Chapter 2 - The Ledger That Could Bury a King
Luca did not interrupt her.
Harper stared at the rain crawling down the bedroom window.
“My brother’s name was Ethan.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
“What happened?”
“Police said he overdosed.”
“You don’t believe them.”
“He didn’t use drugs.”
Luca pulled a chair closer.
“What did Ethan do?”
“He worked IT security for Walsh.”
That explained more than Harper realized.
“What did he find?”
“I don’t know. He called me three nights before he died.”
“What did he say?”
Harper closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘If something happens to me, don’t believe the obvious answer.’”
Luca’s face hardened.
“And then?”
“He was found in his apartment.”
“Did you go to police?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“The detective told me grief makes people imagine conspiracies.”
“Name?”
“Detective Raymond Pike.”
Luca went completely still.
Harper noticed.
“You know him.”
“I know of him.”
“That means yes.”
Luca stood.
“Rest.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m making a phone call.”
“Luca.”
He turned.
“If you tell Walsh what I said—”
“I won’t.”
“If you use the records for your own business—”
“I won’t.”
“How am I supposed to trust you?”
“You’re not.”
The answer surprised her.
Luca continued.
“You watch what I do. Then decide.”
---
Nico Ferrara arrived before one in the morning carrying two laptops.
Paulie poured coffee.
Luca stood over the dining table.
“Raymond Pike.”
Nico typed.
“Detective, organized crime division. Twenty-two years.”
“Financials.”
“That’ll take time.”
“How much?”
“Legally?”
Luca stared at him.
Nico sighed.
“An hour.”
Paulie chuckled.
Luca ignored him.
“Walsh businesses too. No intrusion.”
Nico looked up.
“You’re asking me to investigate Declan Walsh without hacking him?”
“Yes.”
“Public records, corporate filings, court documents?”
“And anything we already legally possess.”
Nico looked offended.
“You’re taking all the fun out of my job.”
“Live with it.”
Twenty minutes later Harper appeared in the doorway.
She wore borrowed sweatpants and a gray sweater Elena had left.
Luca frowned.
“You should be upstairs.”
“I heard Walsh’s name.”
Nico looked at Luca.
“This her?”
“Harper Collins.”
Harper saw the laptops.
“What are you doing?”
“Building a picture,” Luca said.
“Without my files?”
“Without your files.”
She approached.
Nico rotated a screen.
“Walsh Hospitality owns twelve restaurants, four clubs, two hotels and—”
“Wrong.”
Nico stopped.
Harper pointed.
“Walsh Hospitality doesn’t own the hotels.”
“Corporate records say it does.”
“They’re collateral.”
“For what?”
“A private loan.”
“From?”
Harper shook her head.
“I’m not ready.”
Luca nodded.
Nico looked between them.
“You two have a very strange trust exercise happening.”
Harper pointed at another company.
“What’s that?”
“Blue Harbor Consulting.”
Her face changed.
“That’s one.”
“One what?”
“One of the companies I found.”
Luca leaned closer.
“What does it do?”
“Nothing.”
Nico pulled records.
“Three employees. Registered office downtown.”
“There are no employees.”
“How do you know?”
“I processed its quarterly transfers.”
Nico whistled.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand every three months.”
“To where?”
“Different recipients.”
“Names?”
“Sometimes companies. Sometimes people.”
Luca asked, “Pike?”
Harper looked at him.
“Yes.”
Nobody spoke.
Nico turned the laptop around.
Detective Raymond Pike had purchased a vacation property six months earlier.
Cash.
Paulie muttered, “Cop’s salary must have improved.”
Harper stared at the screen.
“When did he buy it?”
Nico answered.
“Three weeks after your brother died.”
Harper sat down.
Luca saw her hands shaking.
“Harper.”
“He paid him.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“You suspect it.”
She looked at him angrily.
“Stop protecting him.”
“I’m protecting the case.”
“What case?”
“The one that survives after Walsh realizes you’re alive.”
She fell silent.
Luca crouched beside her chair.
“If we move because we’re angry, Walsh calls us criminals attacking a businessman. If we build evidence, other people start asking questions he can’t answer.”
“You think the system works?”
“No.”
“Then why use it?”
“Because Walsh thinks he owns it.”
Luca stood.
“I want to find out how much he paid.”
---
At 2:17 a.m., Luca’s phone rang.
DECLAN WALSH.
Everyone saw the name.
Harper went rigid.
Luca answered.
“Declan.”
“Late night?”
“Could ask you the same.”
“I heard you were at my club.”
“I own twenty percent.”
“Exactly twenty.”
Luca smiled faintly.
“What do you want?”
“A woman disappeared tonight.”
Harper stopped breathing.
“What woman?”
“Harper Collins.”
“Should I know her?”
“She works for me.”
“Then call human resources.”
Declan laughed.
“She’s confused.”
“About?”
“Numbers.”
Nico began recording notes.
Declan continued.
“If she contacts you, send her home.”
Luca looked directly at Harper.
“Home where?”
A pause.
“Excuse me?”
“You said send her home. Where’s home?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Declan. I don’t.”
The silence sharpened.
Finally Declan said, “Stay out of this.”
Luca’s voice remained calm.
“You called me.”
Then he ended the call.
Harper stared at him.
“He knows I’m here.”
“Probably.”
“What happens now?”
May you like
Luca glanced at Nico.
“Now we make him nervous.”
