Chapter 11 - THE VOICE ON APRIL TWENTIETH
“Put down the phone, Elena.”
David Bellini’s voice came through the old cassette player.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Calm.
That frightened me more.
In front of us, the real David Bellini stopped walking.
For the first time since he had entered the basement archive, the confidence disappeared from his face.
Luca looked at him.
Then at the cassette player.
Elena’s voice crackled through the speaker.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
David said, “Neither should you.”
The recording hissed.
Something moved.
A chair, maybe.
Then Elena spoke again.
“I copied everything.”
David’s jaw tightened.
Present-day Vanessa stared at her uncle.
“You told my father you never went inside.”
David ignored her.
On the tape, Elena continued.
“Richard’s transfers.”
A pause.
“Salvatore’s accounts.”
Another.
“And the repayment schedule Antonio signed.”
David’s eyes moved toward Luca.
There it was.
Repayment.
The detail Vanessa had spent her entire life being told did not exist.
Luca heard it too.
“So my father repaid yours.”
David smiled faintly.
“Not enough.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You said the Morettis stole everything.”
“They kept the future.”
“What does that mean?”
David finally looked at her.
“It means your grandfather put dirty money into a business when no bank would touch Antonio Moretti.”
“He was repaid.”
“Principal.”
“Plus interest.”
“Money is not the same thing as ownership.”
Luca’s voice hardened.
“It is when the agreement says it is.”
David’s eyes narrowed.
“You sound like your mother.”
The cassette continued.
Elena:
“Carlo knows.”
David:
“Carlo knows what I tell him.”
Vanessa went pale.
Luca slowly turned toward her.
“You said your father blamed Carlo.”
She could barely speak.
“He did.”
David laughed.
“My brother always needed a villain he could survive.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“You were dead.”
“No.”
“He buried you.”
“Socially.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means after Elena died, Carlo made sure I disappeared from Chicago.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Why?”
David looked at the tape.
“Because he was scared of what I knew.”
The recorded conversation sharpened.
Elena said:
“If anything happens to me, Luca will know.”
David answered:
“No, he won’t.”
A pause.
“Children believe what the adults around them agree to repeat.”
Luca’s face changed.
That line landed somewhere deep.
Elena responded:
“Then I’ll make sure the adults disagree.”
Static.
A drawer opened.
Paper moved.
David said:
“Where is the trust?”
Elena laughed once.
“You’ll never find it.”
“You think Rosa can protect it?”
Present-day David’s expression tightened.
Luca noticed.
On the recording:
“Elena.”
“No.”
“Give me the documents.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what Antonio has done.”
“I know exactly what he did.”
“You know what he told you.”
“I know what he signed.”
The sound of glass breaking.
Then breathing.
David’s voice:
“Don’t make this worse.”
Elena answered:
“You already did.”
A long stretch of static followed.
We all leaned toward the player.
Then footsteps.
Another man entered.
Richard Hale.
Even through thirty-one years of distortion, Patrick recognized the voice.
“David, what the hell are you doing?”
David swore.
Elena shouted:
“Richard, don’t touch that!”
Something fell.
Then David said:
“Get her away from the phone.”
Richard:
“This was never supposed to happen.”
David:
“It already happened.”
Luca’s hand tightened around the shelf.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
The tape continued.
Elena’s breathing became strange.
Slow.
Heavy.
Richard:
“What did you give her?”
David:
“Enough to calm her down.”
Luca turned toward the living David.
The look on his face made my stomach drop.
“You drugged her.”
David did not answer.
Vanessa whispered:
“Uncle David…”
He looked at her.
“She was going to destroy both families.”
“You drugged her.”
“She was hysterical.”
“She was recording you.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“Eventually.”
Vanessa looked sick.
On the tape, Richard said:
“Open the windows.”
David:
“No.”
“What?”
“If she wakes up, she calls police.”
“You said nobody gets hurt.”
“I said nobody gets exposed.”
Silence.
Richard:
“What did you do to the furnace?”
David’s face went blank.
The cassette hissed.
Then David’s recorded voice answered:
“Enough.”
Luca moved.
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Luca.”
He did not look at him.
“Let go.”
“Not here.”
“Let go.”
David backed toward the door.
Two private security officers blocked him.
Present-day David laughed.
“You think this proves murder?”
Luca stared at him.
“It proves you were there.”
“It proves voices on old magnetic tape.”
Daniel said, “It also gives police probable cause.”
David smiled.
“Then call them.”
“I already did.”
David’s eyes flickered.
For the first time, he looked toward the stairs.
Too late.
Sirens approached outside.
Vanessa turned to Luca.
“Play the rest.”
He did.
On the tape, Richard said:
“Carlo is going to kill us.”
David laughed.
“Carlo will thank me.”
“No.”
“He’ll thank me when Bellini records disappear.”
“She has a son.”
“So do thousands of women.”
The cruelty in the sentence made even Vanessa recoil.
Then Elena spoke.
Weakly.
Barely audible.
“Luca…”
Luca closed his eyes.
Her last recorded word was his name.
Then the tape cut off.
Silence filled the basement.
No one moved.
Police entered minutes later.
David did not resist.
He simply looked at Luca as officers approached.
“You think your mother was innocent?”
Luca said nothing.
David smiled.
“She was planning to take the company from Antonio.”
“She was protecting her shares.”
“She was going to leave him.”
That hit.
Teresa looked shocked.
Luca’s face emptied.
David continued.
“She had divorce papers.”
Vanessa whispered, “Stop.”
“She was taking Luca.”
Luca took one step.
Police moved between them.
David smiled.
“Ask Rosa.”
Then he allowed himself to be handcuffed.
As they took him away, he looked back.
“Your father knew she was leaving.”
The basement door closed.
Luca remained standing beside the cassette player.
The man who had just confessed on tape to drugging his mother and tampering with the furnace should have been the answer.
Instead David had opened another wound.
Luca looked at Teresa.
“Did my mother plan to leave my father?”
Teresa did not answer.
That was answer enough.
May you like
Then Luca whispered:
“Find Rosa.”
