Chapter 6 - The Road Back to Moretti House
Emma did not scream.
That frightened Adrian more than screaming would have.
She simply stood there.
Still.
Blank.
Then she looked at him.
“You promised.”
Adrian felt the words like a knife.
“I know.”
“You promised nobody would reach her.”
“I know.”
Luca stepped closer.
“We’ll find her.”
Emma turned on him.
“How?”
Nobody answered quickly enough.
She grabbed her coat.
Adrian caught her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To find my child.”
“That’s exactly what they want.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And my niece.”
Emma stared at him.
Adrian did not look away.
“I lost twenty-seven years with you. I’m not losing her tonight.”
They reached the safe house in twelve minutes.
Samuel was bleeding from the forehead but conscious.
One guard had been shot in the leg.
Another had been knocked unconscious.
No fatalities.
Adrian crouched beside Samuel.
“Who?”
Samuel shook his head.
“They wore masks.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Did Sophie fight?”
Samuel almost smiled.
“She hit one with a wrench.”
Emma made a broken sound between laughter and crying.
“Of course she did.”
Samuel handed Adrian something.
A button.
Black.
Heavy.
Custom-made.
Adrian recognized it.
Nico’s uniform jackets used those buttons.
Luca stared.
“Nico.”
“But Nico is in custody,” Emma said.
Adrian looked at Luca.
“Unless he wasn’t the only one.”
Luca called his team.
They searched records.
Nico had been communicating with another employee.
Peter Hale.
A driver.
One Adrian knew.
One who had been sent ahead the morning Adrian’s sedan broke down.
The same driver whose absence left Adrian alone on the rural road.
Pieces aligned.
Peter rerouted security.
Peter had access to Adrian’s vehicle.
Peter could sabotage it.
Peter could place the fake directions.
Victor wanted Adrian stranded near Emma.
Then wanted Emma exposed.
But why kidnap Sophie after Victor was captured?
Because Victor had not been the only person making decisions.
“Find Peter,” Adrian ordered.
Luca checked.
“He left Moretti House forty minutes ago.”
“Vehicle?”
“Gray pickup.”
Emma looked at the road map.
“Where would he take Sophie?”
Adrian thought.
Not city.
Too many cameras.
Not airport.
Too easy to trace.
Somewhere connected to Victor.
Samuel whispered, “The old mill.”
Everyone turned.
“What mill?”
“Giovanni and Victor owned property north of the river. An abandoned textile mill.”
Adrian remembered.
He had sold most legacy properties.
That one had remained tied up in a shell company.
“Coordinates.”
They drove.
No convoy.
No flashing lights.
Just Adrian, Emma, Luca, and two trusted security men.
Police units were notified anonymously and held several miles away.
Adrian did not yet know which officers Victor owned.
The mill appeared at 3:11 a.m.
Broken windows.
Rusting roof.
One light burning inside.
Emma reached for the door.
Adrian stopped her.
“I go first.”
“She’s my child.”
“And she needs you alive.”
Luca entered through the west side.
Adrian through the loading bay.
Emma stayed thirty feet behind despite being told not to.
Inside, machines sat like metal skeletons.
Voices echoed.
Peter.
Another man.
Then Sophie.
“I want my mom.”
Adrian moved closer.
Peter stood beside a chair.
Sophie was not tied.
Interesting.
She sat holding her wrench.
A man Adrian did not recognize stood near her.
Suit.
Glasses.
About seventy.
Samuel Vale’s age.
The man turned.
Adrian stopped.
“Samuel?”
No.
Not Samuel.
Similar.
But not identical.
The stranger smiled.
“You must be Adrian.”
“Name.”
“Charles Vale.”
Adrian stared.
Another relative.
Of course.
“Samuel’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
Charles looked at Sophie.
“What Victor wanted. Control.”
“Victor is finished.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
Adrian understood.
Victor had not been the mastermind alone.
Two families.
Moretti and Vale.
Both compromised.
His mother had been trapped between them.
Charles continued.
“Samuel always was sentimental. Loved your mother. Protected Elena. Watched you from afar.”
“And you?”
“I believed in practical arrangements.”
“You worked with Victor.”
