Chapter 7 - THE SAFE
Smoke poured from the basement stairwell.
Luca grabbed Naomi.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a debate.”
“My patient is pointing at the basement.”
“Your patient is my mother.”
“Exactly. So move.”
Dante muttered, “I like her.”
Luca shot him a look.
They went down together.
The basement smelled like dust, smoke, and old stone.
At the far wall, fresh damage marked the concrete.
Someone had tried to blast through it.
Marco examined the hole.
“They didn’t finish.”
Luca looked at Isabella.
She pointed toward an old wine rack.
Dante pulled it away.
Behind it was a steel panel.
A keypad.
Luca stared.
“I grew up here.”
Isabella raised one eyebrow.
Dante laughed.
“Apparently Mom had secrets.”
Naomi crouched beside her.
“Do you know the code?”
Low note.
Yes.
Isabella slowly tapped numbers into Naomi’s palm.
Luca entered them.
The door clicked.
Inside were ledgers.
Photographs.
Two flash drives.
A sealed envelope.
And an old revolver.
Dante picked up a photograph.
His face went white.
“What?”
Luca took it.
Naomi saw three men standing beside a shipping warehouse.
A younger Dominic Vale.
Luca’s father.
And a third man Naomi recognized.
Marco.
Everyone turned.
Marco stared at the picture.
“That’s not what you think.”
Luca lifted his gun.
“Start talking.”
Marco slowly raised his hands.
“I was undercover.”
“For who?”
“Your father.”
Dante laughed bitterly.
“That sounds convenient.”
Marco looked at Isabella.
“She knows.”
Isabella hit low.
Yes.
Luca kept the gun raised.
“What were they doing?”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
“Your father discovered Dominic was trafficking people through Moretti ports.”
Naomi felt sick.
“People?”
“Women. Runaways. Immigrants. Anyone nobody would look for.”
Dante stared at his brother.
“Dad knew?”
“He stopped it,” Marco said. “That’s why Dominic tried to kill him.”
Luca opened the sealed envelope.
Inside was a handwritten confession from his father.
And a list of names.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
All tied to Dominic.
Naomi looked at the list.
Then froze.
One name stood out.
Robert Carter.
Her father.
She stopped breathing.
Luca noticed.
“What?”
Naomi pointed.
“That’s my dad.”
Nobody spoke.
Her father had died when she was fourteen.
At least, that was what her mother had told her.
Marco looked at Naomi more carefully.
“What was his full name?”
“Robert James Carter.”
Marco’s face changed.
“No.”
Naomi stepped toward him.
“What?”
“You’re Robert Carter’s daughter?”
“Yes.”
Marco looked at Luca.
Then Isabella.
“This explains why Dominic was watching her.”
Naomi’s voice shook.
“Explain what?”
Marco swallowed.
“Your father wasn’t working for Dominic.”
“Then why is his name there?”
“Because Robert Carter was the federal investigator who built the case against him.”
Naomi stared.
Marco continued.
“And he didn’t die in a car accident.”
Naomi’s eyes filled.
“What are you saying?”
May you like
Marco looked directly at her.
“Dominic Vale murdered your father.”
