Chapter 8 - The Woman in the Photograph
“Take your hand out of your coat,” Maggie said.
Marco looked at her.
“Call Vincent.”
“Not until I understand what's happening.”
Catherine laughed softly.
“That stubbornness may save you.”
Marco glared.
“Mrs. DeSantis shouldn't be here.”
“Why?”
“She’s dangerous.”
“So is everybody I know lately.”
Catherine slid the photograph toward Marco.
“You remember this?”
He didn't touch it.
“I remember.”
“Tell Maggie what happened after it was taken.”
Marco remained silent.
Catherine answered for him.
“Anthony discovered Vincent’s father was laundering money through legitimate Moretti companies. He planned to expose him.”
Maggie looked at Marco.
“And?”
“Anthony needed help,” Marco said.
“So Luca helped him escape?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Vincent believe Luca killed him?”
“Because someone planted Anthony’s blood in Luca’s car.”
Maggie felt sick.
“Who?”
Marco looked at Catherine.
“Her husband.”
Catherine's face hardened.
“My husband was following orders.”
“From Vincent’s father.”
“Yes.”
The pieces shifted.
“Where is Anthony?”
Neither answered.
Maggie slammed her palm down.
“Enough.”
Marco blinked.
“Everybody in this ridiculous war knows half the truth and protects the other half until somebody gets kidnapped. Where is Anthony?”
Catherine finally spoke.
“I don't know.”
Maggie laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“But Luca does.”
The door rattled.
Vincent.
“Maggie?”
Marco unlocked it.
Vincent entered, saw Catherine, and went rigid.
“You.”
“Hello, Vincent.”
“What are you doing near her?”
“Saving you twenty years too late.”
Catherine told him everything.
Vincent listened without interruption.
When she finished, he asked Marco one question.
“Did you know?”
Marco looked down.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed something.
Vincent’s oldest friend had known Anthony might be alive.
“You let me hate Luca.”
“I was protecting Anthony.”
“From me?”
“From your father’s remaining people.”
“My father has been dead twenty years.”
“His people aren't.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
Vincent stepped closer.
“Who?”
Marco whispered, “Elias.”
Vincent’s adviser.
His father’s former attorney.
The man who controlled every legal structure in the Moretti empire.
Maggie remembered the velvet box.
Three people had access.
Marco.
Elena.
Elias.
“Elias planted the note,” she said.
Marco nodded.
“He wants Vincent looking for Anthony.”
“Why?”
“Because Anthony has something.”
“What?”
Marco looked at Vincent.
“The ledger.”
A handwritten record kept by Vincent’s father.
Bribes.
Judges.
Police.
Businesses.
Murders.
Enough evidence to destroy everything.
Vincent’s phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Anthony.
Alive.
Today’s newspaper in his hands.
Behind him stood Elias.
Text followed.
BRING MAGGIE TO PIER 19.
COME ALONE.
Vincent’s face went white.
Then another message arrived.
A live photograph.
Sullivan’s Flowers.
May you like
Taken from across the street.
A red laser dot appeared against Maggie’s chest.
