Chapter 4 - The Trap at Moretti House
Dante’s estate looked normal from the outside.
That worried him.
“No lights,” Marco said.
“Backup power should be running.”
“It isn’t.”
Police vehicles waited two blocks away.
Callahan had insisted Dante remain behind them.
Dante had disagreed.
Elena had won the argument from her hospital room.
If you promised me you’d do this legally, then do it legally.
Callahan approached.
“We go first.”
Dante nodded reluctantly.
Officers entered.
Five minutes later, Callahan radioed.
“Clear.”
Inside, nothing appeared stolen.
Marco checked the security room.
“Servers are gone.”
Dante entered.
“Which servers?”
“Financial archives.”
Callahan looked at him.
“Evidence.”
Dante nodded.
“Luca came back to destroy it.”
Marco checked another monitor.
“Not all of it.”
He opened a hidden backup terminal.
A progress bar appeared.
Remote upload: 71%.
Callahan smiled.
“Where’s that going?”
Dante looked at him.
“To my attorney.”
Marco raised an eyebrow.
“You backed everything up?”
“Elena told me to.”
Callahan almost laughed.
“Your wife seems to be the smartest person in this operation.”
Dante gave him a cold look.
“Yes.”
Nobody argued.
A technician entered.
“We recovered something from the gate camera before it went offline.”
Video appeared.
Luca entered the property at 5:43 a.m.
But he wasn’t alone.
A second man followed.
Marco stepped closer.
“No.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
The man removed his hood.
Carlo Vescari.
One of Dante’s oldest business rivals.
Callahan looked between them.
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
“My organization.”
Marco added, “And Luca was giving it to him.”
Dante finally understood.
The missing money was only the beginning.
Luca had been weakening him from inside.
Elena had accidentally discovered the first thread.
Callahan’s phone rang.
He listened.
Then looked at Dante.
“We found the SUV.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near Red Hook.”
“Luca?”
“No.”
Callahan paused.
“But there’s something inside you need to see.”
---
The SUV contained photographs.
Dozens.
Elena leaving restaurants.
Elena visiting her mother.
Elena shopping.
Elena at charity meetings.
Dante stared at them in silence.
Callahan picked up another photograph.
“This surveillance goes back five months.”
Marco cursed quietly.
Dante’s face became pale.
For five months, danger had followed his wife.
And she had told him.
Again and again.
That afternoon, he returned to the hospital.
Elena was dressed and ready to leave.
Dante placed the photographs on the table.
She looked through them.
Her hands began trembling.
“This was the photographer.”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t press.”
“No.”
She looked at Dante.
“I told you.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
He nodded.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
Dante stood silently for several seconds.
Then:
“I failed you.”
Elena looked away.
“I became so used to people lying to me that I started treating everyone like they were lying.”
“Including me.”
“Especially you.”
“Why especially me?”
“Because believing you were afraid meant admitting my world had reached you.”
Elena looked back.
“And pretending I was imagining it was easier?”
“Yes.”
The answer was ugly.
But it was honest.
Dante continued.
“I promised you my life would never touch you. When it did, I blamed your fear instead of myself.”
Elena’s eyes softened slightly.
“What happens to us?”
“I don’t know.”
That surprised her.
Dante Moretti always had an answer.
“I know what I want,” he said.
“What?”
“A chance to become someone you can call when you’re afraid.”
Before Elena could respond, Callahan entered.
“We found Luca.”
Dante turned.
“Where?”
Callahan looked at Elena.
“He wants to meet her.”
Dante’s expression became ice.
“Absolutely not.”
Elena slowly stood.
“Why?”
Callahan answered.
“Because he says he has evidence against Vescari.”
“And?”
“He’ll surrender.”
Elena frowned.
“That easy?”
“No.”
Callahan hesitated.
“He’ll only surrender if Mrs. Moretti comes personally.”
Dante shook his head.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Dante.”
“No.”
“You said you were learning to listen.”
“I am.”
“Then listen now.”
May you like
She picked up her coat.
“I’m going.”
