Chapter 3 - The Woman at the Airport
Claire stared at the photograph until the screen blurred.
Dante.
Six years younger.
Black coat.
Airport terminal.
A beautiful woman beside him.
Their hands linked.
A diamond ring unmistakable on her finger.
The timestamp was three days after Dante vanished from Claire's apartment.
All the old pain returned instantly.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
“You okay?”
Dante's voice came from behind her.
Claire locked the phone.
“Fine.”
“You've never been convincing when you say that.”
“You've had six years to forget what I sound like.”
His expression tightened.
Luca looked between them.
“Are you fighting?”
Claire softened immediately.
“No.”
Dante said, “Your mom is reminding me that I make terrible decisions.”
Luca nodded seriously.
“She does that to me too.”
Dante almost smiled.
Claire hated how natural they looked.
The message waited inside her pocket.
Hospital chapel.
Alone.
She should tell Dante.
Instead she looked at the photograph again.
Every instinct she had developed around Dante told her secrets were dangerous.
Every wound he had given her told her trusting him was worse.
“Marco,” she said. “Can you stay with Luca?”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“Where are you going?”
“Supply room.”
“Claire.”
“I work here.”
“You also lie badly.”
She looked at him.
“Then maybe we have something in common.”
Before he could answer, she left.
The chapel was two floors below.
Claire used the stairs.
Her heart pounded with every step.
She told herself this was stupid.
Then she kept walking.
The chapel door stood slightly open.
Claire entered.
Rows of empty wooden chairs faced a simple cross.
A woman sat in the last row.
Claire stopped.
Detective Nora Hayes turned.
“You came.”
“You sent the message?”
“Yes.”
“The photograph?”
“Yes.”
Claire held up her phone.
“Who is she?”
Hayes looked exhausted.
“Her name was Isabella Romano.”
“Was?”
“She died five years ago.”
Claire swallowed.
“Who was she to Dante?”
“That depends who you ask.”
“I am asking you.”
Hayes studied her.
“Officially, Isabella was his fiancée.”
The words still hurt.
Claire hated herself for that.
“And unofficially?”
“She was married to Dante's younger brother.”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Secretly.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It wasn't supposed to.”
Hayes stood.
“The Moretti organization was divided six years ago. Dante's father was dying. Dante was expected to inherit control. His brother, Adrian, wanted it.”
Claire remembered the name.
Dante had mentioned Adrian only twice.
Never warmly.
“Isabella was Adrian's wife?”
“Yes.”
“Why was she pretending to be engaged to Dante?”
“To create a story.”
“What story?”
“That Dante had abandoned Boston voluntarily.”
Claire looked down at the photograph.
“The threat.”
Hayes nodded.
“Dante was forced onto a plane that night.”
“Where?”
“Sicily first. Then Montenegro. Then places where people don't ask questions.”
“You're saying he was kidnapped?”
“Not exactly. He went willingly because he believed you would die if he didn't.”
Claire remembered Dante saying precisely that.
She hadn't believed him.
Hayes continued.
“Isabella helped keep him away.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian had threatened her family too.”
Claire sat.
Six years of certainty were breaking apart too quickly.
“You said not to trust Marco.”
Hayes's expression changed.
“Marco worked for Adrian before he worked for Dante.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Does Dante know?”
“I don't know.”
“Why are you telling me?”
Hayes removed a small flash drive.
“Because my brother was an FBI agent assigned to the Moretti investigation.”
Claire stared.
“He disappeared four years ago.”
Hayes placed the drive in Claire's hand.
“Before he disappeared, he sent me this.”
“What is it?”
“Records. Payments. Names. Photographs.”
“Keller?”
“Yes.”
“Marco?”
Hayes hesitated.
“Yes.”
Claire closed her fingers around the drive.
“If Marco is working against Dante, why did he bring him here?”
“I didn't say Marco was still working against him.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I am saying you don't know who anyone is.”
A noise came from behind the chapel door.
