Chapter 4 - The Wedding That Became a Trap
At 7:58 a.m., Maeve Callahan stood behind the cathedral doors wearing the dress she had chosen to marry Brandon Hayes.
But she was not there to marry him.
Luca hated the plan.
Thomas hated it more.
Federal investigators had been informed but remained out of sight.
Maeve had insisted.
“If Brandon believes I’m cooperating with police, he’ll shut down.”
“If he believes you’re alone,” Luca said, “he may do worse.”
“Then stay close.”
His eyes held hers.
“I will.”
There was no flirtation in the words.
Only promise.
And Maeve discovered that she believed him.
She had returned to the hotel at dawn through a service entrance.
Tessa and Evelyn were gone.
Brandon’s message claimed they were safe.
Maeve did not trust it.
She dressed without bridesmaids.
No champagne.
No music.
No photographs.
She pinned her mother’s brooch inside the gown where nobody could see it.
Then she placed her father’s silver key beside it.
Two reminders.
She was still herself.
When the cathedral doors opened, hundreds of guests stood.
Whispers rippled through the room.
Maeve walked alone.
Her uncle was not beside her.
The absence immediately drew attention.
Brandon waited at the altar.
Perfect tuxedo.
Perfect hair.
Perfect smile.
He looked like the man she had loved.
That was the cruelest part.
People applauded softly when she reached him.
Brandon leaned in.
“You came.”
Maeve smiled for the cameras.
“You asked me to.”
“Where is Moretti?”
“I don’t know.”
A lie.
Luca was somewhere inside.
Brandon searched the pews.
“You told him?”
“I haven’t spoken to him.”
Another lie.
Brandon relaxed slightly.
The priest began.
Maeve heard almost none of it.
Her eyes moved through the cathedral.
Tessa was not there.
Evelyn was not there.
Thomas stood near the rear exit.
And Luca—
She could not find him.
Brandon squeezed her hand.
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m getting married.”
“That tends to do it.”
He smiled.
For one terrible moment, Maeve remembered breakfast in bed.
Movie nights.
Their first vacation.
The night he proposed beneath strings of lights on her apartment terrace.
Had any of it been real?
Perhaps.
That somehow made the betrayal worse.
The priest turned to Brandon.
“Do you—”
The cathedral doors opened.
Every head turned.
Luca Moretti entered.
He wore a charcoal suit beneath a black overcoat.
No entourage.
No hurry.
He walked down the center aisle as though four hundred people were not staring.
Someone gasped.
A reporter near the back raised a phone.
Brandon released Maeve’s hand.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Luca stopped twenty feet from the altar.
“Maeve Callahan.”
Maeve looked at him.
His voice carried through the cathedral.
“You’re not marrying him today.”
The room erupted.
Brandon stepped forward.
“Get out.”
Luca ignored him.
“Maeve.”
She played her part.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying you leave with me.”
More whispers.
Phones rose everywhere.
By lunchtime, the entire city would have a headline.
CHICAGO’S MOST FEARED MAFIA BOSS CLAIMS BRIDE AT ALTAR.
Maeve almost smiled at the absurdity.
Brandon did not.
“You think you can walk in here and take her?”
Luca’s expression remained calm.
“No one takes Maeve anywhere.”
Then he looked at her.
“She chooses.”
That mattered.
Maeve stepped away from Brandon.
Gasps echoed.
Brandon grabbed her elbow.
She pulled free.
“Don’t.”
His smile disappeared.
“You planned this.”
Maeve said nothing.
“You met him before the ceremony.”
The priest backed away.
Luca moved one step closer.
“Take your hand off her.”
Brandon laughed.
“She’s my fiancée.”
“Not for long.”
Brandon’s composure fractured.
“You think she belongs to you because Patrick promised you something?”
Maeve froze.
“What did you say?”
Brandon realized his mistake.
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
Maeve turned slowly.
“You know about my father’s letter.”
Brandon stepped backward.
“No.”
“You just said Patrick promised Luca something.”
“I heard rumors.”
“From whom?”
Brandon looked toward the guests.
Maeve followed his gaze.
Her uncle.
Thomas looked stunned.
Brandon smiled.
“There.”
Maeve’s stomach tightened.
“Uncle Tommy?”
Thomas shook his head.
“He’s lying.”
Brandon raised his voice.
“Tell her.”
Thomas walked down the aisle.
Guests moved aside.
“Maeve, this is not the place.”
“It became the place when someone threatened Tessa.”
Thomas stopped.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Brandon laughed.
“Of course he knows.”
Maeve turned.
“Enough.”
Her voice echoed.
The cathedral became silent.
“No more riddles. No more protecting me. No more men deciding which pieces of truth I’m strong enough to hear.”
She faced Brandon.
“You wanted me here. I’m here. Tell me who killed my father.”
Brandon’s expression became strangely calm.
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Who did?”
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
“Why did he have to die?”
Maeve’s hands curled.
Luca moved closer but did not interrupt.
Brandon continued.
“Patrick discovered the money. Not just my father’s money. Moretti money. Callahan money. Political money.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Careful.”
Brandon smiled.
“Afraid?”
“No.”
“Then let me talk.”
Maeve looked at Luca.
