Chapter 4 - The Evidence Beneath the Snow
The tunnel smelled of wet stone, mildew, and old wine.
I pushed Gabriel’s wheelchair through the darkness using only my phone light. Every few feet, the wheels caught on cracks in the floor. My injured arm burned, but I refused to slow down.
Behind us, metal groaned.
Someone had found the maintenance door.
“Faster,” Gabriel said.
“I am going as fast as I can.”
“I know.”
His voice was softer now.
For the first time since I met him, Gabriel Moretti did not sound like a man giving orders.
He sounded like a patient.
A frightened one.
The tunnel opened into an old storage room beneath the east gardens. A rusted service hatch led outside.
Snow hit my face the moment I pushed it open.
The estate grounds were a blur of white and black shadows.
I rolled Gabriel toward the old greenhouse, where his private security vehicles were stored during winter. We needed a car, but more importantly, we needed someone outside Luca’s network.
“Who can we trust?” I asked.
Gabriel was silent for several seconds.
Then he said, “My sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Bianca. She left the family business years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she saw it clearly before I did.”
The greenhouse door was unlocked.
Inside, I found one black SUV and a utility vehicle. The SUV keys hung in a lockbox beside the door.
Gabriel gave me the code.
“Are you sure your sister will help?”
“She will help you,” he said. “She may not help me.”
I got him into the SUV with more difficulty than I wanted to admit. The transfer aggravated his pain. He clenched his jaw so hard a muscle jumped near his temple.
Then I drove through the rear service road, avoiding the main gate and its cameras.
We reached Bianca Moretti’s house just before dawn.
It was nothing like the estate.
No iron gates.
No armed guards.
No marble halls.
A small brick home sat at the edge of a quiet neighborhood, its porch light glowing beneath falling snow.
Bianca opened the door wearing jeans and a sweater.
She saw Gabriel in the wheelchair.
Then she saw me.
Then she saw blood on my sleeve.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Luca,” Gabriel said.
Her face changed.
“Come inside.”
There was no hesitation.
No lecture.
No anger.
Not yet.
She helped me settle Gabriel onto a sofa while I explained the mattress, the injections, Dr. Hale, the alarm, and Luca’s confession.
Bianca listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she walked to the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of water.
Her hand shook.
“I told you,” she said to Gabriel.
He lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“I told you Luca was unstable. I told you he hated you.”
“I know.”
“I told you the accident didn’t feel right.”
“I know.”
She set the glass down too hard.
“Then why did you keep him near you?”
Gabriel looked exhausted.
“Because he was my brother.”
Bianca turned away.
For a moment, the room was filled only with the sound of snow against the windows.
Then she faced us again.
“What do you need?”
Gabriel held out the silver key.
“Box 817.”
Bianca nodded.
Two hours later, we entered First National through a private side entrance. Bianca had called an old friend on the board and arranged access before the bank opened.
The safe-deposit box contained a sealed envelope, a flash drive, and a letter written in Gabriel’s father’s handwriting.
Gabriel opened the letter with shaking hands.
He read silently.
Then he handed it to Bianca.
Her eyes moved across the page.
“What does it say?” I asked.
Bianca looked at Gabriel.
“It says their father suspected Luca had been diverting money and building alliances outside the family.”
“Does it prove anything?”
“The flash drive might.”
We plugged it into Bianca’s laptop.
There were financial records.
Audio recordings.
Security logs.
And one video dated three weeks before Gabriel’s accident.
In it, Luca met with Dr. Hale inside a private warehouse.
The audio was clear.
Hale said, “The crash may not be enough.”
Luca replied, “Then make sure recovery is impossible.”
My stomach turned.
Gabriel watched the recording without blinking.
Then the laptop screen went black.
A message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN THE HOUSE.
The front window shattered.
Bianca screamed.
A bullet struck the wall above Gabriel’s head.
May you like
Luca had found us.
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