Chapter 4 - The Maid at the Mafia Table
By morning, Dante had twelve men searching for the stolen ledger.
Elena had another theory.
“The ledger never left the house.”
Dante looked up from his coffee.
Marco stopped pacing.
Adrian leaned against the window.
Dante said, “Explain.”
“The attackers left immediately after Paul opened the drawer.”
“So?”
“So nobody searched him before Marco grabbed him.”
Marco frowned.
“I did.”
“After.”
Silence.
Elena continued.
“If he had the ledger, where did it go?”
Adrian straightened.
Dante looked toward the hidden passage.
They searched it.
Nothing.
Then Elena noticed a laundry chute.
She opened it.
At the bottom lay a leather book.
Marco stared at her.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Elena shrugged.
“I know this house better than you do.”
Dante retrieved the ledger.
Adrian smiled.
“You should make her head of security.”
Marco looked offended.
“Absolutely not.”
Elena said, “I already have a job.”
Dante looked at her.
“That can change.”
“No.”
“I didn’t offer anything yet.”
“I’m saving time.”
Dante almost smiled.
Then Marco’s phone rang.
His expression changed as he listened.
“What?”
He lowered it.
“Paul’s dead.”
Silence.
Dante stood.
“How?”
“Poison.”
“He was searched.”
“Apparently not well enough.”
Elena looked at the three men.
“Who gave him food?”
Marco answered slowly.
“Kitchen staff.”
“Who specifically?”
He checked his phone.
“Mrs. Hall.”
Elena shook her head immediately.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“She’s sixty-three and complains when we use too much dish soap. She didn’t poison anybody.”
Dante looked at her.
“You trust her?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“I know. That’s why your house is miserable.”
Adrian coughed to hide a laugh.
Dante ignored him.
Elena continued.
“Who carried the tray downstairs?”
Marco checked.
Then went silent.
Dante saw his face.
“Who?”
Marco looked up.
“Daniel.”
Dante stopped moving.
Elena asked, “Who’s Daniel?”
Nobody answered.
Finally Adrian did.
“Our cousin.”
Daniel Moretti had been raised with Dante.
He knew the house.
The security system.
The private elevator.
And every name inside the stolen ledger.
Dante immediately reached for his jacket.
Elena stepped in front of him.
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“Move.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Talk to my cousin.”
“With how many guns?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“It seems extremely relevant.”
Adrian spoke quietly.
“She’s right.”
Dante turned.
“You stay out of this.”
“No.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Interesting when someone says it to you, isn’t it?”
Elena almost smiled.
Dante did not.
---
Daniel was waiting at an abandoned Moretti restaurant near the Chicago River.
Dante entered with Marco and Adrian.
Elena followed.
Dante turned.
“I told you to stay in the car.”
“And I considered it.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Keep walking.”
Inside, Daniel sat alone at a table.
He looked exhausted.
“Dante.”
“Did you poison Paul?”
Daniel stared at him.
“No.”
“Did you give Sanz access to my house?”
“No.”
“Then convince me.”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
“Who’s she?”
Elena sighed.
“Everyone keeps asking that.”
Dante pulled out a chair.
“Talk.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Victor Sanz has my son.”
The room changed.
Dante’s anger disappeared.
“What?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because they said they’d kill him.”
“You thought betraying me would save him?”
“I thought I could control what I gave them.”
Dante slammed his palm against the table.
“You gave them my schedule!”
“I changed it!”
“They entered my home!”
“I never gave them the security codes.”
Elena spoke.
“Then who did?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I have.”
“Think harder.”
Dante glanced at her.
She ignored him.
Elena pulled out the chair opposite Daniel.
“Victor needed information from you, but someone else gave him access. Who contacted you?”
“A woman.”
“Name?”
“Never gave one.”
“Voice?”
“American.”
“Age?”
“Maybe forty.”
“Anything distinctive?”
Daniel thought.
Then froze.
“She knew Dante’s mother’s nickname.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Dante became very still.
Elena noticed.
“What?”
Dante answered quietly.
“Only family knew it.”
Daniel looked at him.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
Dante shook his head.
“Everyone who knew is dead.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Not everyone.”
They turned.
An elderly woman stood in the doorway.
Dante stared as if he had seen a ghost.
“Aunt Sofia?”
She stepped into the light.
“You’ve spent ten years looking for enemies outside the family.”
Her eyes moved to Adrian.
Then Daniel.
Then Dante.
“That was your mistake.”
Dante’s hand slowly closed into a fist.
“Whose side are you on?”
Sofia looked at him.
“The side trying to keep this family alive.”
Elena stood.
“Then start talking.”
Sofia looked at the maid.
“And who are you?”
Dante answered before Elena could.
“The only person in this room I trust.”
Elena turned toward him.
For the first time since entering Dante Moretti’s house—
May you like
she had nothing clever to say.
---
