Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED
By midnight, the Moretti estate had become a fortress.
Nobody left.
Nobody entered without permission.
Adrian should have been in the medical suite.
Instead, he sat behind his desk with an IV taped to his arm.
Dr. Greene stood across from him, furious.
“You nearly died six hours ago.”
“And I’m alive.”
“Barely.”
“Then congratulations. You did your job.”
Dr. Greene pointed toward Ellie, asleep on the couch with Rosie against her cheek.
“She did my job.”
Adrian looked at the girl.
“Yes.”
Hannah sat beside her daughter.
She had refused to go home.
Partly because Ellie was exhausted.
Mostly because Adrian had quietly told Marco to keep Hannah inside the estate until they understood who wanted him dead.
Hannah knew what that meant.
“You think someone might come after us.”
Adrian didn’t lie.
“Yes.”
“Because Ellie saw Vincent.”
“Yes.”
Hannah’s face tightened.
“I’m taking her home.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to tell me where I can take my child.”
“If Vincent is alive, he knows your daughter can identify him.”
“So I’m supposed to hide in a mafia mansion?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Tonight, this mafia mansion is the safest place available.”
Hannah laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You were poisoned inside this safe place.”
That landed.
Marco entered before Adrian could answer.
“We found something.”
He placed a plastic evidence bag on the desk.
Inside was a tiny blue vial.
Ellie had described it perfectly.
“Marina parking lot,” Marco said. “Twenty feet from Vincent’s car.”
Adrian studied it.
“Contents?”
“Lab is working on it.”
“And the blood?”
“Human. We’re checking whether it belongs to Vincent.”
Hannah folded her arms.
“So maybe somebody killed him.”
“Maybe.”
“Or maybe somebody wants you to think they did.”
Adrian looked at her.
Marco did too.
Hannah shrugged.
“What? I watch TV.”
For the first time that night, Adrian almost smiled.
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He stepped aside to answer.
Hannah lowered her voice.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Adrian.”
“I’m not calling you Adrian.”
“Why?”
“Because you scare the hell out of me.”
He accepted that.
“What is it?”
“If Ellie really saved your life…”
“She did.”
“…then I need something from you.”
“Name it.”
“You make sure she stays out of this.”
Adrian glanced at the sleeping child.
“That was already decided.”
“And if somebody comes after her?”
His face became unreadable.
“They won’t get close.”
Hannah held his gaze.
There was something in his voice she believed.
That frightened her almost as much as everything else.
Marco returned.
“Blood is Vincent’s.”
“Enough to kill him?”
“No.”
“Then he could still be alive.”
Marco nodded.
“And there’s more.”
He placed a photograph on the desk.
A marina security camera had caught Vincent walking toward a black SUV.
He wasn’t bleeding.
He wasn’t being dragged.
He climbed in willingly.
Adrian leaned closer.
The image was grainy, but a second man could be seen behind the wheel.
“Can you identify the driver?”
“Not yet.”
Adrian stared at the SUV.
Vincent hadn’t been kidnapped.
He had escaped.
The blood had been planted.
Then Hannah noticed something.
“Wait.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Zoom in.”
Marco enlarged the image.
On the driver’s wrist was a silver watch.
Hannah frowned.
“I’ve seen that watch.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Where?”
Her face slowly drained of color.
“At this house.”
Marco leaned forward.
“On who?”
Hannah swallowed.
“Your brother.”
Adrian went completely still.
May you like
His younger brother, Luca Moretti, had been standing downstairs that very moment.
And suddenly the betrayal had a name.
