Chapter 8 - The Night the Screens Went Black
Matteo refused.
Leonardo insisted.
Gemma sided with neither.
“We're not walking into a trap without changing the trap.”
They devised a plan.
Leonardo would go.
But not alone.
Matteo hid inside the transport van.
Gemma wore a microphone.
Police contacts Matteo trusted waited two blocks away.
At midnight, they reached the abandoned Ferraro house.
Leonardo rolled inside.
Gemma followed.
“Alone means alone,” a voice said.
Enzo DeLuca stepped from the darkness.
He was seventy-two.
Elegant.
Calm.
Nothing about him looked monstrous.
That frightened Gemma.
Joseph sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
Enzo smiled at Leonardo.
“You look like your father.”
“Carlo?”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
Enzo's smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No hesitation.
“And you tried to kill us.”
“Seven years ago.”
“Why wait?”
“Because I didn't know which twin inherited Carlo's trust.”
Leonardo understood.
“The birth records.”
“Your mother was clever.”
Enzo had spent decades hunting certainty.
The accident was supposed to eliminate both brothers.
It failed.
Then Vittorio Ferraro threatened war.
So Enzo waited.
When Vittorio died, he resumed.
Gemma stepped closer to Joseph.
Enzo raised his gun.
“No.”
She stopped.
“Where is Daniel?”
Enzo looked amused.
“Ask him yourself.”
A side door opened.
Daniel Riley walked in.
Gemma stopped breathing.
Her father looked twenty years older.
But alive.
“Dad?”
His eyes filled.
“I'm sorry.”
Gemma crossed the room before anyone could stop her.
She struck him across the face.
Daniel accepted it.
Then she hugged him.
Enzo laughed.
“Touching.”
Daniel whispered into Gemma's ear.
“Three minutes.”
She understood.
He had a plan.
Enzo demanded the codes.
Leonardo gave Teresa's.
Gemma gave hers.
Joseph refused.
Enzo aimed at Gemma.
Joseph spoke.
The final code.
Enzo entered all three into a laptop.
A video loaded.
The original crash recording.
Russo's black sedan accelerated.
Hit the Ferraro car.
The Ferraro vehicle spun.
Matteo had not caused the accident.
Then the footage showed something else.
After the crash, Enzo himself exited the sedan.
He walked toward Matteo.
Daniel's tow truck appeared unexpectedly.
Enzo fled.
Perfect evidence.
Enzo smiled.
Then deleted it.
Gemma's heart dropped.
Daniel smiled back.
“Thank you.”
Enzo frowned.
“For what?”
“For confirming the file.”
The laptop screen changed.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
Daniel had designed the system so entering all three codes automatically sent copies to multiple prosecutors, journalists, and federal investigators.
Enzo fired.
Matteo burst from hiding.
Chaos erupted.
Gemma threw herself behind Leonardo.
Joseph fell sideways.
Daniel tackled Enzo.
Matteo's men entered.
One gunshot.
Then another.
The lights went out.
When emergency lights returned, Enzo was gone.
May you like
So was Leonardo.
His empty wheelchair remained in the center of the room.
