Chapter 8 - THE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO FAMILIES|
Margaret Salazar was seventy-six years old and had no patience for powerful men.
When Luca entered her office the following morning, she didn't offer him coffee.
She pointed toward a chair.
"Sit down, Mr. Moretti."
Luca blinked.
I almost smiled.
Nobody spoke to Luca Moretti like that.
Margaret was a retired attorney who had spent forty years helping Chicago families protect their homes.
Her office was filled with photographs, law books, and handmade thank-you cards.
On the wall behind her desk hung a picture of Rosa Moretti.
"Your mother was one of the bravest women I ever represented," Margaret said.
Luca looked at the photograph.
"Then you knew what she was investigating?"
"Enough to understand why Victor Bellini was frightened of her."
Margaret opened a large archival folder.
Inside was the original recorded deed governing several properties around Hamilton Court.
The documents contained ownership restrictions and agreements Rosa had helped establish to protect residents.
Margaret explained that Victor's companies were attempting to claim rights they did not possess.
"His redevelopment plan depends on getting these protections removed or ignored," she said.
"Why?" I asked.
Margaret turned her computer toward us.
The screen displayed a proposed luxury development.
Expensive condominiums.
Private parking.
A rooftop swimming pool.
And a commercial plaza replacing the old apartment buildings.
Luca stared at the design.
"Where are the current residents supposed to go?"
Margaret's expression hardened.
"That's the question Victor never wanted anyone to ask."
She pointed toward a document.
"One hundred forty-two households could be displaced if his plan succeeds."
I felt sick.
One hundred forty-two families.
Children who walked to nearby schools.
Elderly couples who had lived in the same apartments for decades.
People working two jobs just to afford rent.
To Victor Bellini, they were obstacles between him and a profitable development.
To Rosa Moretti, they were neighbors.
Margaret opened a sealed letter Rosa had left with her firm.
"She anticipated someone might try to make these protections disappear."
Luca slowly accepted the letter.
This time, he read it without asking anyone to help.
When he finished, tears filled his eyes.
"My mother wanted the property placed under independent oversight if Victor ever tried to take it."
Margaret nodded.
"She also wanted the residents represented."
"Not just your family."
Luca stared at the documents.
Then he said, "Do whatever is necessary to protect them."
Margaret leaned forward.
"That might require exposing your family's earlier business dealings."
"I understand."
"Some of those dealings could implicate you personally."
Luca looked directly at her.
"Then I face that too."
I had never heard him say anything like that.
He sounded less like the man who owned half the room and more like the son Rosa had hoped he would become.
Then Margaret showed us something else.
A medical report.
It belonged to an elderly woman named Evelyn Torres.
Years earlier, Evelyn had been assessed by Dr. Adrian Vale and described as unable to manage important financial decisions.
That assessment had been used in an attempt to interfere with her property rights.
Evelyn had challenged the finding and recovered control of her affairs.
Margaret represented her with Evelyn's authorization to share the relevant documents.
"Rosa discovered similarities between Evelyn's case and several other attempted property transfers," Margaret explained.
"She believed Victor was using medical assessments to help separate elderly owners from valuable assets."
I stared at her.
"The second chart."
Margaret nodded.
"Rosa used that phrase for a second set of medical documentation Evelyn's family obtained."
"It contradicted the assessment Victor's associates had relied upon."
Now I understood.
The second chart hadn't originally referred to Rosa's death.
It was evidence that the same people had targeted vulnerable elderly property owners before.
And Rosa had discovered the pattern.
Margaret gave the documents to Grace Park for formal review and preservation.
Then she looked toward Luca.
"Your mother asked me to promise something."
"What?"
"That if her son ever learned the truth, I'd give him a chance to do the right thing."
Luca lowered his eyes.
"She believed I could change?"
Margaret smiled sadly.
"She never stopped believing it."
That afternoon, we visited Hamilton Court.
I'd passed the neighborhood many times, but I'd never looked closely at the buildings.
The brick facades were weathered.
Children played basketball in a small courtyard.
Flowerpots decorated balconies.
An elderly woman stood outside one entrance holding a grocery bag.
When Luca approached, she recognized him immediately.
"You're Frank Moretti's boy."
Luca nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm Helen Alvarez."
"Your mother used to bring groceries here every Thanksgiving."
Luca smiled faintly.
"I remember."
Helen's expression changed.
"Then why is some developer telling us we have sixty days to leave?"
She reached into her coat and produced a notice.
Luca read it.
Victor's development company claimed it had purchased the property and intended to begin renovations.
Margaret had already warned us that the claimed transfer was disputed.
But the residents didn't know that.
All they knew was that someone with money wanted their homes.
Luca looked at Helen.
"I'm going to fight this."
She studied him.
"Your father used to make promises too."
Luca didn't argue.
"Then you shouldn't trust me because of my last name."
"Judge me by what I do next."
Helen nodded slowly.
"That sounds like something your mother would have said."
On our way back to the car, my phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent me a photograph.
It showed me standing beside Luca outside Helen's building.
The picture had been taken only moments earlier.
Beneath it was a message.
You were hired to clean his house, Claire.
Not dig through his dead mother's secrets.
May you like
Then another message arrived.
Walk away before your name ends up on a hospital chart too.
