Chapter 6 - THE MAN INSIDE LORENZO’S HOUSE
For three hours, we tried to trace the call.
Nothing.
Burner phone.
Signal bounced through multiple towers.
Professional.
My mother had been a waitress, receptionist, bookkeeper, grocery-store cashier, and night clerk while raising us.
Apparently she had also spent twenty-seven years learning how to disappear.
I sat with my arms wrapped around myself.
“She let me think she was dead.”
Lorenzo stood near the window.
“Maybe she thought that kept you safe.”
“For four years?”
He didn't answer.
Because there was no good answer.
Toby woke before sunrise.
I told him.
Not everything.
Just enough.
“Mom might be alive.”
He stared at me.
Then laughed.
A small, disbelieving sound.
“No.”
“I heard her.”
“No.”
“Toby—”
“She died.”
“I know.”
“I saw her coffin.”
“So did I.”
“You told me she died.”
“I believed it.”
His eyes filled.
“She left us?”
My heart broke.
“I don't know.”
He stood abruptly.
“She left us.”
“Toby.”
“I was ten.”
“I know.”
“I cried every night for like a year.”
“I know.”
“You said she wasn't coming back.”
I couldn't speak.
He ran upstairs.
I started after him.
Lorenzo stopped me gently.
“Give him five minutes.”
“You don't know my brother.”
“No.”
His eyes followed Toby.
“But I know what it means to learn your parents lied about everything.”
That stopped me.
Five minutes later, I found Toby sitting on the floor beside his bed.
He let me hold him.
Eventually.
By ten that morning, we drove to Midwestern National Bank.
The manager personally escorted us underground.
Lorenzo's presence had that effect.
Box 417 was long and narrow.
The bank clerk inserted one key.
I inserted Mom's.
Click.
My hands shook.
Inside were three things.
A sealed envelope.
A black ledger.
And a flash drive.
I opened the envelope first.
Sophie,
If you are reading this, then either I failed to keep you away from the Morettis or fate has a terrible sense of humor.
I almost laughed through my tears.
That sounded like her.
The letter continued.
I copied evidence because Charles Vane and his father were using Antonio Moretti's organization to buy judges, prosecutors, and police officers. Antonio was guilty of many things, but even he eventually realized the Vanes intended to take control of the entire network and eliminate anyone who could expose them.
Daniel and I planned to leave Chicago.
Antonio discovered our plan.
He gave us money and a car.
He told Daniel to disappear.
But Charles learned the truth.
Daniel stayed behind to mislead him.
He died because of me.
No.
I covered my mouth.
Lorenzo stood beside me.
“Keep reading.”
The crash in Wisconsin was arranged by Charles Vane.
Antonio sent men to intercept me first.
They failed.
The reporter traveling with me was killed.
I escaped and built a new identity.
Years later, I returned for you.
If the Vanes learn you exist, they may assume you have the evidence.
Do not trust anyone simply because they carry the Moretti name.
There is a traitor inside Lorenzo's house.
I stopped.
Lorenzo read the sentence.
His face hardened.
“Who?”
The letter continued.
I never learned his name.
Only that he was young when Antonio died and he has remained close to the family ever since.
I looked at Lorenzo.
“Victor.”
“Maybe.”
“You don't sound surprised.”
“I don't like being surprised.”
He picked up the black ledger.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Judges.
Police commanders.
Businesses.
Politicians.
I recognized Senator Charles Vane repeatedly.
Then Lorenzo stopped on one page.
“What?”
His expression changed.
A set of initials appeared beside dozens of payments.
V.M.
Victor Moretti.
My stomach dropped.
“Victor.”
Lorenzo closed the ledger.
“No conclusions yet.”
“Those are his initials.”
“They're also a very convenient way to frame him.”
I thought of Victor calling me a liability.
His cold stare.
I wasn't convinced.
We returned to the estate under heavier security.
Victor was waiting in the study.
“You went to the bank without telling me.”
Lorenzo removed his jacket.
“Correct.”
“You don't trust me?”
“Should I?”
Victor looked at me.
“What did you find?”
I said nothing.
His eyes narrowed.
Lorenzo stepped between us.
“Leave her out of it.”
“She's the entire reason we're in it.”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s voice hardened.
“She’s the reason we finally see it.”
Victor laughed once.
“This woman appears for forty-eight hours and suddenly you're questioning family?”
“I question everyone.”
“Not like this.”
Lorenzo stared at him.
“Where were you in 1999?”
Victor stiffened.
“What?”
“Answer.”
“College.”
“In Boston?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Margaret Clark?”
“No.”
“Daniel Moretti?”
“Of course.”
“Did you know he had a child?”
Victor’s face went blank.
Then he looked at me.
And I saw recognition.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Lorenzo saw it too.
“You knew.”
Victor stepped backward.
“Lorenzo.”
“You knew.”
“Listen to me.”
Security men appeared at the doorway.
Victor slowly raised his hands.
“I found out three years ago.”
My skin crawled.
“How?” I demanded.
“Your mother contacted me.”
The room exploded with silence.
“What?”
“She said she wanted to make a deal.”
Lorenzo’s voice was deadly.
“You spoke to Margaret and never told me?”
“She threatened the family.”
“She was family.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“She was leverage.”
Lorenzo hit him.
One punch.
Victor crashed into the desk.
I jumped.
Lorenzo grabbed his collar.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“What did you do?”
“I met her once!”
“Where?”
“Milwaukee.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
The year Mom supposedly died.
My blood froze.
“What happened?”
Victor looked at me.
“She wanted money.”
“No.”
“She did.”
“My mother wasn't like that.”
“She asked for two million dollars.”
“Why?”
“To disappear permanently.”
Lorenzo tightened his grip.
“And?”
“I refused.”
“What happened next?”
Victor looked away.
“Three days later, she died.”
I stepped forward.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“You knew where she was.”
“I told nobody.”
“Liar!”
Victor looked at Lorenzo.
“I swear.”
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Someone shouted.
A gun fired.
Glass shattered.
Lorenzo dragged me down.
“Toby!”
I screamed his name.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Another gunshot.
Men ran through the hallway.
I heard Isabella call out.
Then Toby screamed upstairs.
I broke from Lorenzo.
“Sophie!”
I ran.
Up the staircase.
Down the corridor.
Toby's bedroom door was open.
The room was empty.
Window shattered.
Curtains blowing.
On the carpet lay one of his inhalers.
And a phone.
It began ringing.
Lorenzo reached me as I answered.
Charles Vane's voice filled the line.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where is my brother?”
“Alive.”
“If you hurt him—”
“Bring me the ledger.”
Lorenzo took the phone.
“I will kill you.”
Charles laughed softly.
“No, Lorenzo.”
“You won't.”
“Because tonight, you finally have something you care about more than power.”
My eyes met Lorenzo’s.
Then Charles said, “Midnight. Old Union Station freight terminal.”
The call ended.
I sank to my knees holding Toby’s inhaler.
Lorenzo crouched beside me.
“I will bring him back.”
I looked at him through tears.
“No.”
His face tightened.
“No?”
“You're not bringing him back.”
May you like
I stood.
“We are.”
