Chapter 13 - THE LAST DOOR|
By the time I reached the mansion, Luca had already contacted Detective Ellis.
Investigators were tracing the vehicle that had taken Frank away.
Every minute felt unbearable.
Frank was eighty-two years old.
He'd barely recovered from the ordeal in the basement.
And now he was somewhere with a man suspected of helping conceal his wife's death.
Luca paced across the library.
Rex followed him, whining softly.
Then the dog suddenly stopped beside the front door.
He lifted his head and barked.
"Rex, not now," Luca whispered.
But Rex wouldn't settle.
He pressed against the door and looked back at us.
The sight made my stomach tighten.
The last time he'd behaved this way, Frank had been trapped downstairs.
I knelt beside him.
"You're worried about him too, aren't you?"
Rex gave a low whimper.
Luca's phone rang.
Detective Ellis had received a location from the vehicle investigation.
A construction site on the edge of the proposed Hamilton Court redevelopment area.
It belonged to a company linked to Victor Bellini.
Police units were already moving toward it.
Luca grabbed his coat.
"I'm going."
Ellis's voice became firm.
"Do not enter the site."
"If Victor's holding your father, he may be trying to provoke you."
Luca looked at me.
I could see the fear in his eyes.
This wasn't the ruthless man who had once commanded Chicago's criminal underworld.
This was a frightened son.
"Then tell me where to wait," he answered.
Ellis gave him a safe meeting location outside the secured area.
I went with him.
We brought Rex because the dog had become distressed when Luca tried to leave without him.
When we arrived, police vehicles were positioned along the surrounding streets.
An unfinished tower rose above the abandoned construction lot.
Its dark windows reflected the gray afternoon sky.
Inside that building, Frank was waiting.
Detective Ellis approached us.
"We believe Vale brought your father here."
"We're working to establish exactly where he is."
Luca stared at the tower.
"Victor's inside?"
"We have reason to believe so."
Then her radio crackled.
A patrol officer had heard shouting near a rear service entrance.
Ellis hurried toward her team.
We remained beside the police vehicles.
But Rex suddenly began barking.
His ears lifted.
Then he strained toward the building.
I looked at Luca.
"He's heard something."
Luca crouched beside him.
"Easy, buddy."
Then, faintly, we heard it too.
A voice.
Coming from somewhere beyond the unfinished concrete walls.
"Help!"
My heart stopped.
Frank.
Luca shouted toward Detective Ellis.
"THAT'S MY FATHER!"
Officers immediately moved toward the service entrance.
Rex pulled against his leash, barking furiously.
For a terrifying moment, the sound reminded me of the basement.
The same desperation.
The same refusal to leave.
The same terrible feeling that somebody was running out of time.
Then a sharp crash echoed through the building.
An officer opened the service door while other members of the police team moved into position.
Beyond it was a concrete stairwell.
Frank's voice came again.
"Luca!"
Luca stepped forward instinctively.
An officer stopped him.
"Stay back, sir."
I caught Luca's sleeve.
"Let them reach him."
His face twisted with anguish.
"They're hurting him."
"I know."
"But he needs you alive."
Inside, officers called for Frank to identify his location.
His weak voice answered from an upper floor.
Then another man began shouting.
"Nobody comes upstairs!"
Victor Bellini.
Even from outside, I recognized the arrogant confidence in his voice.
But it sounded different now.
Frantic.
Cornered.
Police negotiators attempted to establish communication.
Minutes passed.
Then we heard Victor screaming at Frank.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED THREE YEARS AGO!"
Frank's answer came faintly.
"Rosa was right about you."
Victor laughed.
"Your wife destroyed everything."
"She thought she could take my empire."
Frank's voice grew stronger.
"No."
"She wanted you to stop stealing from people."
A long silence followed.
Then Victor shouted something that made every person outside the building freeze.
"I PAID ADRIAN TO MAKE SURE SHE NEVER LEFT THAT HOSPITAL!"
Luca staggered backward.
I grabbed his arm.
His expression was indescribable.
For three years, he'd buried his mother believing her death had been unavoidable.
Now the man responsible was boasting about it.
Detective Ellis heard the statement through the police team's communications.
She continued directing her officers.
Moments later, Dr. Vale attempted to flee through a service exit.
Officers intercepted him.
A second man inside the tower tried to force his way past the police.
In the confusion, a metal barrier crashed against the pavement.
Rex lunged forward, barking.
His leash slipped from Luca's hand.
"REX!"
The German Shepherd sprinted toward the open service entrance.
An officer attempted to intercept him.
But Rex slipped past and bounded into the ground-floor corridor.
I screamed his name.
Seconds later, we heard furious barking.
Then Frank's voice.
"REX!"
The dog had reached the stairwell beneath the floor where Frank was being held.
His barking drew attention toward the old man's location.
Officers moved in.
A short struggle followed.
Then the radio crackled.
"Suspect secured."
"Victim located."
I stopped breathing.
Another voice answered.
"Frank Moretti is alive."
Luca collapsed against the side of the police vehicle.
I caught him as his knees buckled.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he covered his face and began sobbing.
We waited while officers cleared the building.
Finally, Frank appeared.
He was exhausted.
His cardigan was torn.
But he was walking with assistance.
And beside him trotted Rex.
The enormous German Shepherd looked immensely pleased with himself.
"Buddy!"
Luca hurried forward.
Frank opened his arms.
His son embraced him so tightly that the old man laughed through his tears.
"Careful, Luca."
"These bones are older than yours."
Luca held him at arm's length.
"Never do that again."
Frank nodded.
"I won't."
Then he looked at me.
"I'm sorry, Claire."
I hugged him.
"Next time, call the police before meeting the man who tried to destroy your family."
Frank gave a tired smile.
"That sounds like excellent advice."
Victor Bellini was led from the building in handcuffs.
His expensive suit was dusty.
His face was pale.
When he saw Luca, he stopped.
"You think this is over?"
Luca looked at him.
For one terrifying moment, I thought the old Luca Moretti might return.
The man who solved problems with fear.
The man Victor had helped create.
But Luca did something else.
He looked at Detective Ellis.
"Make sure the evidence is preserved."
Then he turned away.
Victor stared after him.
For the first time in his life, he had lost the power to control Luca's reaction.
Later, investigators learned that Frank had managed to start a recording on his phone before Victor confronted him.
The device captured portions of the encounter, including Victor's statement about Dr. Vale.
Together with Vanessa's recording, Nora's testimony, the financial records, and the hospital audit trail, it strengthened the case.
But the most heartbreaking discovery came after Frank was safely home.
Detective Ellis had recovered another recording from Vanessa's belongings.
It was a short voice message Rosa had recorded for her son while she was in the hospital.
Luca listened to it in the greenhouse.
And this time, I stayed beside him.
Rosa's voice filled the room.
"My darling Luca."
"I know you're angry with me."
"But a mother never stops loving her son because he makes mistakes."
"I only want you to become the man I know you can be."
A soft breath followed.
Then her final words.
"Whatever happens, choose kindness before power."
Luca bent forward and cried.
May you like
And I realized that although Victor had taken Rosa's life, he had not managed to destroy the thing she believed in most.
Her son's capacity to change.
