Chapter 5 - The Traitor Inside the Gate
Dante locked down the estate.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Phones were collected.
Security logs were checked.
Cara sat inside Dante’s study while Marco questioned every guard.
“You trust him?” she asked.
“Marco?”
“Yes.”
“With my life.”
“You trusted Vanessa.”
Dante looked at her.
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I loved Vanessa once.”
“And Marco?”
“I understand Marco.”
Cara leaned against the desk.
“Maybe that’s your problem.”
“What?”
“You understand business. Loyalty. Fear.”
She paused.
“But maybe you don’t understand people as well as you think.”
Dante studied her.
“You’ve known me for twenty-four hours.”
“And I already know you hate being told you’re wrong.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“You’re doing the face.”
“What face?”
“That face.”
He almost smiled.
Then the lights went out.
Cara froze.
“Dante?”
He grabbed her arm.
“Behind me.”
Emergency lights flickered red.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Then a gunshot cracked somewhere downstairs.
Cara flinched.
Dante pulled her behind the heavy desk.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Cara.”
“You’re injured.”
“And you’re a waitress.”
“I’m beginning to think you use that word as an insult.”
“Tonight I’m using it as a reason you shouldn’t be running toward gunfire.”
Another shot.
Then Marco’s voice came through Dante’s phone.
“Boss, stay in the study. We found him.”
“Who?”
“Cal Mercer.”
Dante went still.
Cara whispered, “Who’s Cal?”
“My security chief.”
The study door opened.
Cal Mercer stood there.
Gun in hand.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “Marco found me too late.”
Dante pushed Cara behind him.
Cal shook his head.
“Still protecting strangers.”
“She’s not involved.”
“She ruined everything.”
Cara looked at him.
“I ruined a murder.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m comfortable with my decision.”
Cal almost laughed.
Dante’s voice hardened.
“Rourke bought you?”
“He offered me a future.”
“I gave you one.”
“You gave me a salary.”
Dante stepped forward.
“I gave you trust.”
“And that was your mistake.”
Footsteps approached outside.
Cal raised the weapon.
Dante moved.
Cara grabbed the heavy brass lamp from the desk and hurled it.
It struck Cal’s arm.
The gun hit the floor.
Dante slammed him against the wall.
Marco and two guards rushed inside seconds later.
“Hands!”
Cal stopped fighting.
Marco restrained him.
Dante turned immediately toward Cara.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He stared at her.
Then at the broken lamp.
“You threw a lamp at an armed man.”
“You chased me down a mountain yesterday.”
“You chased me.”
“Details.”
Dante exhaled.
For the first time, the feared Dante Moretti looked genuinely exhausted.
Marco approached.
“Cal gave us Rourke.”
“Where?”
“Private airfield outside the city.”
Dante looked toward the window.
“He’s running.”
Marco nodded.
“Police already have the location.”
Cara blinked.
“Police?”
Dante looked at her.
“What did you expect?”
She hesitated.
“Something significantly less legal.”
A faint smile appeared.
“I’m trying something new.”
---
Rourke never reached his plane.
Police arrested him with forged passports, financial records, and enough evidence connecting him to the sabotage to destroy whatever defense he planned to build.
Peter Shaw agreed to testify.
Cal Mercer agreed to cooperate.
And Vanessa Moretti was arrested before sunrise.
Cara watched from the estate doorway as officers placed Vanessa into a car.
Vanessa stopped before entering.
She looked back at Cara.
“All this because you couldn’t mind your own business.”
Cara stared at her.
“No.”
Vanessa waited.
Cara glanced toward Dante.
“All this because you thought nobody would care enough to stop you.”
Vanessa said nothing.
The car door closed.
It drove away.
Cara exhaled.
“It’s over.”
Dante stood beside her.
“Yes.”
“So I can go home?”
He looked at her.
“If you want.”
She turned.
Something about his voice bothered her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re free to leave.”
“That sounded almost disappointed.”
“It wasn’t.”
“You’re doing the face again.”
“What face?”
“That face.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Dante said quietly:
“Have breakfast before you leave.”
Cara smiled.
“Is that an order?”
“No.”
“What is it?”
Dante looked toward the dining room.
“A request.”
That surprised her more than any threat could have.
“Okay.”
May you like
And for the first time since she had heard Vanessa whisper about murder, Cara walked toward Dante Moretti without fear.
---
