Chapter 4 - Vault 47-B
Luca moved Emma behind him.
His security chief drew his weapon.
“Come out.”
No response.
The breathing stopped.
Luca glanced at the chief.
The man entered first.
Two seconds.
Three.
Then:
“Clear.”
Emma stepped around Luca.
A chair stood in the center of 47-B.
Someone had been sitting there.
A cup of coffee rested on the floor.
Still warm.
On the chair was a black folder.
Emma approached.
Luca caught her hand.
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“A trap.”
Emma looked around the small concrete vault.
“If someone wanted to shoot us, they’ve had plenty of opportunities tonight.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m handing them another.”
He checked the folder himself.
Nothing.
Then handed it to her.
Inside were financial records.
Dozens of pages.
The first page listed offshore accounts.
The second contained company names.
The third contained dates.
Emma knew none of them.
Then she reached page six.
RACHEL PARKER — DISBURSEMENT AUTHORIZATION.
Her hands shook.
“Disbursement?”
Gabriel looked over her shoulder.
“Keep reading.”
A payment had been made three days before Rachel’s death.
Recipient: VICTOR HALE.
Amount: $75,000.
Purpose: Transportation Adjustment.
Luca swore.
“What does that mean?”
Antonio answered.
“Victor Hale arranged car accidents.”
Emma felt the floor disappear.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
Emma looked at the signature authorizing payment.
SALVATORE MORETTI.
There it was.
Not suspicion.
Not memory.
Not an old letter.
A signature.
She touched the page with one finger.
Luca wrapped an arm around her waist.
Emma did not cry.
She wanted to.
But anger had become stronger than grief.
“There’s more,” she said.
She turned pages.
Daniel Russo.
Payment made five months earlier.
Different recipient.
Same authorization.
Emma closed her eyes.
“Both of them.”
Antonio nodded.
“Both.”
She looked at Isabella.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you suspect?”
“Yes.”
Emma appreciated the distinction.
At least somebody was finally telling the truth.
Luca took the folder.
“This is enough.”
Antonio shook his head.
“For what?”
“To end this.”
“Legally? Maybe. Depending on whether the records can be authenticated.”
“They came from our vault.”
“And Salvatore will argue they were fabricated.”
Luca stared at him.
“You sound very familiar with disappearing evidence.”
Antonio accepted the accusation.
“I had fourteen years to learn.”
Emma opened the folder again.
“Where are the originals?”
Gabriel pointed to a handwritten notation in the margin.
R.P. MASTER COPY — 117.
Emma frowned.
“What is 117?”
Antonio shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Isabella stared at the notation.
“I do.”
Everyone looked at her.
She swallowed.
“Rachel and I had a restaurant.”
Emma blinked.
“You owned a restaurant together?”
“For eleven months.”
“What happened?”
“It closed after Daniel died.”
“What was the address?”
Isabella whispered:
“117 Mercer Street.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“That’s where Rachel took the first photograph.”
Emma clutched the folder.
“Then we go there.”
Luca immediately said, “Not tonight.”
She turned.
“What?”
“If someone knew we were coming here, they may know about Mercer.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly why you are not walking into another unknown building at one in the morning.”
“You don’t get to decide.”
“Emma.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
She stepped close enough that only he could hear.
“You stood in front of your entire family and told them you don’t hide the woman you love.”
“I meant it.”
“Then don’t turn around and treat her like she needs permission.”
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
He exhaled.
“You’re right.”
Emma blinked.
She had expected resistance.
Luca rubbed the back of his neck.
“I’m still coming with you.”
“I assumed that.”
“And security.”
“Fine.”
“And we check the building before you enter.”
“Fine.”
His mouth twitched.
“You’re terrible at being protected.”
“You’re terrible at not being controlling.”
“Also true.”
For half a second, despite murder records and impossible family secrets, Emma almost smiled.
Then the bank manager rushed into the vault.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
“We found something on the security feed.”
“I thought the cameras were disabled.”
