a maid, Claire."
"Stop pretending you understand this world."
For three years, I'd heard variations of that insult.
Vanessa believed a person's worth could be measured by the money they possessed.
Rosa had apparently believed the opposite.
And somewhere along the way, I had stopped being frightened of women like Vanessa.
"You're right about one thing," I answered.
"I don't understand a world where someone locks an eighty-two-year-old man in a basement for refusing to sign away his property."
Vanessa inhaled sharply.
Then she whispered, "I can give you two million dollars."
I froze.
"What?"
"Two million."
"Enough to leave Chicago."
"Enough to buy yourself a beautiful house."
"Enough to forget the Morettis ever existed."
I stared at the phone.
"And what do you want?"
"The storage drive Rosa hid."
My stomach tightened.
She knew about the greenhouse.
Someone was still watching us.
I kept my voice calm.
"I don't have it."
"Then get it."
"Why?"
"Because there are things on that drive that can destroy people who have nothing to do with Rosa's death."
I thought about Luca.
About Frank.
About the frightened families at Hamilton Court.
"Like who?"
Vanessa laughed without humor.
"Your precious Luca, for one."
Then she disconnected.
I immediately called Detective Ellis.
Within an hour, investigators had preserved the call details and discussed how to handle further contact.
Vanessa's offer gave them another reason to believe she was trying to recover or suppress evidence.
The next afternoon, she called again.
This time, Ellis and the investigators were prepared.
Vanessa agreed to meet me at a quiet restaurant in downtown Chicago.
I wouldn't be alone.
Police would monitor the encounter, and detectives would decide whether and when to intervene.
Luca hated the idea.
"She threatened you."
"I know."
"She could have someone waiting."
"That's why Detective Ellis is arranging security."
He looked at me helplessly.
"Claire, you don't owe my family this."
I thought about Frank lying on the basement floor.
About Nora trembling in her apartment.
About Rosa's letter.
"I'm not doing this because I owe you."
"I'm doing it because I'm tired of watching people with power hurt everyone who can't fight back."
Luca lowered his head.
Then he said quietly, "You remind me of my mother."
I didn't know what to say.
So I touched his arm and walked away.
Vanessa arrived twenty minutes late.
She wore an expensive black coat and enormous sunglasses.
But beneath the polished appearance, she looked exhausted.
Her hands trembled slightly as she sat across from me.
"Where's the drive?"
"Somewhere safe."
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
"I told you what I'd pay."
"I don't want your money."
"Then what do you want?"
"The truth."
She stared at me.
Then she laughed.
"You sound just like Rosa."
I leaned forward.
"Did you help kill her?"
Vanessa looked away.
For the first time since I'd known her, she seemed unable to find an immediate answer.
Finally, she whispered, "I didn't give her the medication."
My entire body went cold.
"What medication?"
"Adrian handled the medical decisions."
"Victor told me to deliver the paperwork and make sure Rosa couldn't contact Luca."
I stared at her.
"You knew something was going to happen?"
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
"I knew Victor wanted her silenced."
"Did you try to stop him?"
She said nothing.
I swallowed.
"Did you?"
"No."
The word was barely audible.
Vanessa began crying.
"I told myself it wasn't my responsibility."
"I told myself Adrian was a doctor and wouldn't let anything terrible happen."
"But you knew Rosa was frightened."
She nodded.
"And when she died, you helped cover it up."
Another nod.
I felt no satisfaction.
The woman across from me had everything money could buy.
And she had destroyed lives because she was unwilling to lose any of it.
"Why marry Luca?" I asked.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"Victor wanted someone close to the family."
"Someone who could persuade Luca and Frank to cooperate."
"He thought marriage would make them trust me."
"Did you ever love him?"
Vanessa looked toward the window.
"I wanted to."
The answer hurt more than I expected.
Then she opened her handbag and placed a small envelope on the table.
"There's a recording on this."
"Victor doesn't know I kept it."
I stared at the envelope.
"What's on it?"
"A conversation between Victor and Adrian before Rosa died."
"Why keep something like that?"
Vanessa gave a broken laugh.
"Because I knew someday my uncle might decide I was a problem too."
Before I could answer, Detective Ellis approached our table.
"Vanessa Bellini-Moretti."
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Ellis continued.
"You're under arrest in connection with the unlawful confinement of Frank Moretti and related offenses."
Vanessa didn't resist.
As detectives escorted her away, she looked back at me.
"Claire."
I stood.
"What?"
"Tell Luca I never meant for Frank to die."
I stared at her.
"But you left him there."
She lowered her head.
And for once, Vanessa had nothing to say.
That evening, Detective Ellis reviewed the recording with investigators.
Its authenticity would require further examination, but the voices appeared consistent with Victor Bellini and Dr. Vale.
They discussed Rosa's refusal to sign documents, her intention to contact authorities, and the need to stop her.
But the recording contained another voice.
One Luca recognized immediately.
His own.
It was a recording of a telephone argument with Rosa earlier that day.
And when Luca heard himself shouting at his mother, his face crumpled.
"If you keep interfering in my business, Mom, don't expect me to protect you!"
The recording ended.
Luca stared at the speaker.
May you like
Then he whispered something I would never forget.
"Those were the last angry words I ever said to her."