“Let him.”
Brandon spread his hands.
“Your father was going to expose everyone.”
“My father would have gone to police.”
“He tried.”
Thomas interrupted.
“That’s enough.”
Maeve faced him.
“No.”
Thomas’s face looked gray.
Brandon watched him with satisfaction.
“Tell her about Detective Samuel Pierce.”
Maeve looked between them.
Thomas whispered, “Brandon.”
“Tell her.”
“Who is Samuel Pierce?” Maeve demanded.
Thomas closed his eyes.
“The detective I gave the brake report to.”
“The one who disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Brandon laughed softly.
“He didn’t disappear.”
Luca’s gaze sharpened.
“Where is he?”
“Ask Thomas.”
Everyone looked at Maeve’s uncle.
Thomas backed away.
Maeve felt something break inside her.
“Tell me.”
Thomas whispered, “I was trying to protect the family.”
“No.”
“Maeve—”
“No.”
She stepped down from the altar.
“What did you do?”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“I gave Pierce money to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered something.”
“What?”
Thomas looked toward Luca.
Then toward Brandon.
Finally, he looked at Maeve.
“Patrick wasn’t alone in the car the night he died.”
Maeve stopped.
Police had told her her father was alone.
“Who was with him?”
Thomas said nothing.
Brandon answered.
“Luca.”
The cathedral erupted again.
Maeve looked at Luca.
He did not deny it.
Her heart dropped.
“You were in the car?”
“Yes.”
“You told me you didn’t know whether the crash was an accident.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were there!”
“I left the car twenty minutes before it happened.”
“Why?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Patrick and I argued.”
“About what?”
“My father.”
Maeve stared.
Luca continued.
“Patrick found evidence connecting my father’s old organization to the accounts. He believed I knew more than I admitted.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The truth hit her harder because he gave it freely.
“What did you know?”
“That my father had helped Victor Hayes move money years earlier.”
Brandon’s smile widened.
“There it is.”
Maeve ignored him.
“Why didn’t you tell Patrick?”
“Because my father was already dead, and the people who inherited those accounts were not.”
“Who?”
Luca looked at Thomas.
Thomas’s shoulders sagged.
Maeve followed his gaze.
“No.”
Thomas whispered, “Patrick thought I was involved.”
“Were you?”
“I signed papers.”
“Were you?”
“I didn’t know what they were at first.”
Maeve’s voice broke.
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
The word echoed.
Her uncle had helped.
Maybe unintentionally at first.
Maybe not later.
Maeve stepped back.
Thomas moved toward her.
“I was trying to fix it.”
She raised her hand.
“Don’t.”
Brandon suddenly reached inside his jacket.
Several people screamed.
Luca moved instantly.
But Brandon only removed a phone.
He held it up.
“Everybody relax.”
He tapped the screen.
A live video appeared.
Tessa sat in a room Maeve did not recognize.
Evelyn sat beside her.
Neither appeared injured.
Maeve’s anger turned cold.
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“Let them go.”
“After you sign.”
An assistant carried a folder toward the altar.
Maeve stared.
The marital trust.
“You expect me to sign this now?”
Brandon lowered his voice.
“If you don’t, several things happen.”
“Threatening me in front of witnesses seems unwise.”
“These people can’t hear us.”
He leaned closer.
“Tessa loses the medical coverage I arranged. Evelyn gets charged with participating in the transfers. Your uncle goes to prison. And every account tied to Callahan gets frozen while federal investigators tear the company apart.”
Maeve stared.
“You planned for everything.”
“I planned for you to be reasonable.”
“You mean obedient.”
“I mean useful.”
Something inside Maeve became still.
She took the pen.
Luca’s expression changed.
“Maeve.”
She looked at him.
“Trust me.”
He went silent.
Brandon smiled.
Maeve bent over the document.
She signed.
Brandon exhaled.
Then Maeve turned the page.
And tore the document in half.
A collective gasp filled the cathedral.
Brandon stared.
She tore it again.
And again.
Pieces fell across the altar.
“You stupid—”
“Careful,” Luca said.
Brandon turned.
“You think this is over?”
Maeve stepped closer.
“No.”
She held up a tiny recording device hidden beneath the lace at her wrist.
“My father taught me something too.”
Brandon’s face changed.
Maeve smiled faintly.
“Never walk into a negotiation without a record.”
Two federal agents stood from separate pews.
Brandon looked toward the exit.
Thomas blocked one side.
Luca blocked the other.
For the first time, Brandon Hayes looked afraid.
Then a phone began ringing.
Not Maeve’s.
Brandon’s.
He stared at the caller ID.
Luca saw it.
His face went still.
“Who is it?” Maeve asked.
Brandon answered.
Listened.
His eyes moved slowly toward Maeve.
Then he whispered, “That’s impossible.”
“What?”
He lowered the phone.
“You wanted to know who was in your father’s car.”
Maeve’s heart pounded.
Brandon looked toward the cathedral doors.
“He’s here.”
The doors opened again.
An older man stepped inside.
Thomas made a strangled sound.
Luca whispered the name first.
“Samuel Pierce.”
May you like
The missing detective looked directly at Maeve.
And said, “Your father was alive when they took him from the crash.”
