Chapter 7 - THE MAN SHE WAS WARNED ABOUT
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
The silence inside the maintenance office felt heavier than gunfire.
Evelyn stared at Lorenzo.
Her father’s final warning repeated in her head.
Do not give it to Lorenzo Moretti.
Lorenzo stared at the silent recorder.
Celeste broke first.
“Well.”
Evelyn looked at her.
Celeste lifted one eyebrow.
“That is inconvenient.”
Marco stepped between Lorenzo and the suitcase.
Not aggressively.
Instinctively.
Lorenzo noticed.
“Relax.”
Marco stepped aside.
Evelyn closed the suitcase.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You think I’m going to take it.”
“My dead father specifically told me not to give it to you.”
“Fair.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“What would you prefer?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“Maybe tell me why a man who disappeared twenty years ago was afraid of you.”
“I was fourteen.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“No.”
Lorenzo held her gaze.
“But it limits my involvement.”
Celeste moved toward the door.
“We should leave.”
Lorenzo stopped her.
“Not yet.”
She turned.
“What now?”
Lorenzo pointed toward the ledger.
“Your father is in those pages.”
Celeste’s face became unreadable.
“So is yours.”
“My father is dead.”
“So?”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed.
“Arthur Vane isn’t.”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
Evelyn looked between them.
“Your father warned you about tonight.”
Celeste nodded.
“Supposedly.”
“Then call him.”
“I already tried.”
“When?”
“In the car.”
“No answer?”
Celeste shook her head.
Lorenzo took out his phone.
“Use mine.”
Celeste stared.
“You think I’m lying.”
“I think everyone is lying.”
She took the phone.
Dialed from memory.
The call rang twice.
Then someone answered.
Celeste immediately spoke.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Her face changed.
“Dad?”
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
Not Arthur Vane.
“Hello, Celeste.”
Lorenzo stiffened.
Celeste went pale.
“Who is this?”
The man chuckled.
“You know.”
Celeste’s fingers trembled.
Evelyn watched her.
For the first time since the restaurant, Celeste looked genuinely terrified.
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“Put it on speaker.”
She already had.
The voice continued.
“You were supposed to keep Lorenzo at the table.”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“I changed my mind.”
“No.”
“You lost control.”
Lorenzo spoke.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed softly.
“Vittorio’s boy.”
Lorenzo went still.
“Salvatore.”
Marco whispered a curse.
Evelyn felt cold.
The dead uncle from the photograph was alive.
Salvatore Moretti continued.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Lorenzo’s voice was flat.
“You killed my father.”
“Your father killed himself the moment he became sentimental.”
Celeste whispered, “Where is my father?”
Salvatore ignored her.
Lorenzo repeated the question.
“Where is Arthur?”
Salvatore sighed.
“Still thinking in terms of family.”
He sounded almost disappointed.
“That was Vittorio’s weakness too.”
Evelyn looked at the suitcase.
Salvatore continued.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Lorenzo looked at Evelyn.
“The ledger?”
“Very good.”
Salvatore laughed.
“Thomas was always dramatic.”
Evelyn stepped toward the phone.
“What did you do to my father?”
Silence.
Then Salvatore’s tone changed.
“Evelyn Carter.”
Her stomach tightened.
“You look like your mother.”
The words struck harder than any threat.
“You knew her?”
“I knew everyone who mattered to Thomas.”
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing he didn’t invite.”
“Where is he?”
Lorenzo looked sharply at her.
Celeste did too.
Salvatore chuckled.
“You still don’t understand.”
Evelyn gripped the edge of the desk.
“Understand what?”
“Your father isn’t dead.”
The room disappeared around her.
Evelyn could not breathe.
Salvatore continued.
“He has been very useful.”
Evelyn heard her own voice from far away.
“You’re lying.”
“Thomas Caruso was always a survivor.”
“Where is he?”
“Bring me the ledger.”
“Where?”
Lorenzo shook his head once.
Do not agree.
Evelyn ignored him.
“Where?”
Salvatore gave an address.
An abandoned river freight terminal south of the city.
“Tomorrow.”
“Midnight.”
“Bring the ledger.”
“And Lorenzo?”
Salvatore paused.
“Bring him too.”
The call ended.
Evelyn stood motionless.
Lorenzo took the phone from Celeste.
“Trap.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be the theme tonight.”
“You’re not going.”
“My father may be alive.”
“He may also have been dead for twenty years.”
Evelyn turned on him.
“You don’t get to say that.”
“I get to say exactly what keeps you alive.”
“You think that’s your job now?”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quickly she stopped.
Lorenzo seemed surprised by it too.
Celeste looked between them.
“Wonderful.”
She folded her arms.
“While you two decide who is protecting whom, my father is also missing.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You knew Salvatore.”
Celeste’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Evelyn stared.
Celeste continued.
“He approached my father first.”
“He said the Moretti organization had become weak.”
Lorenzo’s eyes sharpened.
“And you agreed?”
“I agreed that Chicago was changing.”
“You agreed to help him kill me.”
“No.”
“Then why was he expecting you to keep me at the table?”
Celeste looked away.
That was answer enough.
Lorenzo’s voice became quiet.
“Tell me everything.”
Celeste finally looked back.
“I was supposed to delay you.”
“For how long?”
“Six minutes.”
“Why?”
“I was told there would be a demonstration.”
“A demonstration.”
“I did not know they were going to shoot into a dining room.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“You received a message saying cleaners in position.”
“I thought it meant your guards would be removed.”
“Removed how?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Lorenzo laughed without humor.
“There it is.”
Celeste’s eyes flashed.
“Don’t.”
“The language wealthy people use when they don’t want blood on their hands.”
Celeste slapped him.
Marco moved.
Lorenzo raised one hand.
Evelyn stared at Celeste.
Tears stood in the woman’s eyes now.
“I was trying to stop a war.”
Celeste’s voice cracked.
“My father said if I married Lorenzo, Salvatore would destroy both families.”
“So you helped Salvatore?” Evelyn asked.
“I tried to buy time.”
“By betraying the man you were marrying.”
Celeste looked at her.
“You don’t understand families like ours.”
Evelyn thought about the cassette.
The ledger.
Her father.
Her dead mother.
“Apparently I understand them more than I wanted to.”
Lorenzo picked up the suitcase.
Evelyn immediately grabbed the handle.
He looked at her hand.
“It stays with me.”
“No.”
“My people can protect it.”
“Your people couldn’t protect a dinner reservation.”
Marco almost smiled.
Lorenzo did not.
Then he released the handle.
“Fine.”
Evelyn blinked.
“Fine?”
“You carry it.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever planned tonight keeps underestimating you.”
May you like
He looked toward the door.
“I’m starting to think that may be our only advantage.”
