Chapter 4 - THE LETTER LUCA NEVER RECEIVED
The missing box changed everything.
A toxicology report could be challenged.
Memories could be dismissed.
A child’s observation meant nothing in court.
Original blood samples from twelve years earlier could prove the poison had been present from the beginning.
Someone had removed them.
Luca ordered the archive room sealed.
Only four people had entered during the last five years.
Two were dead.
One was a records clerk with no connection to Sal.
The fourth was Sal himself.
Luca stared at the access log.
“What reason did he give?”
Marco read from the file.
“Estate audit.”
“Sal has never conducted an estate audit in his life.”
“I know.”
Luca rolled toward the window.
Outside, Maya and Tommy were throwing a baseball.
Tommy missed.
Maya laughed.
Tommy threw his glove at her.
She laughed harder.
Elena came into the study without knocking.
Luca looked at her.
“I told you before.”
“What?”
“You’re allowed to knock.”
“I’m angry.”
“So knocking becomes optional?”
“Yes.”
She closed the door.
“Maya said Sal was outside our apartment three weeks ago.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“We’re finding out.”
“That isn’t good enough.”
“No.”
Elena blinked.
She had expected an argument.
Luca continued.
“It isn’t.”
He handed her the tablet.
She read the archive log.
“Do you think he knew about Maya?”
“Yes.”
Elena went pale.
“How?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Marco entered carrying a large plastic evidence sleeve.
“We found something.”
He placed it on Luca’s desk.
Inside was an envelope.
Old.
Yellowed.
Never opened.
Elena stared at the handwriting.
Her knees almost gave out.
“That’s mine.”
Luca looked at her.
“You wrote this?”
“Twelve years ago.”
The envelope was addressed simply to Luca.
The old South Side apartment address was crossed out.
Someone had redirected it to an office building owned by one of Sal’s companies.
Elena touched the plastic.
“I wrote this after I found out I was pregnant.”
Luca could not speak.
Elena continued.
“I went back to the apartment.”
“You were gone.”
“The landlord said you’d left suddenly.”
“I asked where.”
“He didn’t know.”
“So I sent a letter.”
Her voice cracked.
“I thought maybe someone would forward it.”
Luca stared at the envelope.
“You told me?”
“Everything.”
Elena looked at him.
“I told you I was scared.”
“I told you I didn’t expect anything.”
“I just wanted you to know.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Marco opened a second file.
“There’s more.”
Attached to the envelope was an internal note.
Three sentences.
Mr. Bellini reviewed the correspondence.
Sender should receive no response.
No further contact authorized.
Elena sat down.
Luca did not move.
He could hear his own pulse.
Sal had known.
Before the collapse.
Before Luca lost his legs.
Before Maya was born.
Sal had deliberately kept them apart.
“Why?” Elena whispered.
Luca knew.
He finally understood.
Six weeks before his collapse, Luca had told Sal he wanted to change the organization.
End the trafficking routes Sal controlled.
Move money into legitimate shipping.
Construction.
Real estate.
Healthcare.
Luca had been tired of inheriting his father’s wars.
Elena had been part of the reason.
That summer had shown him something terrifying.
He wanted a normal life.
Sal would have lost millions.
Maybe everything.
Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
“We found Moretti.”
Luca looked up.
“Where?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Bring him in.”
Marco hesitated.
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“He disappeared from his house twenty minutes ago.”
May you like
Luca’s eyes darkened.
“Someone got there first.”
