Chapter 8 - The Price of Keeping Quiet|
Daniel Price looked as though he had aged ten years overnight.
When Luca and I entered his hospital room, his left arm was in a sling and a dark bruise covered one side of his forehead.
A police officer stood outside the door.
Daniel immediately recognized Luca.
"Mr. Moretti, I'm sorry."
Luca pulled a chair beside the bed.
"Save the apology for my mother."
"Right now, tell me what happened to your grandmother."
Daniel swallowed.
"She called me three days before the engagement."
"She said a lawyer had come to her apartment with documents involving Harbor House."
"What lawyer?"
"Gideon Vale."
I felt my stomach tighten.
Daniel continued.
"He told her the property transfer was already approved and that she only needed to sign a confirmation."
"She refused."
"Then he told her she'd be responsible for ruining an important business transaction."
Luca's expression darkened.
"Did he threaten her?"
"She said he reminded her how vulnerable elderly people could become when they lived alone."
Daniel looked toward the window.
"My grandmother is eighty-four, Mr. Moretti."
"She's not easily frightened."
"But that frightened her."
I sat forward.
"When did she disappear?"
"Two days before the party."
"She called and said she was going somewhere safe."
"She wouldn't tell me where."
"Did she call again?"
"No."
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
"Then someone began following me."
He explained that a dark sedan had followed him from the engagement party.
On the highway, it had swerved close enough to force him into a guardrail.
The police were investigating the collision.
I watched Luca carefully.
His reputation suggested he would respond by sending armed men across Chicago.
Instead, he took out his phone.
"I'm contacting the detective assigned to your case."
Daniel looked surprised.
"You're going to the police?"
"Yes."
Luca's answer was immediate.
"My mother deserves justice, not another secret."
Before leaving, he promised that Daniel would receive legal assistance if he chose to cooperate with investigators.
Daniel nodded.
Then he reached beneath his pillow.
"I kept something."
He handed Luca a small folded piece of paper.
It was a handwritten note from Eleanor.
If anything happens to me, ask Teresa about the promise Antonio made at Harbor House.
Luca read it twice.
He looked profoundly shaken.
"My father never told me about a promise."
I wondered whether the dead man had understood more about his family's future than his son realized.
We returned to the mansion that afternoon.
Luca went directly to Teresa's room while I walked toward the staff entrance.
Vanessa was waiting beside the garden fountain.
She wore a cream-colored coat and enormous sunglasses.
I stopped.
"I thought you had left."
She smiled.
"This is still my fiancé's home."
"That seems to be under discussion."
Her smile disappeared.
"You really believe you're clever, don't you?"
"I believe Teresa deserves to be treated with respect."
"Respect doesn't pay your bills."
She opened her handbag and removed an envelope.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"That's what I'm offering."
"You sign a statement explaining that you misunderstood what happened at the party."
"Then you leave Chicago."
I looked at the envelope.
For someone like me, that amount of money could change everything.
It could pay off my debts and help my sister keep the little house where she was raising my nephew.
Vanessa knew it.
She had clearly investigated me.
"You think I'm going to lie about Teresa for money?"
Vanessa shrugged.
"Everyone has a price."
"Not everyone."
She stepped closer.
"Then perhaps we should discuss your previous employment."
My stomach tightened.
"What about it?"
"The nursing home where you worked."
"The complaint against management."
"The accusations that you violated confidentiality."
I felt my face grow hot.
Two years earlier, I had reported serious neglect at a private nursing facility.
The management had retaliated by accusing me of mishandling internal records.
I eventually cleared my name through the proper review process, but the experience cost me my job.
I had never told anyone at the Moretti estate about it.
Vanessa smiled again.
"Imagine what people would think if they learned that a disgruntled former nursing-home employee had gained access to an elderly billionaire's private affairs."
"I'm not trying to gain access to anything."
"Then sign the statement."
She pressed the envelope toward me.
I stepped back.
"No."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You'll regret that."
"Maybe."
I thought about Teresa's frightened voice on the staircase.
"But I'll regret abandoning her more."
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, Vanessa called my name.
"Hannah, one more thing."
I stopped.
She held up her phone.
On the screen was a photograph of me standing outside the diner with Nora Sullivan.
Another showed Luca speaking to us.
"People are going to wonder why you arranged secret meetings with people who have access to the Moretti fortune."
I stared at her.
"You're planning to frame me."
Vanessa tilted her head.
"I'm planning to protect my future."
I continued toward the house.
My hands were trembling, but I refused to look back.
When I reached the hallway, Luca was waiting.
He studied my face.
"What happened?"
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of me standing beside Vanessa.
In the picture, I appeared to be accepting the envelope she had offered.
The message beneath it read:
Your mother's new favorite assistant has already agreed to sell you out.
Luca looked from the photograph to me.
May you like
"Tell me exactly what happened outside."
And for the first time since arriving at the Moretti estate, I understood how easily the truth could be made to look like a lie.
