Chapter 5 - The Woman Everyone Thought Was Dead
Luca sat down.
Sophie had never seen him sit because he needed to.
She had seen him lounge.
Wait.
Observe.
Command.
This was different.
His legs seemed to stop supporting him.
Detective Hernandez kept her voice gentle.
“The woman identified herself as Isabella Moretti.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“My mother died nineteen years ago.”
Sophie looked at him.
“How?”
“House fire.”
Hernandez nodded slowly.
“No body was conclusively identified.”
Luca’s head snapped up.
“There was a funeral.”
“There was a coffin.”
The room became silent.
Sophie closed the blinds.
Mrs. Alvarez quietly ushered the last customers outside without asking questions.
When Sophie returned, Luca still had not moved.
Hernandez continued.
“Walter is alive. Dehydrated, injured, but stable. Your mother is physically weak but conscious.”
“Where?”
“St. Catherine’s.”
Luca stood immediately.
Sophie grabbed her coat.
He looked at her.
“You don’t have to come.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
The question surprised her.
“Because nobody should walk into something like this alone.”
His expression cracked for half a second.
Then he nodded.
At the hospital, Luca stopped outside room 512.
His hand hovered near the door.
Sophie stood beside him.
The feared Luca Moretti could walk into a room full of hostile men without hesitation.
But he could not turn a hospital handle.
Sophie touched his wrist.
“Take your time.”
He looked at her.
Then opened the door.
An older woman lay against white pillows.
Silver hair.
Thin face.
Dark eyes.
Luca’s eyes.
She turned.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Isabella whispered, “Luciano.”
Luca broke.
Not dramatically.
He simply stopped pretending his body could contain nineteen years of grief.
He crossed the room in three steps.
His mother raised one trembling hand.
He took it.
Sophie quietly stepped outside.
She stayed in the hall.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty.
Hernandez joined her.
“Walter wants to see you.”
Sophie followed her two rooms down.
Walter Pike looked terrible.
But he smiled when Sophie entered.
“You found the dress.”
“You scared ten years off my life.”
“Your mother used to say I was good at that.”
Sophie sat.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this directly?”
“Because I didn’t know who was watching.”
“Cross?”
“And others.”
“Who?”
Walter looked toward Hernandez.
“Adrian isn’t acting alone.”
Hernandez folded her arms.
“Who protects him?”
Walter swallowed.
“Someone inside Moretti Holdings.”
Sophie’s stomach dropped.
“Luca?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
Walter explained.
After Antonio Moretti discovered Gregory Cross’s scheme, someone inside Antonio’s organization had tipped Cross off.
That betrayal led to Antonio’s fatal crash.
Isabella survived an attack weeks later and disappeared under an assumed name to protect Luca.
“But why let your son think you were dead?” Sophie asked.
Walter’s expression filled with pain.
“Because Gregory threatened to kill Luca if Isabella resurfaced.”
“Nineteen years?”
“She tried to return twice. Both times someone found her.”
“So Cross’s network survived his father.”
“Yes.”
“And now Adrian controls it.”
“Parts of it.”
Walter reached for water.
Sophie helped him.
“The memory card you found contains recent transactions. Adrian’s purchases. Officials. Security contracts. Someone inside Luca’s company has been passing schedules and addresses.”
Sophie thought of Luca’s bodyguards.
Executives.
Assistants.
Drivers.
“Marco?”
Walter shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Could Adrian have taken Isabella recently?”
“He did. Three weeks ago.”
“Why now?”
“Because he learned she had retained one document.”
“What document?”
Walter looked frightened.
“Antonio’s original partnership agreement.”
“With whom?”
“Gregory Cross.”
Sophie stared.
“Their fathers were partners?”
“Briefly. Before Antonio discovered what Gregory was doing.”
The implications spread.
If Antonio had held a legal ownership interest in Cross redevelopment parcels, Luca might have claims worth millions.
But Walter shook his head.
“It isn’t about money.”
“What then?”
“The agreement identifies all original property acquisitions.”
“Including Mercer Street?”
“Including Bennett Tailoring.”
Sophie’s breath caught.
“Why?”
“Your mother never rented that building from Gregory Cross.”
“What?”
“She owned a percentage of the parcel.”
Sophie stood.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your father signed the paperwork.”
“My father left when I was eleven.”
“Yes.”
“Mom always said she leased.”
“She did later. After Gregory created fraudulent transfers.”
Sophie understood.
“Cross stole the building.”
Walter nodded.
“Legally, through forged documents.”
Her knees weakened.
Twenty years of rent.
Lease negotiations.
Threats.
Her mother had fought to remain inside a building she partly owned.
Sophie felt fury rise slowly.
“What proves it?”
“The partnership agreement.”
“Where is it?”
“Isabella had it.”
Hernandez spoke.
“She didn’t have documents when we recovered her.”
Walter closed his eyes.
“Then Adrian has it.”
Back in Isabella’s room, Luca sat beside his mother.
Sophie hesitated.
Isabella noticed her.
“You’re Sophie.”
Sophie blinked.
“Yes.”
A faint smile.
“You look like Eleanor.”
“You knew my mother?”
“She saved me.”
