Chapter 8 - The Man Damian Buried
Clara leaned toward the screen.
The passenger turned.
Rosa.
“No.”
Damian replayed it.
Rosa was unmistakable.
Clara stood.
“She was with him.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Watch.”
The video continued.
Thomas stopped the car.
Rosa got out.
They argued.
Then Rosa handed him something.
A folder.
Thomas drove away alone.
Three minutes later, another vehicle followed.
The crash happened twelve miles later.
Rosa had been the last friendly person to see him alive.
When confronted, she didn't deny it.
“I gave Thomas proof against Vittorio.”
“Why didn't you tell us?” Clara demanded.
“Because the proof identified an FBI agent working for Vittorio.”
Damian's expression hardened.
“Who?”
Rosa named him.
Deputy Director Samuel Crane.
The man currently negotiating Vanessa's immunity.
Vanessa went pale.
“I went to him.”
“You need to leave federal custody,” Damian said.
“I'm already in it.”
Crane entered the room behind her.
Nobody had heard the door.
He smiled.
“Unfortunately, she's right.”
Federal agents appeared.
Damian was arrested.
Not for the conspiracy.
For racketeering.
Money laundering.
Conspiracy.
Crane had spent years collecting evidence against the Moretti organization.
Enough of it was real.
That was the brilliance.
Damian had inherited crimes he couldn't deny.
By afternoon, he sat in federal custody.
Clara was released.
She refused to leave the courthouse.
Anthony found her.
“We need to move.”
“I won't abandon him.”
“You help Damian by staying free.”
That night, Clara studied Thomas's second card.
There had to be more.
Her father always duplicated important records.
She examined file properties.
One encrypted partition.
Password.
She tried everything.
Her birthday.
Thomas's birthday.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the pancakes.
His favorite phrase when she complained about burnt edges.
Perfect things are suspicious.
She typed:
IMPERFECT.
Unlocked.
Inside was an audio recording.
Crane.
Vittorio.
Discussing Thomas.
Clara's blood ran cold.
“Make the accident clean,” Crane said.
Enough to destroy him.
But not enough to free Damian from crimes his organization had actually committed.
Clara contacted an attorney.
Then a journalist.
Then internal affairs.
She released copies simultaneously.
By morning, Crane was under investigation.
Damian was granted an emergency hearing.
He still faced charges.
He didn't run from them.
“I'll cooperate.”
His attorneys objected.
Damian ignored them.
“I'll testify about everything I know.”
The prosecutor stared.
“You understand what that means?”
“Yes.”
“You could lose your companies.”
“Yes.”
“You could go to prison.”
“Yes.”
Clara watched from the back.
Damian saw her.
For one second, his composure broke.
Afterward, they met through glass.
“You should leave Connecticut,” he said.
“No.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
“My father is still out there.”
“So?”
“So you're in danger.”
“So are you.”
“That isn't the same.”
She leaned toward the glass.
“Stop deciding which risks I'm allowed to take.”
Damian almost smiled.
“You do that often.”
“What?”
“Tell me no.”
“Somebody should.”
His eyes softened.
“Apparently.”
Then Clara said, “I found Crane.”
Damian became serious.
“My father?”
“Not yet.”
“Adrian?”
“No.”
A guard announced time.
Clara placed her palm against the glass.
After a hesitation, Damian placed his opposite palm against hers.
No touch.
Just glass.
But it felt more intimate than anything either had expected.
“Come back,” Clara whispered.
“I intend to.”
Damian was released under strict conditions after prosecutors confirmed his cooperation.
Vittorio responded immediately.
He kidnapped Rosa.
Security footage showed her being forced into a van.
A message arrived.
PIER 17.
MIDNIGHT.
SECOND CARD.
NO POLICE.
Clara looked at Damian.
“This is the same place.”
“Yes.”
“Trap?”
“Obviously.”
“You're going.”
“Yes.”
“So am I.”
“No.”
She raised one eyebrow.
Damian sighed.
“Fine.”
At 11:59 p.m., they entered the warehouse.
Adrian sat tied to one chair.
Rosa to another.
Vittorio stood between them.
Alive.
Damian faced the father he had buried.
Vittorio smiled.
“My son.”
Damian said nothing.
“You've grown sentimental.”
“No.”
“You came for them.”
“I came for you.”
Vittorio laughed.
Then he looked at Clara.
“Thomas's daughter.”
Clara's fists tightened.
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
The simplicity of the answer stunned her.
“No excuse?”
“He became inconvenient.”
Damian moved.
Vittorio raised a gun toward Clara.
“Another step.”
Damian stopped.
Vittorio smiled.
“Good boy.”
Then he extended his hand.
“The card.”
Damian removed it.
Before he could move, Adrian shouted.
“Don't give it to him!”
Vittorio turned.
Adrian kicked the chair sideways.
A gunshot exploded.
The warehouse lights went dark.
May you like
Clara heard Damian shout her name.
Then someone grabbed her from behind.