“For thirty years.”
Peter shifted nervously.
Adrian looked at him.
“You sabotaged my car.”
Peter nodded once.
“Why scratch E.M. into the connector?”
“To make sure you looked closer.”
“You wanted me to suspect Elena.”
“We wanted you curious.”
“You used a six-year-old child.”
Charles smiled.
“Children are persuasive.”
Adrian’s expression became lethal.
“Careful.”
Charles raised both hands.
“She’s unharmed.”
Sophie looked at Adrian.
“Uncle Adrian?”
Charles glanced at her.
“So she’s accepted you quickly.”
Adrian kept his eyes on Sophie.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“He wouldn’t let me leave.”
“I noticed.”
“I hit Peter.”
Peter touched a bruise on his jaw.
Adrian almost smiled.
“Good.”
Charles’s patience disappeared.
“Enough. We make a trade.”
“No.”
“You don’t know the trade.”
“No.”
Charles frowned.
Adrian continued.
“You kidnapped my niece. There is no negotiation after that.”
“You think you’re in control?”
“I usually am.”
Charles pressed a button.
A red light appeared on a device near the wall.
Emma entered behind Adrian.
“Sophie!”
“Mom!”
Charles raised a gun.
“Stop.”
Emma froze.
Sophie began crying.
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“Point that somewhere else.”
Charles aimed at Emma.
“Sign the transfer documents.”
Emma looked at Adrian.
“No.”
Charles smiled.
“Your daughter dies if you refuse.”
Sophie shouted, “Mom, don’t!”
Emma’s face crumpled.
Adrian moved slightly.
Charles noticed.
“Don’t.”
Peter stood behind Sophie.
Adrian looked at him.
Not Charles.
Peter.
The man was sweating.
Hands shaking.
Regret.
Fear.
Adrian said quietly, “Peter.”
“Don’t talk to him,” Charles snapped.
Adrian ignored him.
“You know what happens if Sophie dies.”
Peter swallowed.
“You know Victor can’t protect you.”
Peter looked at Charles.
Charles shouted, “Eyes on the girl.”
Adrian continued.
“You know Luca will find every person you love.”
Luca’s voice came from the darkness.
“He won’t have to.”
Peter spun.
Luca stood behind him.
Gun drawn.
Peter dropped his weapon immediately.
Charles fired.
Adrian moved.
Emma dove toward Sophie.
Luca fired back.
Charles’s weapon flew from his hand as a bullet struck his wrist.
Adrian tackled him.
Sophie ran to Emma.
“Mom!”
Emma wrapped around her daughter.
Sobbing now.
Finally.
Loudly.
Adrian held Charles against the floor.
Sirens approached.
Charles laughed.
“You think this ends anything?”
Adrian pulled him upright.
“It ends you.”
“No.”
Charles smiled.
“You still don’t know where Victor sent the real evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“The files connecting your mother to every Moretti crime.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Charles leaned closer.
“He’ll destroy her name even from prison.”
Emma heard.
“What?”
Charles smiled at her.
“Your mother signed documents.”
“She was forced.”
“Prove it.”
Police entered.
Trusted federal agents followed.
Samuel had contacted them directly.
Charles and Peter were arrested.
Sophie refused to release Emma.
Adrian crouched beside them.
Sophie looked at him.
“You came.”
“I said I would.”
“You took a long time.”
“I’ll work on that.”
She reached for him.
Adrian joined the embrace awkwardly.
Emma laughed through tears.
“Get used to it.”
For the first time, Adrian allowed himself to believe the worst was over.
Then Luca approached holding Peter’s phone.
“Adrian.”
Something in his expression ended that hope.
“What?”
“We found Victor’s scheduled message.”
He showed the screen.
A file upload.
Automatic release.
Thirty-two minutes remaining.
Destination: every major newspaper, federal agency, and financial regulator in the state.
Adrian looked at the file name.
MARGARET_MORETTI_CONFESSION.mp4
His mother’s name.
Emma whispered, “What confession?”
Luca opened the preview.
Their mother appeared on screen.
Terrified.
Young.
May you like
And the first words she spoke were:
“I helped Giovanni Moretti make Elena disappear.”
