Chapter 6 - THE LAST NIGHT OF ISABELLA MORETTI
Daniel refused to talk.
For twelve hours.
Then his lawyer arrived.
For another six, he insisted he knew nothing about Isabella’s death.
Richard did not believe him.
Neither did Alessandro.
The police had enough to hold Daniel for breaking into the estate, assault, weapons charges, and violating Elena’s old protective order.
But murder was different.
They needed evidence.
And Luca had vanished.
His apartment was empty.
His accounts had begun moving money offshore.
His private plane remained in Chicago, which meant he had either changed transportation or never intended to leave the city.
Alessandro sat in his office at 3:11 a.m.
Isabella’s files covered his desk.
Elena entered quietly.
He looked up.
“You should be sleeping.”
“So should you.”
“Sophia?”
“Asleep.”
“Mia?”
“Also asleep.”
“No midnight rescue mission?”
“Mabel has apparently been informed that everyone is safe.”
Alessandro looked at the rabbit sitting on a shelf near his desk.
Mia had insisted it remain with him until he “finished being sad.”
Elena noticed the photograph in his hand.
Isabella.
Wedding day.
“She was beautiful.”
“Yes.”
“You still love her.”
Alessandro looked at Elena.
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Elena respected him for it.
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Good?”
“Love shouldn’t disappear because someone died.”
Alessandro looked back at the photograph.
“Sometimes I think I’m angry with her.”
“For dying?”
“For leaving that night.”
Elena sat across from him.
“What happened?”
“We argued.”
“About?”
“My work.”
He leaned back.
“She wanted me to sell the parts of the business that kept us tied to men like Luca.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Pride.”
At least he knew.
“She said Sophia deserved a father who could attend a school function without six armed men.”
A faint smile touched his face.
“I told her Sophia would have six armed men at every school function.”
Elena almost smiled.
“She didn’t appreciate that?”
“She threw a pillow at me.”
“What happened next?”
“She left.”
“To come here?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“She said she needed air. She drove toward the lake.”
“That’s what you thought.”
“Yes.”
Elena opened Isabella’s letter again.
“She said she wanted to tell you.”
Alessandro looked up.
“If Daniel’s message says she was trying to reach you—”
“She may have been coming back.”
He became still.
The possibility hurt.
For eleven months, he had believed Isabella died angry with him.
Now that certainty was disappearing.
Richard entered without knocking.
He did that only when something mattered.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We recovered deleted location data from Daniel’s old phone backup.”
Alessandro stood.
“Where was he?”
“Sheridan Road.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Twenty-eight minutes before Isabella crashed.”
Alessandro’s eyes hardened.
“Anything after?”
“Yes.”
Richard placed a map on the screen.
“Daniel’s phone followed Isabella’s SUV for nineteen miles.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“No.”
“Then stopped here.”
The map showed a curve beside the lake.
The crash site.
Alessandro stared.
“How long?”
“Twelve minutes.”
“And Luca?”
“His phone was off.”
“Convenient.”
“There’s more.”
Richard displayed a photograph recovered from Daniel’s cloud storage.
A damaged black SUV.
Isabella’s vehicle.
Taken from behind.
Timestamped nine minutes before emergency services were called.
Elena whispered, “He photographed it.”
Richard nodded.
Another photograph.
A close-up of the driver-side rear wheel.
Something metal protruded near the brake line.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“What is that?”
“A remote hydraulic clamp.”
Richard’s face was grim.
“Designed to rupture the brake line after pressure builds.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“They sabotaged her brakes.”
“Looks like it.”
Alessandro did not move.
Richard continued.
“Daniel probably followed to confirm the crash.”
“Then why call an ambulance?”
“He didn’t.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“A passing driver did.”
Silence.
“Did Isabella die instantly?”
Richard hesitated.
“No.”
Alessandro’s face changed.
“How long?”
“Medical examiner estimated between fifteen and twenty-five minutes.”
Something inside him shattered.
She had been alive.
Alone.
In the wreckage.
Maybe waiting for him.
Elena stood and approached carefully.
“Alessandro.”
He stepped away.
“I should have answered.”
“What?”
“My phone.”
He stared at the floor.
“She called me.”
His voice broke.
“After the argument, she called twice.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t answer.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I wanted her to come home first.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I thought silence would make a point.”
