Chapter 3 - The Photograph Claire Hid
On the drive back to Chicago, Damien asked one question.
"Why did Luca say Claire knows where the photograph is?"
Nora shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Think."
"I am thinking."
"Think like your sister."
Nora looked out the window.
Claire photographed everything.
Coffee.
Dogs.
Clouds.
Receipts.
She backed up her phone constantly because she'd once lost two years of pictures when a phone fell into Lake Michigan.
Nora suddenly sat upright.
"The cloud."
Victor's replacement, Marcus Reed, looked back from the front seat.
"Which cloud?"
"Claire automatically backs up her photos."
Damien said, "Can you access the account?"
"Maybe."
They returned to Damien's private hotel office.
Nora opened Claire's laptop using the spare key from her apartment.
Password required.
Nora tried Claire's birthday.
Wrong.
Their mother's birthday.
Wrong.
Then she remembered the message.
Dad's birthday.
The laptop unlocked.
Damien leaned closer.
Nora searched Claire's photo backup.
There it was.
The photograph.
Claire smiling beside a flower cart.
Behind her, reflected in a glass conference-room wall, Luca Santoro stood with Victor Hale and three men Nora didn't recognize.
Documents covered the table.
Damien enlarged the image.
His eyes hardened.
Marcus pointed.
"That's Alderman Pierce."
Another man.
"Federal prosecutor Daniel Voss."
Nora stared at Damien.
"Why would your enforcer be secretly meeting a prosecutor?"
Damien zoomed further.
A document on the table showed a corporate logo.
ER Holdings.
Damien whispered, "Elena Romano Holdings."
Nora looked at him.
"Your wife's name."
"Yes."
Marcus swore quietly.
Damien studied the image.
"Luca built shell companies under Elena's identity. He's been moving money through my legitimate businesses."
"Why?"
"Because if authorities discovered it, everything would lead back to me."
Nora understood.
"He's setting you up."
"No."
Damien's eyes moved toward Voss's reflection.
"He's replacing me."
Marcus asked, "What do we do?"
Damien pointed at the laptop.
"Make copies."
Nora stopped him.
"No."
Damien looked at her.
"Claire is alive because Luca thinks he needs this photograph. The second he knows you copied it, she's useless to him."
Damien stared at her.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
Marcus looked surprised.
Damien noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"I've worked for you twelve years. I don't think I've ever heard you tell anyone they were right."
Nora almost laughed.
Damien didn't.
"Enjoy the historic moment."
At 11:40 p.m., they reached Romano Shipping.
The building was dark except for the seventh floor.
Damien checked his watch.
"Nora stays downstairs."
"No."
"Nora."
"You said I was coming."
"I said you were part of the plan."
"You don't have a plan."
Damien paused.
"That's unnecessarily accurate."
She held up Claire's laptop.
"He wants the photograph. I'm the only person who can convince him he hasn't gotten every copy."
Marcus said, "She's right."
Damien looked at him.
Marcus immediately straightened.
"Historic moment number two?"
"Don't push it."
They entered.
The elevator opened onto the seventh floor.
Claire sat tied to a chair at the far end of the conference room.
Nora rushed forward.
"Nora!"
"Stop."
Luca Santoro emerged from the shadows holding a gun.
He was in his late forties, elegant and relaxed.
"Put the laptop on the table."
Nora obeyed.
Damien stood beside her.
"You betrayed me."
Luca smiled.
"I evolved."
"You used Elena's name."
"People trust ghosts. They never ask questions."
Damien's jaw tightened.
"You don't get to say her name."
"Still sensitive after twenty years?"
Nora saw Damien's fist close.
Luca noticed too.
"That's always been your weakness, Damien. Memory."
"And yours?"
"Ambition."
"No."
Damien looked at Claire.
"Arrogance."
Luca's smile faded.
Damien continued.
"You took Claire because she photographed your meeting."
"Correct."
"But you kept her alive."
"I needed the picture."
"No. You needed to know whether she'd sent it anywhere."
Luca raised the gun slightly.
"Give me the password."
Nora looked at Claire.
Claire shook her head.
Luca pointed the gun at her.
"Password."
Nora answered.
"1017."
Luca opened the laptop.
He found the photograph.
Deleted it.
Then emptied the trash.
"Cloud backup."
Nora entered the account.
Luca deleted that too.
He relaxed.
"Excellent."
Claire whispered, "Nora..."
Nora looked at her.
Claire's eyes weren't frightened anymore.
They were focused on the conference-room window.
Nora followed her gaze.
A tiny red light blinked on the neighboring rooftop.
Damien saw it.
Then smiled.
Luca frowned.
"What?"
Damien adjusted his cuff.
"You really believed the photograph was the evidence?"
Luca's face changed.
Damien pointed toward the window.
"The evidence is you."
Police sirens erupted below.
Luca spun toward the glass.
Nora stared at Damien.
"You called the police?"
"Not exactly."
The conference-room doors burst open.
Federal agents poured inside.
Luca grabbed Claire.
His gun pressed against her head.
"Everybody stops!"
They did.
Luca backed toward the emergency stairwell.
"Damien, tell them to lower their weapons."
Damien didn't move.
"I don't command federal agents."
"Then she dies."
Nora's breath caught.
Damien looked at Claire.
Then at Luca.
"No."
Luca smiled.
"You think I'm bluffing?"
"No."
Damien's voice remained calm.
"I think you forgot who taught you never to stand with your back to a glass door."
Luca turned.
Too late.
Marcus smashed through the side entrance and struck Luca's wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Claire dropped.
Nora ran.
Luca and Marcus crashed against the table.
Federal agents surrounded them.
Within seconds, Luca Santoro was on the floor in handcuffs.
Nora reached Claire.
"Are you hurt?"
Claire wrapped both arms around her.
"I knew you'd come."
Nora started crying.
"I didn't know if I'd find you."
Claire whispered:
"You always find me."
Across the room, Damien watched them.
For the first time all night, he looked relieved.
Then an agent approached him.
"Damien Romano?"
Damien turned.
"Yes."
The agent produced handcuffs.
"You're under arrest."
Nora stared.
"What?"
Damien didn't seem surprised.
Luca began laughing from the floor.
May you like
And Nora realized—
this night wasn't over.
