Chapter 3 - SOMEONE WAS ALREADY INSIDE THE WALL
At 2:13 the next morning, Marco called.
Alessandro answered immediately.
“We found something.”
He left Emma sleeping beside Sophia and drove back to the mansion.
Rain still covered Manhattan.
When Alessandro entered the old east corridor, six security men were waiting.
Part of the wall had been opened.
Marco pointed inside.
“There’s a compartment.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
Behind the plaster was a narrow steel box.
The lock had been cut.
Recently.
Alessandro touched the exposed metal.
Bright scratches covered the edge.
“How recently?”
Marco answered.
“Days.”
Alessandro turned.
“Before Emma came here?”
“Probably.”
That changed everything.
Someone had been searching before they knew about Sophia’s letter.
Marco opened the compartment.
Empty.
Almost.
A tiny strip of blue leather remained caught beneath one hinge.
Alessandro picked it up.
“The ledger.”
Marco nodded.
“Someone found it.”
“Check every camera.”
“We already did.”
“And?”
Marco’s expression hardened.
“East corridor cameras went offline for eleven minutes three nights ago.”
“Who had access?”
“Four people.”
“Names.”
“Me.”
“Rosa.”
“Your uncle Carlo.”
Alessandro’s eyes sharpened.
“And?”
Marco hesitated.
“Daniel Moretti.”
Alessandro went still.
Daniel was Alessandro’s cousin.
His father had died when Daniel was seventeen.
Vittorio had raised him like another son.
Daniel now managed half of the Moretti legitimate businesses.
He also knew nearly every security protocol inside the mansion.
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Where is Daniel?”
“Boston.”
“Verify it.”
Marco called.
Three minutes later, his expression changed.
“His plane went to Boston.”
“But?”
“Daniel wasn’t on it.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“Find him.”
They returned to the security office.
Camera footage from the night of the breach showed nothing useful.
Then one guard noticed something.
A service elevator had moved at 3:07 a.m.
No access card was logged.
Alessandro stared at the screen.
“Who can override the system?”
Marco answered quietly.
“Family.”
The next morning, Alessandro returned to the hospital.
Emma was awake.
She had arranged plastic cups across Sophia’s tray.
“What are those?”
“Medicine guards.”
Alessandro raised an eyebrow.
“They protect Mom’s water.”
Sophia smiled weakly.
“She invented them.”
Alessandro sat beside the bed.
For twenty minutes, nobody mentioned ledgers.
Nobody mentioned betrayal.
Emma talked about school.
Sophia talked about nothing important.
And Alessandro discovered something unfamiliar.
Peace.
Then his phone vibrated.
Marco.
FOUND DANIEL.
Alessandro stood.
“I need to leave.”
Sophia studied him.
“Something happened.”
“No.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Alessandro almost smiled.
“I’ll be back.”
He met Marco at an abandoned Moretti warehouse near the Hudson.
Daniel was waiting inside.
Not captured.
Waiting.
He stood beneath a single hanging light.
Thirty-nine.
Expensive coat.
Perfectly calm.
“You’ve been looking for me.”
Alessandro approached.
“Where were you three nights ago?”
Daniel smiled.
“Is this about the wall?”
Marco reached beneath his jacket.
Daniel laughed.
“Relax.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“You opened the compartment.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the ledger?”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“I don’t have it.”
“Then who does?”
Daniel reached into his coat.
Marco drew his weapon.
Daniel stopped.
“It’s a photograph.”
Alessandro nodded.
Daniel slowly removed his phone.
On the screen was a picture of the blue ledger.
It was open.
A list of names filled the page.
Politicians.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
Judges.
And one name Alessandro recognized immediately.
Carlo Moretti.
His uncle.
Beside Carlo’s name was a handwritten notation.
PRIMARY CONTACT.
Alessandro looked at Daniel.
“Where is the ledger?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Someone took it from me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I found it because Uncle Carlo told me to look.”
Alessandro’s expression changed.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He said your father hid financial records.”
“And you believed him?”
“I believed he was trying to protect the family.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Then I opened it.”
“What did you find?”
“Enough to realize Carlo wasn’t protecting us.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“He was protecting himself.”
Alessandro felt anger rising.
“Where is Carlo?”
“I don’t know.”
Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then his face changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“It’s the hospital.”
Alessandro’s blood went cold.
Marco continued.
“Someone tried to enter Sophia’s room.”
Alessandro was already moving.
“Who?”
Marco looked at him.
“They were wearing a hospital badge.”
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“And?”
“The badge belonged to an employee who died six months ago.”
