Chapter 11 - The Call He Never Took
Elaine wouldn’t let Dante answer Mercer alone.
By eight that morning, a federal investigator named Helen Ward sat in our hotel room beside a Chicago detective.
Sophia was downstairs eating pancakes with Mrs. Bell and Luca.
I had finally told her we were having an unexpected sleepover.
She thought the hotel elevator was the best part.
I envied her.
Ward examined the message.
“He’s trying to bargain.”
“Then bargain,” Dante said.
“We will talk to him.”
“He wants money.”
“He may want protection more.”
Dante’s phone rang again.
Mercer.
Ward nodded.
Dante answered on speaker.
“You have something to say?”
Mercer’s breathing sounded rough.
“Vittorio’s cleaning up. He sent men to my house.”
“Where’s Marco’s phone?”
“With me.”
“Why keep it?”
“Insurance.”
Dante’s hand tightened around the edge of the table.
“You let me believe he betrayed me.”
“I gave you what Vittorio told me to give you.”
“You were my security chief.”
“I know.”
No apology. Just two exhausted words.
Ward introduced herself.
Mercer swore.
Then he went quiet.
She told him how to surrender safely. She made no promise about immunity.
He asked whether Vittorio was already in custody.
“Not yet.”
“Then hurry.”
Before the call ended, he played the message.
Marco’s voice sounded young.
Younger than I expected.
“Dante, it’s me. Don’t hang up if you’re hearing this. Carmela was right about the foundation. Vittorio knows she made copies. Mercer changed the security detail. I’m at the old garage. Come alone, but tell somebody where you’re going. Please, just listen this time.”
A pause.
Then, quieter:
“I’m your brother. You know me.”
The recording ended.
Dante didn’t move.
Nobody tried to fill the silence.
Eventually, he stood and walked into the bathroom.
Through the door, I heard one harsh breath.
Then another.
When he came out, his face was wet.
“I thought answering him would make me weak,” he said.
Ward set her pen down.
“What can you tell us about the old garage?”
He sat.
And this time, he answered every question.
That afternoon, Mercer surrendered with the phone and records he had kept.
His account gave investigators a path they hadn’t had before.
But while they were arranging to locate Vittorio, the estate’s overnight guard called.
Vittorio had disappeared.
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So had three vehicles.
And someone had left the guesthouse door standing open.
