Chapter 11 - THE TRAITOR
Luca locked the room.
Naomi.
Marco.
Luca.
Three people.
Three suspects.
Marco lifted both hands.
“It wasn’t me.”
Luca stared at him.
“Then who?”
Naomi suddenly understood.
“Isabella.”
Both men looked at her.
“What?” Luca asked.
“She knew about the safe before anyone.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“She’s been planning ahead this entire time.”
They raced to Isabella’s room.
Empty.
Luca’s face drained.
Her wheelchair was gone.
So was her coat.
On the piano sat one note.
Naomi grabbed it.
DON’T FOLLOW.
Luca cursed.
Naomi turned the paper over.
There was another line.
HE WILL KILL BOTH MY SONS.
Luca punched the wall.
“She took the evidence.”
“To trade herself,” Naomi said.
Marco checked cameras.
“Garage camera shows the old sedan leaving twenty minutes ago.”
“She drove?”
Naomi shook her head.
“She can’t.”
They checked another camera.
The driver’s face appeared.
The nurse.
Elena.
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“Elena has worked here eleven years.”
Naomi felt something cold move through her.
“Which means Dominic planted someone eleven years ago.”
Marco grabbed his gun.
They raced to the terminal.
Rain hammered the city.
At 11:47 p.m., Luca’s convoy stopped beneath the abandoned station.
Naomi could hear trains in the distance, even though none came through the dead platform.
Inside, Isabella sat in her wheelchair.
Dante was tied beside her.
Dominic stood behind them.
Vivian held the evidence case.
Elena stood nearby.
Alive.
Unashamed.
Luca walked forward.
“Let them go.”
Dominic opened the case.
“Your mother brought everything.”
Luca looked at Isabella.
Her eyes filled.
He shook his head.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
She tapped one low note on a tiny electronic keyboard resting on her lap.
Yes.
Even now.
Naomi nearly cried.
Dominic noticed.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Family sacrifice.”
He pulled out the confession.
Then lit it on fire.
Luca moved.
Guns raised everywhere.
Dominic smiled.
“Easy.”
Vivian looked at Naomi.
“You ruined everything.”
Naomi laughed.
“No. Your personality did that years ago.”
Vivian slapped her.
Naomi staggered.
Luca took one step forward.
“Touch her again.”
Vivian looked delighted.
“There he is.”
She pressed a gun against Naomi’s ribs.
“Your weakness.”
Naomi stared at Luca.
Then at Dante.
Dante’s eyes shifted.
Left.
Right.
Down.
Naomi followed the movement.
A loose metal bar lay beside his chair.
He was telling her something.
Naomi slowly moved her foot.
Dominic raised the flash drive.
“This ends tonight.”
Then Isabella hit a high note.
No.
Dominic frowned.
Isabella hit it again.
No.
Naomi suddenly understood.
The drives were fake.
Dominic understood one second later.
May you like
His face changed.
And Isabella smiled.
