Chapter 3 - The Dead Man’s Ledger
Adriano stared at Luca.
“My father died eight years ago.”
“I attended the funeral.”
“Then explain the invoice.”
“I can’t.”
The signature belonged to Vittorio Sarti.
Adriano’s father.
The purchase date was three years after Vittorio’s death.
Forgery was the obvious explanation.
But the authorization sequence beneath the signature was not.
Only three people had known it.
Vittorio.
Adriano.
And Carlo Vescari.
Adriano opened an old safe that night.
Inside were ledgers from the years when Vittorio still controlled the family’s businesses.
He had not opened them since the funeral.
Vittorio had been a hard man.
Not theatrical.
Not affectionate.
He believed fear was useful and love was private.
Adriano had spent half his adult life becoming him and the other half pretending he hadn’t.
Near dawn, he found a recurring code.
V-714.
His eyes stopped.
Theo’s room number was coincidence.
It had to be.
He opened the corresponding ledger.
Payments.
Warehouses.
Transportation contracts.
Then a name.
CARSON, R.
Adriano stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
Rachel Carson had been receiving payments from one of Vittorio’s companies.
Years before the festival.
He called Beatrice.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“It’s five in the morning.”
“I found your sister’s name.”
Silence.
“Where?”
“In my father’s records.”
Beatrice arrived forty minutes later.
She was still wearing the sweatshirt she slept in.
Adriano showed her the ledger.
Rachel’s name appeared eleven times.
“What was she doing for him?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did she ever mention Vittorio Sarti?”
“No.”
“Think carefully.”
“I am.”
“She received almost eighty thousand dollars.”
Beatrice’s head snapped up.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Rachel was broke.”
“Maybe she hid it.”
“No.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Yes, I can.”
Beatrice pointed toward the ledger.
“Six months before Theo was born, Rachel borrowed four hundred dollars from me because her electricity was being shut off. After Theo was born, I bought diapers. When she died, there was $612 in her account.”
Adriano studied the payments.
“Then somebody used her identity.”
“Why?”
“That’s what we find out.”
They searched until morning.
Luca joined them.
One payment contained a notation.
M.G. ARCHIVE.
Mercy General.
Beatrice went pale.
“Rachel worked there.”
Adriano looked at her.
“When?”
“Before Theo was born. Medical records.”
That changed everything.
Rachel had access to hospital data.
Perhaps somebody paid her to alter records.
Or perhaps the payments were designed to make it look that way.
At 9:00, Beatrice visited Theo.
He was awake.
“Can you feel this?”
Dr. Anand touched his left foot.
Theo frowned.
“A little.”
Beatrice began crying.
Theo smiled.
“Why are you crying if it’s good?”
“Because adults are ridiculous.”
“Can I walk?”
“Not yet.”
“But maybe?”
Dr. Anand smiled.
“Maybe.”
For the first time in years, maybe sounded beautiful.
Adriano watched from the doorway.
Theo noticed him.
“Captain Bitey says you look tired.”
“I’ll discuss it with him.”
“He’s judgmental.”
“I noticed.”
Beatrice smiled despite herself.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman whispered, “Stop asking about Rachel.”
Beatrice stood.
“Who is this?”
“You have a child to protect.”
“He isn’t my child.”
“He’s close enough.”
The line went dead.
Adriano saw her face.
“What?”
She told him.
His entire demeanor changed.
The warmth vanished.
The man Chicago feared returned.
“Luca.”
His lieutenant was already moving.
“No,” Beatrice said.
Adriano looked at her.
“No what?”
“No locking me away somewhere.”
“Someone threatened Theo.”
“Then protect Theo.”
“I’m protecting both of you.”
“You don’t get to control me.”
“I’m not debating this.”
“That’s your problem.”
Adriano stared.
Beatrice stepped closer.
“You think protecting someone means making every decision for them. It doesn’t.”
“You want to stay exposed?”
“I want to participate in my own life.”
For a moment neither moved.
Then Adriano nodded.
“All right.”
It cost him something to say it.
She could tell.
“What do you suggest?” he asked.
Beatrice blinked.
He was actually asking.
“Theo stays here. Security outside, but people who look normal.”
“Done.”
“I keep working.”
“No.”
“You asked.”
“That suggestion was rejected.”
“Adriano.”
“You can work at the mansion. You’re not going to the diner at midnight.”
She folded her arms.
“Compromise.”
He exhaled.
“Fine. Mansion only.”
“Temporarily.”
“Temporarily.”
It was the first agreement they reached without one of them furious.
That afternoon Luca traced the threatening call.
A prepaid phone.
Activated near Mercy General.
Security footage showed the caller.
A woman in her sixties.
Beatrice stared at the image.
“I know her.”
“Who?”
“Margaret Ellis. She worked with Rachel.”
They found Margaret’s address.
Adriano wanted to go alone.
Beatrice refused.
Margaret lived in a narrow brick house on the South Side.
She opened the door and went white.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“You called me,” Beatrice said.
“To make you stop.”
“Then tell me why.”
Margaret looked at Adriano.
“Not with him here.”
“He stays.”
“Your sister trusted the wrong Sarti.”
Adriano’s jaw tightened.
“My father?”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“Your father was the one she trusted.”
They entered.
Margaret locked the door.
“Rachel discovered somebody was using Mercy General’s charity network to move money. Millions. Patients who didn’t exist. Procedures that never happened. Your father found out.”
“Why would he care?”
“Because the money was being stolen from him.”
Adriano’s expression hardened.
“Vescari.”
Margaret nodded.
“Carlo was laundering money through hospital foundations. Rachel found the records.”
“And my father paid her?”
“To copy everything.”
Beatrice sat down.
“Why didn’t Rachel tell me?”
“Because Vittorio promised to protect her.”
Adriano looked away.
Promises from Sartis had a poor survival rate.
“The explosion?” he asked.
“Rachel discovered Vescari was working with Greco.”
“And Theo?”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Beatrice went still.
“What does that mean?”
“Rachel went to the festival to meet Vittorio’s contact.”
“Vittorio was already dead.”
“The contact worked for him before he died.”
“Who?”
Margaret hesitated.
Then a window shattered.
Adriano moved instantly.
He pulled Beatrice down.
A bullet buried itself in the wall.
Margaret screamed.
Luca’s men rushed outside.
Adriano drew Beatrice behind a brick fireplace.
“Stay down.”
Another shot.
Then silence.
Luca’s voice came through Adriano’s earpiece.
“Shooter fled. Gray sedan.”
Margaret was shaking.
“You see?” she whispered. “They’re still watching.”
Adriano crouched beside her.
“Who was Rachel meeting?”
Margaret stared toward the broken window.
“The man who knew where Vescari kept the original ledger.”
“Name.”
She swallowed.
“Daniel Cross.”
Luca, returning through the doorway, stopped cold.
Adriano noticed.
“You know him.”
Luca said nothing.
“Luca.”
His lieutenant’s face had lost all color.
“Daniel Cross wasn’t your father’s contact.”
“Then who was he?”
May you like
Luca looked directly at Adriano.
“He was the man ordered to kill Rachel.”