Hayes pulled Claire behind the wall.
Footsteps.
The door opened.
Detective Keller entered.
His gun was already out.
“Nora?”
Hayes raised her weapon.
“Keller.”
He saw Claire.
His face hardened.
“You weren't supposed to bring her into this.”
“I didn't.”
Keller smiled faintly.
“You always were terrible at lying.”
Claire's hand tightened around the flash drive.
Keller glanced at it.
“There it is.”
Hayes stepped forward.
“Leave.”
“Give me the drive.”
“No.”
“Nora.”
“No.”
Keller aimed at Claire.
Hayes shifted immediately.
“You shoot her, Dante Moretti tears this city apart.”
Keller smiled.
“That's the idea.”
Claire's blood chilled.
Hayes understood too.
“You want a war.”
“I want the right people fighting the wrong people.”
“Adrian?”
Keller's smile disappeared.
“You shouldn't say names.”
Then the chapel lights went out.
A gunshot cracked.
Claire dropped.
Another shot.
A body hit the floor.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Keller was gone.
Hayes lay beside the pew.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Claire crawled toward her.
“Stay with me.”
“I'm fine.”
“You've been shot.”
“Through-and-through.”
Claire pressed fabric against the wound.
Hayes grabbed her wrist.
“Go.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“Your son.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
Hayes's eyes sharpened.
“Keller isn't here for the drive anymore.”
Claire's heart stopped.
She ran.
Up one flight.
Two.
Three.
Her lungs burned.
When she reached Dante's floor, chaos filled the corridor.
A nurse was shouting.
Security officers ran past.
Claire shoved through them.
Dante's room door stood open.
The bed was empty.
Marco was on the floor holding his bleeding forehead.
Claire looked around.
“Where is Luca?”
Marco tried to stand.
“Claire—”
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
“Dante took him.”
“What?”
“Someone pulled the fire alarm. Two armed men entered from the service corridor. Dante got out of bed.”
Claire stared.
“He can't even walk.”
“He did.”
“Where?”
Marco pointed toward the rear stairwell.
Claire ran.
She found blood on the railing.
Dante's.
Then a child's dinosaur slipper.
“Luca!”
Nothing.
Claire descended.
One floor.
Two.
A door below slammed.
She ran faster.
In the underground parking garage, a black SUV peeled away.
Claire screamed.
“LUCA!”
Another vehicle suddenly blocked the exit.
The SUV stopped.
Dante emerged from behind a concrete pillar.
Barefoot.
Hospital gown beneath an open coat someone had thrown over him.
One hand pressed against his surgical wound.
The other held Luca behind him.
Two armed men faced him.
Claire's heart stopped.
One man raised his weapon.
Dante moved in front of Luca.
A shot rang out.
The man fell.
Marco stood behind Claire holding a gun.
The second attacker fled.
Claire rushed toward Luca.
He sobbed into her chest.
“Mommy.”
“I've got you.”
Dante leaned against the pillar.
Blood spread across his gown.
Claire turned on him.
“You tore your sutures.”
“Probably.”
“You idiot.”
“Probably.”
She started crying.
Dante stared at her.
Then Claire pulled him toward her with one arm while holding Luca with the other.
For three seconds they stood together.
A family that had never existed.
Then Dante whispered near her ear.
“They called him by name.”
Claire pulled back.
“What?”
“The men.”
His expression darkened.
“They knew Luca's full name.”
Sirens approached.
Marco stepped closer.
“We need to move.”
Claire looked at him.
The text echoed again.
DO NOT TRUST MARCO BELLINI.
Her fingers touched the flash drive in her pocket.
Dante noticed.
“What is that?”
Claire hesitated.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“Don't give it to him.”
Everyone turned.
Detective Keller stood ten feet away.
Gun raised.
But he wasn't aiming at Claire.
May you like
He was aiming directly at Marco.
“Ask him who ordered Dante's disappearance six years ago.”
