Chapter 15 - VICTOR’S CONFESSION
Victor looked smaller without the tattoo hidden.
Federal custody removed some of the mythology.
Orange uniform.
Gray walls.
Bruise along his jaw.
Bandage beneath his ribs.
Still, when I sat across from him, I remembered freezing water and headlights beneath the river.
“You watched us.”
He nodded.
“You watched me try to save them.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you help?”
“I was a coward.”
The answer was so simple I hated it.
“You worked for Dominic.”
“At first.”
“And Salvatore?”
“Later.”
“Why do you want me here?”
Victor looked at the observation glass.
Luca stood behind it.
“He won’t believe me.”
“Who?”
“Luca.”
“About what?”
“You.”
My stomach tightened.
Victor leaned forward.
“You weren’t supposed to be at Ashwood Bridge.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t understand.”
“Someone else was.”
“Who?”
“A paramedic.”
I frowned.
Victor continued.
“Sal had a man waiting two miles from the bridge.”
“What for?”
“To control the scene.”
My skin chilled.
“The car was supposed to crash.”
“Victor.”
“You told Dominic you only meant to scare Alessandra.”
“He did.”
“Sal changed the order.”
“What was the new order?”
Victor stared at his hands.
“No survivors.”
Silence.
I could hear my heart.
“The paramedic was supposed to reach the vehicle first.”
“Make sure Alessandra was dead.”
“And Sophia.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Then opened them.
“But I got there first.”
“You ruined everything.”
The words hit strangely.
My random decision to stop.
My shoes on ice.
My call to 911.
My body in the water.
That was why I had become a problem.
Not because I heard Dominic.
Because I interrupted a planned murder scene.
“What was the paramedic’s name?”
“Darren Cole.”
Federal investigators recognized it.
Cole had been part of the rescue response.
He was one of the men who later signed the report stating Alessandra had no pulse when responders arrived.
My stomach turned.
“I felt a pulse.”
Victor nodded.
“She was alive.”
The room disappeared.
“What?”
“When I went down the embankment after you were taken away, Cole was beside the car.”
I could barely speak.
“Alessandra was alive?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he do?”
Victor looked away.
I stood.
“What did he do?”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Hannah.”
“Tell me.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“He injected something.”
My knees almost failed.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You watched?”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“Yes.”
My hand moved before I thought.
I slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
A guard stepped forward.
Victor did not react.
“I deserved that.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You deserve every second of remembering that you watched a mother die.”
His eyes filled.
“I do.”
I sat down because my legs would no longer hold me.
Victor continued.
“Cole altered the scene report.”
“Dominic knew?”
“Not until later.”
“Sal?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Cole?”
“Dead.”
“How?”
“Overdose.”
“Real?”
Victor gave me a look.
Probably not.
“What about the Legacy file?”
“I have it.”
“Where?”
“I’ll give it to federal investigators.”
“Then why me?”
“Because there’s something else on it.”
“What?”
“Video from the bridge.”
I stopped breathing.
“A dashboard camera.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
“You recorded everything?”
“Part.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Of course.
Men who betrayed everyone kept records in case they were betrayed.
“What does it show?”
“You entering the river.”
“Cole arriving.”
“Salvatore’s car.”
I stared at him.
“Sal was there?”
Victor nodded.
“He watched from the road.”
Luca entered without waiting.
“He watched my wife die?”
Victor looked at him.
“Yes.”
Luca crossed the room.
Federal agents moved.
I stood between them.
“Luca.”
His face frightened me.
“Move.”
“No.”
“He watched Alessandra die.”
“So did Victor.”
“I know.”
“And killing him won’t change it.”
Victor looked almost amused.
Luca glared at me.
“You don’t get to tell me—”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because Sophia needs a father more than Alessandra needs revenge.”
That stopped him.
The words hurt both of us.
But they worked.
Luca stepped back.
Victor exhaled.
Then said, “There’s one more thing.”
Luca looked at him.
“What?”
“Salvatore didn’t just want Alessandra dead.”
“He wanted you blamed.”
“For what?”
“The foundation theft.”
“He expected Alessandra’s evidence to surface after her death.”
Luca frowned.
“Why would it implicate me?”
“He planted your digital signature on transfers.”
“And when she died?”
“Dominic panicked and buried everything.”
“So Sal lost his chance.”
“Yes.”
“Until now.”
Victor nodded.
“The Legacy file contains enough real and fake evidence mixed together that nobody can separate it quickly.”
“What does Sal want?”
“The Moretti companies.”
Luca laughed without humor.
“He thinks I’ll hand him everything?”
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“He thinks you’ll die first.”
My skin prickled.
Luca did not react.
“Threat?”
“Plan.”
“When?”
Victor looked toward me.
“He already put it in motion.”
“Where?”
Victor said three words.
“Sophia’s charity walk.”
Luca froze.
The event was scheduled two days away.
A public rehabilitation fundraiser.
Hundreds of people.
News cameras.
Sophia planned to walk ten steps across the stage.
May you like
Victor leaned closer.
“Salvatore is going to kill you in front of your daughter.”