He laughed once, bitterly.
“Very powerful.”
Elena stood in front of him.
“Look at me.”
He didn’t.
“Alessandro.”
He finally did.
“What happened to Isabella is Luca’s fault.”
“And Daniel’s.”
“Yes.”
“Not yours.”
“I left her alone.”
“No.”
Elena’s voice sharpened.
“You argued with your wife.”
He stared at her.
“That is not murder.”
Silence.
“You are allowed to regret the last conversation.”
She took a breath.
“You are not allowed to steal responsibility from the men who killed her.”
That landed.
Alessandro closed his eyes.
The phone on his desk rang.
Richard answered.
“Who?”
He listened.
Then handed it to Alessandro.
“Daniel wants to talk.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel appeared on a secure video from the county detention center.
His face was bruised from the struggle at the estate.
His arrogance was gone.
“I want protection.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“From?”
“Luca.”
“You seem confused about your bargaining position.”
“I can prove he killed Isabella.”
Elena moved into view.
Daniel saw her.
His expression changed.
“Elena.”
“Don’t.”
One word.
Enough.
Daniel looked back at Alessandro.
“I didn’t know Luca planned to kill her.”
“But you followed her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He paid me.”
“To do what?”
“Scare her.”
“With a sabotaged car?”
“I didn’t touch the brakes.”
“Who did?”
“A mechanic named Vincent Cole.”
Richard began writing.
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“How?”
“Overdose.”
“Convenient.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“I followed Isabella because Luca told me she had stolen something.”
“The files?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened after the crash?”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
Then away.
“I found her alive.”
Alessandro stopped breathing.
“What?”
“She was trapped.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Daniel spoke faster.
“I called Luca.”
“What did he say?”
“To leave her.”
Alessandro’s hands became fists.
“She spoke to you?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Daniel hesitated.
“WHAT DID SHE SAY?”
Sophia cried somewhere down the hallway.
Alessandro immediately lowered his voice.
Daniel swallowed.
“She asked me to give you something.”
“What?”
“A voice recorder.”
Alessandro looked toward the recorder from room 314.
“No. Another one.”
“Where is it?”
“I kept it.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
“Where?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Protection first.”
Alessandro almost laughed.
Elena stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“You watched a dying woman trapped in a car and walked away.”
His face hardened.
“Elena—”
“You came into a nursery for our daughter because a murderer paid you.”
“I never planned to hurt Mia.”
“You never planned anything except what benefited you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Elena continued.
“You want protection?”
“Yes.”
“Then start earning it.”
Silence.
“Where is the recorder?”
Daniel stared at her.
Then finally answered.
“Storage locker 608. Cicero.”
Richard left immediately.
The recorder arrived two hours later.
Alessandro held it in his hand.
Blood had dried along one edge.
Isabella’s blood.
He pressed play.
Static.
A woman breathing painfully.
Then Isabella’s voice.
Weak.
“Alessandro…”
He covered his mouth.
Elena turned away.
“You were right about one thing.”
Isabella coughed.
“I am terrible at ending arguments.”
A wet breath.
“If you hear this… I was coming home.”
Alessandro’s eyes closed.
“I’m sorry.”
Her voice shook.
“I found proof. Luca.”
Richard became still.
“He used Daniel Carter. Trucks. Weapons. Foundation routes.”
Another breath.
“I think Luca cut my brakes.”
Then Isabella began crying.
Not from fear.
From effort.
“Tell Sophia…”
Static.
“Tell her I fought to get back to her.”
Alessandro broke.
Not loudly.
He simply sat down and covered his face.
For the first time, Elena saw the most feared man she had ever met become only a grieving husband.
Isabella’s voice continued.
“And Alessandro?”
A pause.
“Please don’t become worse because I’m gone.”
He lowered his hands.
“Don’t give Sophia a father made entirely of revenge.”
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Then Richard’s phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
“Sir.”
Alessandro did not move.
“We found Luca.”
He slowly raised his head.
“Where?”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“At St. Catherine’s Women’s Center.”
Elena went cold.
“The shelter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard looked at the live security alert.
“He has six men with him.”
Alessandro stared at Isabella’s recorder.
Then at Elena.
May you like
Luca had gone to the one place Isabella had tried to protect.
And this time, Alessandro knew revenge was exactly what Luca wanted him to choose.
