Chapter 5 - Patrick's Last Gift
Victor didn't want me.
He wanted the flash drive.
And he assumed Luca would trade it for my life.
He was wrong.
Because Patrick had been smarter than all of us.
The flash drive was encrypted.
The password wasn't hidden in his notes.
It was hidden in one of his favorite childhood memories.
A painting.
The same painting I had been restoring at Rossi Gallery for three months.
Patrick had taken me to see it when I was nine.
The Blue Harbor.
On the back of the frame, beneath layers of old restoration material, Patrick had hidden a sequence of numbers years earlier.
I finally understood why he had pushed me toward art conservation.
He hadn't just been encouraging my dream.
He had been creating an insurance policy.
The evidence went to federal investigators.
Victor's organization collapsed within weeks.
Several men inside Luca's own network were arrested too.
Luca didn't interfere.
Patrick had died trying to expose them.
Luca intended to finish what he started.
When it was over, I returned to apartment 3C.
The broken window had been replaced.
The furniture repaired.
There was also a new security system.
And a note on my kitchen counter.
Try not to attack anyone with household equipment. — L
I smiled despite myself.
Then I heard something.
Music.
Soft jazz.
Coming from downstairs.
I stared at the floor.
May you like
“You have got to be kidding me.”
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