That sentence seemed to be following Sophie everywhere.
Isabella squeezed Luca’s hand.
“Eleanor hid me after the fire.”
Luca stared.
“What?”
“She kept me in the apartment above the shop for eleven days.”
Sophie’s mouth opened.
“I lived upstairs.”
“You were at summer camp.”
Sophie remembered.
Age thirteen.
Two weeks in Vermont.
Her mother had insisted she go despite Sophie begging to stay home.
Suddenly, an old mystery made sense.
When Sophie returned, the guest room had smelled like antiseptic.
Her mother said she had cut herself sewing.
Isabella looked toward Sophie.
“She risked everything.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“To keep you safe.”
Sophie sat.
She had spent years believing her mother’s secrecy meant distance.
Now she realized it had been armor.
Luca’s voice was rough.
“Who inside my company helped Cross?”
Isabella’s eyes closed.
“I don’t know his name.”
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“Anything?”
“He wore your family ring.”
Luca looked at his right hand.
A black onyx signet ring carried the Moretti crest.
“Several executives have those.”
“Who?”
“My uncle Roberto. Marco. Two board members.”
Sophie looked at him.
“Marco?”
“His father worked for mine. I gave him one when he became head of security.”
Luca took out his phone.
No signal.
Strange.
Hospitals usually had poor reception, but his screen showed something else.
A security alert.
His company headquarters had suffered an internal data breach.
Files erased.
Security logs deleted.
He called Marco.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Sophie felt unease crawl up her spine.
“Where is Marco?”
“He was supposed to be downstairs.”
Hernandez stepped into the hall.
She spoke to an officer.
Then returned.
“Your driver is gone.”
Luca stood.
“What?”
“Security camera shows him leaving fourteen minutes ago.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
Sophie whispered, “Maybe someone called him.”
Luca’s phone finally connected.
A message arrived.
From Marco.
I’M SORRY.
Luca stared at it.
Another message.
THEY HAVE MY DAUGHTER.
Then an address.
An abandoned theater on Calder Avenue.
Luca moved toward the door.
Hernandez blocked him.
“No.”
“Move.”
“Absolutely not.”
“He needs help.”
“And you charging into an abandoned building gives Cross exactly what he wants.”
Luca’s voice dropped.
“Marco has been with me for fifteen years.”
“I know.”
“So move.”
Sophie stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both looked at her.
She pointed at Luca.
“You are not going alone.”
Then at Hernandez.
“And you’re not stopping him.”
“I can arrest him.”
“For caring?”
“For interfering in an active investigation.”
Sophie grabbed Luca’s coat sleeve.
“Give us two minutes.”
In the hallway, she faced him.
“This is probably a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“You’re still going?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
“You’re not coming.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
Sophie stepped closer.
“Do you understand how little authority your fake-fiancé status gives you?”
“This isn’t about the engagement.”
“Good. Because I was beginning to think you believed the press release.”
His eyes held hers.
“I believe the part where I care whether you survive.”
The words stopped her.
Luca seemed surprised he had said them aloud.
Sophie’s heartbeat changed.
“Luca—”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
He looked away.
“This was supposed to be convenient.”
“Nothing about you is convenient.”
That pulled a small laugh from him.
Then Sophie touched his cheek.
Neither moved.
The hospital noise faded.
Their faces were inches apart.
For one second, Sophie forgot Cross.
Forgot Walter.
Forgot everything.
Then Hernandez opened the door.
“We have movement.”
They separated.
Hernandez held up a phone.
“The Calder theater address is active. Patrol units saw two vehicles enter.”
“Cross?” Luca asked.
“Maybe.”
They drove with police.
The theater had been abandoned for twelve years.
Boarded windows.
Faded marquee.
Officers surrounded the building.
Hernandez ordered Luca and Sophie to remain behind the perimeter.
Luca ignored her.
Sophie followed.
“Why am I not surprised?” Hernandez muttered.
Inside, police found no gunmen.
No Cross.
No Marco.
Only one chair on the stage.
A phone rested on it.
Video playing.
Marco appeared on screen.
His face bruised.
“I’m sorry, Luca.”
The recording shook.
“They took Ana yesterday. I gave them security schedules. Nothing else.”
Luca whispered a curse.
Marco continued.
“They want the blue case and Isabella’s document. Cross has the original partnership contract. He’s planning to burn the Mercer records tonight.”
Sophie leaned closer.
“Where?”
Marco looked directly into the camera.
“If Sophie is watching, tell her Eleanor built a fireproof compartment under the original cutting table. Cross knows now.”
Sophie’s skin went cold.
Her cutting table.
At the shop.
The screen went black.
Then the phone rang.
Luca answered.
Adrian Cross spoke through the speaker.
“Bring me the blue case.”
“Where’s Marco?”
“Alive.”
“His daughter?”
“Alive.”
“You touch either—”
Adrian interrupted.
“You have one hour.”
“Where?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“You already know.”
The call ended.
Sophie stared at Luca.
Then her own phone buzzed.
Security camera alert.
BENNETT TAILORING — MOTION DETECTED.
She opened the live feed.
A man stood inside her locked shop.
May you like
He carried a red gasoline can.
And he was walking toward her mother’s cutting table.