“They were. But one elevator camera rebooted.”
He held out a tablet.
Video showed a man in a hood leaving the vault level.
His face was hidden.
But as he stepped into the elevator, the sleeve of his jacket pulled back.
A tattoo appeared on his wrist.
Gabriel cursed.
Antonio stared.
Luca looked at them.
“Who is he?”
Gabriel answered.
“Salvatore’s son.”
Emma frowned.
“Marco?”
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Luca stared at Gabriel.
“What do you mean, Salvatore’s son?”
Gabriel rubbed his face.
“He had another one.”
Isabella whispered, “Gabriel.”
“No more secrets.”
“Who?” Luca demanded.
Gabriel looked at the screen.
“Nico.”
Antonio closed his eyes.
Emma’s mind raced.
“Where is he?”
“Supposedly dead.”
Luca gave a humorless laugh.
“Apparently that means very little in this family.”
They left for Mercer Street.
The old restaurant had been abandoned for years.
The sign was gone.
The windows were covered.
Luca’s security team entered first.
Empty.
Emma stepped inside.
Dust covered everything.
A long wooden bar remained against one wall.
Old booths.
A broken jukebox.
Isabella stood near the doorway.
“This used to be beautiful.”
Emma looked at her.
“You and my mom worked here?”
“Every day.”
“What did she do?”
“Everything.”
Isabella smiled faintly.
“She yelled at suppliers. Burned bread. Sang terribly after closing.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
Nobody had told her stories like that.
David had loved Rachel, but he rarely spoke about the years before Emma was born.
Maybe he had been protecting her.
Maybe he had been protecting himself.
Isabella walked toward the bar.
“She carved your name somewhere.”
“My name?”
“You were a baby.”
They searched.
Emma found it beneath the bar top.
E.P.
A tiny heart.
She ran her fingers over it.
Then Luca called from the back room.
“Emma.”
She followed.
Behind a rusted refrigerator was a narrow door.
117 was painted across it.
Gabriel tried the handle.
Locked.
Emma took the brass key from her locket.
It fit.
The door opened to a small office.
Inside was a desk.
A filing cabinet.
And a tape recorder.
Emma stared.
There was one cassette inside.
A label:
FOR EMMA.
She sat down.
Luca stood beside her.
“Ready?”
“No.”
He waited.
Emma pressed PLAY anyway.
Static.
Then her mother’s voice.
Older than Emma remembered.
Softer.
“Emma, if you ever hear this, I need you to know that David Parker is your father in every way that matters.”
Emma covered her mouth.
Rachel continued.
“Daniel gave you life. David gave you a home. Never let anyone take that truth from you.”
Emma began crying.
Silently.
Luca knelt beside her.
The tape continued.
“Salvatore knows we have evidence. Daniel is already dead. Isabella wants me to leave New York, but I can’t until I make sure everything is protected.”
A pause.
Then Rachel’s voice changed.
“If something happens to me, the master records are not here.”
Emma stiffened.
“They are with someone Salvatore will never suspect.”
Static crackled.
“If Luca Moretti is old enough when this reaches you, tell him to ask his father about the red ledger.”
Antonio went pale.
Luca looked at him.
“What red ledger?”
Antonio whispered, “I destroyed it.”
Rachel’s recorded voice continued.
“No, Antonio. You didn’t.”
Antonio stared at the recorder.
The tape clicked.
Then Rachel said one final sentence.
“I gave it to your son.”
Luca froze.
Emma looked at him.
“What?”
Luca shook his head.
“I was nine when Rachel died.”
Antonio slowly reached into his coat.
“No.”
He stared at Luca with dawning horror.
“It wasn’t you.”
“Then who?”
Antonio’s eyes moved toward Luca’s younger brother.
“Marco.”
At that exact moment, Luca’s phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief at the mansion was shouting.
“Mr. Moretti, Marco is gone.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“What about Salvatore?”
A pause.
May you like
Then the answer came.
“He’s gone too.”
