Chapter 12 - THE CALL
Sophia had answered because the phone rang while her nanny was carrying laundry upstairs.
The conversation lasted twenty-one seconds.
The call recording system captured everything.
Victor said her name.
Sophia asked who he was.
He told her he was sorry about her mother.
Then he said:
“Ask your father who ordered the second car.”
And hung up.
Luca replayed the sentence three times.
“What second car?”
I asked.
“The SUV?”
Matteo shook his head.
“Victor was driving that.”
“So what does he mean?”
Nobody knew.
Until the motel search.
Victor was gone.
But inside the room, police found three prepaid phones.
A passport.
Cash.
And photographs from the night of the crash.
One showed Alessandra’s sedan leaving the Moretti residence.
Behind it, Victor’s gray SUV.
Farther back was another vehicle.
Black Mercedes.
The license plate belonged to Luca.
He stared at the image.
“That wasn’t me.”
“Who used your car?”
Matteo looked sick.
“I did.”
The room froze.
Luca turned slowly.
“What?”
Matteo did not move.
“I took your car that night.”
“Why?”
“You told me to meet the auditors at the North Pier warehouse.”
“I never told you that.”
“I received a message from your phone.”
Luca stared.
“I was at a restaurant waiting for Alessandra.”
“I know that now.”
“Who sent the message?”
“I assumed you.”
“Matteo.”
“I don’t know.”
Matteo looked at the photograph.
“I left the house ten minutes after Alessandra.”
“Did you follow her?”
“No.”
“The highway entrance is the same route.”
“Then I turned south.”
“So Victor wants us to believe you were the second car.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at Matteo.
“Were you close enough to see her?”
“For two blocks.”
“Anything unusual?”
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
“There was a motorcycle.”
Luca frowned.
“What motorcycle?”
“Parked across from the house.”
“Rider?”
“Helmet.”
“Anything else?”
Matteo looked at Sophia, who sat quietly beside Dr. Benton.
“A patch.”
“What kind?”
“Winged hawk.”
Victor’s symbol.
Perhaps there had been more than one man.
Perhaps Victor had never acted alone.
The next breakthrough came from Alessandra’s locket.
One recording captured Dominic talking with another man two days before the crash.
The second voice was distorted by distance.
But one sentence was clear.
“If she gets to Luca tonight, we lose everything.”
Dominic answered.
“Then she doesn’t get to Luca.”
The other man said, “Victor can stop the car.”
Dominic replied, “No bodies unless necessary.”
My stomach turned.
The second man laughed.
“You built a system on fear and now you’re scared of a woman with a spreadsheet.”
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“Handle it.”
The audio ended.
Luca looked at Matteo.
“Identify him.”
“We’re trying.”
Dr. Benton asked, “Could it be Marcus?”
“No.”
Matteo shook his head.
“Different accent.”
I replayed the line.
Chicago.
Older.
Familiar somehow.
Then Luca went still.
“No.”
“What?”
He took the headphones.
Listened again.
His face changed.
“Who is it?”
I asked.
He removed the headphones slowly.
“My uncle.”
“Dominic’s brother?”
“No.”
“My mother’s brother.”
“Name?”
“Salvatore Moretti.”
Matteo looked stunned.
“Sal’s been retired for ten years.”
Luca stared at the computer.
“Apparently not.”
Salvatore Moretti lived in Naples, Florida.
Officially.
His condominium had been empty for six months.
Bank records showed monthly payments from a Dominic-controlled shell company.
The last transaction occurred that morning.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Location metadata placed the withdrawal in Chicago.
Salvatore was here.
The conspiracy had just gained another architect.
And for Luca, another betrayal.
That evening Sophia found him alone in Alessandra’s study.
I saw her stop in the doorway.
“Daddy?”
He looked up.
“Hey.”
“Are you sad?”
“Yes.”
“Because of Mommy?”
“Yes.”
She walked to him using her crutches.
One slow step.
Then another.
He moved to help.
She shook her head.
“I can.”
He waited.
She reached him.
Then put her arms around his neck.
“You didn’t know.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I should have.”
She leaned back.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Hannah says knowing after is cheating.”
I nearly choked from the hallway.
Luca glanced toward me.
“What exactly are you teaching my daughter?”
I stepped inside.
“That hindsight is unfair.”
Sophia smiled.
“That.”
Luca looked at her.
Then at me.
For the first time since the gala, his face softened completely.
The moment lasted six seconds.
Then the house alarm sounded.
Matteo entered at a run.
“Luca.”
“What?”
“We found Victor.”
“Where?”
Matteo’s face had gone pale.
“Outside the south gate.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then bring him in.”
“He’s not alone.”
Luca’s expression changed.
“Who is with him?”
May you like
Matteo answered.
“Dominic.”
