Chapter 5 - The Betrayal at Enzo’s Table
Salvatore Castellani had supposedly died eight years earlier in Naples.
There had been a funeral.
A sealed coffin.
Three hundred mourners.
Enzo had sent flowers.
“What do you mean supposedly?” Nora asked.
They had returned to the Aurelian before dawn.
Marcus stood at the table with old records spread in front of him.
“I mean I handled paperwork based on documents provided by Italian authorities.”
Enzo stared at him.
“You never saw the body.”
“No.”
Hargrove said, “Neither did I.”
Nora folded her arms.
“Why would Enzo’s uncle poison Lily?”
Enzo answered without looking at her.
“Because he believes everything my father built should have belonged to him.”
“Business?”
“Name. Money. Influence.”
“And you inherited it.”
“Yes.”
Nora looked around the room.
“So Lily is next.”
Marcus nodded.
“If Enzo dies.”
Nora stared.
“Then harming Lily isn’t just revenge.”
Enzo looked at her.
“No.”
“It removes the next generation.”
The door opened.
A guard entered.
“We found Whitcomb.”
Hargrove turned.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring him.”
Five minutes later, Whitcomb was shoved into the private room.
His shirt was torn.
His face was gray with terror.
“I want protection.”
Price, who had returned with two officers, replied, “Start talking.”
Whitcomb looked at Enzo.
“I didn’t know they were going after Lily.”
Enzo moved toward him.
Hargrove stepped between them.
“Sir.”
Whitcomb began talking quickly.
“I was paid to create an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” Price asked.
“To pull Nora out of the room.”
Nora’s stomach turned.
Whitcomb looked at her.
“They picked you because you always served the private table.”
“Who is they?”
“I only dealt with one man.”
“Name him.”
Whitcomb shook his head.
“I don’t know his real name.”
Enzo said quietly, “Try harder.”
Whitcomb swallowed.
“He called himself Mr. Vale.”
Marcus spoke.
“Description?”
“Late sixties. Gray hair. Limp.”
Nora asked, “Silver cane?”
Whitcomb nodded.
Everyone exchanged looks.
Enzo said, “Serrano.”
Whitcomb shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“The cane was silver, yes. But he wasn’t Serrano.”
Enzo stared.
“You know Serrano?”
“From newspapers.”
Whitcomb’s voice cracked.
“This man looked like you.”
Silence.
Enzo’s expression emptied.
Whitcomb continued.
“Older. But the eyes were the same.”
Nora whispered, “Salvatore.”
Whitcomb nodded.
“I heard someone call him Sal.”
Hargrove immediately started issuing orders.
Then Nora noticed Marcus.
Again.
Too quiet.
Too pale.
She studied him.
“Marcus.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You knew.”
Enzo turned sharply.
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Nora stepped toward him.
“You recognized the phrase Lily repeated before anyone mentioned Salvatore.”
“I knew the family.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
“No.”
Nora pointed at the camera.
“You also had access to the security footage.”
Hargrove slowly faced him.
Marcus said, “So did you.”
“Yes,” Hargrove replied. “But I didn’t know Salvatore was alive.”
Marcus looked at Enzo.
“You cannot seriously believe—”
Enzo interrupted.
“When did you find out?”
Marcus stopped.
Nobody moved.
Enzo repeated, “When?”
Marcus slowly removed his glasses.
“Seven months ago.”
Hargrove reached inside his jacket.
Enzo raised one hand.
“No.”
Marcus looked exhausted.
“He contacted me.”
“You said nothing.”
“I thought I could control it.”
Enzo laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You thought you could control my dead uncle?”
“He wanted money.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“Yes.”
“Mine?”
Marcus looked away.
Enzo’s voice changed.
“Did you give him my money?”
“I moved funds through accounts he couldn’t trace back to you.”
Nora stared at him.
“Why?”
Marcus’s expression cracked.
“Because he had my son.”
Silence.
Enzo stopped.
“What?”
Marcus’s voice became rough.
“Daniel disappeared eight months ago.”
Hargrove frowned.
“You told us he was traveling.”
“I lied.”
Marcus sat heavily.
“Salvatore sent me a photograph. Daniel tied to a chair.”
Enzo’s anger cooled into something more dangerous.
“You should have come to me.”
“He said if you knew, Daniel died.”
“And tonight?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“I gave Salvatore access to the camera system.”
Nora whispered, “You erased the nine seconds.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Lily would be poisoned?”
Marcus opened his eyes immediately.
“No.”
Enzo stared.
Marcus stood.
“I swear to you, Enzo. He told me he only wanted to enter the room and speak to you privately.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted my son alive!”
Enzo grabbed him by the jacket.
Hargrove moved.
Nora said sharply, “Enzo.”
He looked at her.
“Marcus knows how to find him.”
That stopped him.
Nora continued.
“If you hurt the one person who can lead you to Salvatore, Lily gets no justice.”
Marcus breathed hard.
Enzo released him.
“Where?”
Marcus hesitated.
“An old printing warehouse near the river.”
Hargrove asked, “Daniel?”
“Maybe.”
Price immediately said, “Nobody goes anywhere until tactical units—”
Enzo was already walking.
Nora followed two steps.
He turned.
“No.”
“What?”
“You stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because this is dangerous.”
She almost laughed.
“Someone tried to send me to prison for poisoning a six-year-old.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“Because now they know you noticed them.”
Nora’s expression changed.
Enzo stepped closer.
“Salvatore chose you because he thought nobody would believe you.”
She said nothing.
“He was wrong.”
For the first time all night, his voice softened.
“Do not give him a chance to correct that mistake.”
Nora wanted to argue.
Then Whitcomb shouted.
“Wait!”
Everyone turned.
“There’s another location.”
Enzo stared.
“What?”
Whitcomb swallowed.
“I heard Salvatore tell someone on the phone that if the warehouse was compromised, they’d move the boy.”
“Where?”
Whitcomb looked directly at Nora.
“The old St. Catherine Hotel.”
Her face went white.
Enzo noticed.
“What?”
Nora whispered, “My apartment is across the street from St. Catherine.”
Hargrove’s radio exploded with static.
Then a guard’s voice came through.
“Sir, the men at Ms. Hayes’s apartment aren’t responding.”
Enzo turned toward Nora.
Too late.
The lights went out.
May you like
And somewhere below them, glass shattered.
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