Chapter 6 – THE GRAVE ROBBER

The library fell dead silent. The storm outside raged on, throwing shadows across the walls.

I stared at the heavy gold pocket watch resting in the dirt-covered metal box. It was a beautiful, antique piece, inscribed with the Moretti family crest—a lion holding a shield.

“Luca,” I whispered, “if you buried this with your father… how is it inside a wall in your library?”

Luca slowly walked back across the room. He didn’t reach for the watch. He looked at it as if it were a venomous snake.

“Marco,” Luca said, his voice hollow. “Fifteen years ago, my father died of a sudden heart attack. At least, that’s what the coroner said. Marco and I buried him in the family mausoleum. I placed this watch in his hands before they closed the casket.”

“So Marco dug it up?” I asked, confused. “Why?”

“Not Marco,” a weak voice coughed from the doorway.

We turned. Daniel was leaning heavily against the doorframe, clutching a bandage over his bleeding side. He limped into the room, his eyes fixed on the metal box.

“Arthur Harris confessed everything in the squad car before they took him away, Boss,” Daniel panted. “He told Detective Vance the whole truth about the syndicate, Vanessa, and Marco.”

“Tell me,” Luca commanded.

“Marco didn’t dig up your father’s grave, sir,” Daniel said grimly. “He didn’t have to. Your father wasn’t in the casket.”

My breath caught.

“What are you talking about?” Luca demanded, grabbing Daniel by the shoulders. “I saw him! I put the watch in his hands!”

“You put it in the hands of a body double, sir,” Daniel coughed. “Arthur arranged it. Fifteen years ago, your father didn’t die of a heart attack. He uncovered a massive corruption ring. The syndicate, the Mayor, and your brother Marco were all working together to siphon millions from the city’s pension funds.”

Luca stared at Daniel, entirely paralyzed.

“Your father gathered all the proof in a ledger,” Daniel continued. “He was going to hand it over to the FBI. But Marco found out. Marco hired an assassin to take your father out. But your father was warned.”

I looked down at the photograph in the metal box. The picture of Luca’s father holding the ledger.

“He faked his own death,” I realized aloud. “To protect his family.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Daniel nodded. “Arthur helped him disappear. He placed a John Doe in the casket. Your father hid the real ledger, left the watch as a breadcrumb, and vanished.”

“Where is the ledger now?” Luca asked, his voice shaking.

“Arthur doesn’t know,” Daniel said. “But Marco knows your father is still alive. That’s why Marco has been trying to destroy you, Luca. He’s trying to flush your father out of hiding.”

The phone in Luca’s pocket suddenly buzzed.

It was an unknown number.

Luca answered it, putting it on speaker.

“Hello, little brother,” Marco’s voice echoed through the library, smooth and dripping with arrogance.

“Marco,” Luca growled, gripping the edge of the desk. “You’re a dead man.”

“Oh, I think I have a few more years in me,” Marco chuckled. “I see you found the old man’s watch. Quite the surprise, isn’t it? Knowing our father let you mourn him for fifteen years while he drank margaritas on a beach somewhere.”

“Where is he?” Luca demanded.

“I don’t know,” Marco said. “But I know who has the ledger.”

My blood ran cold.

“I thought the ledger was lost,” Marco continued. “But I just had a very enlightening conversation with one of Vanessa’s hired thugs. The one who broke into your house tonight. He told me he found something very interesting while he was tearing apart Claire’s old sitting room.”

I stopped breathing.

“Claire was a smart girl, Luca,” Marco taunted. “She must have figured out the truth about the old man years ago. Because the thug found a safety deposit key taped to the bottom of her vanity.”

Luca’s eyes snapped to mine. Claire knew. My daughter had known the truth.

“I have the key, Luca,” Marco said. “And I know which bank it goes to. I’m heading there right now. Once I destroy that ledger, I take the Mayor’s seat, I take the syndicate, and I take your life.”

“I’ll burn the city down before I let you touch it,” Luca snarled.

“You can try,” Marco laughed. “But you’re out of time. Oh, and Luca? You might want to check the basement. I left a little parting gift.”

The line went dead.

Suddenly, the sharp, acrid smell of smoke drifted through the library doors.

“The panic room,” Daniel yelled. “He rigged the basement with explosives when he bypassed the doors!”

The fire alarms began screaming throughout the mansion. Thick black smoke poured up the grand staircase.

“Get Noah out!” Luca ordered Daniel. “Eleanor, go with them! Get out of the house!”

“Where are you going?!” I screamed over the alarms.

Luca grabbed a fresh magazine for his weapon and slammed it home.

“I’m going to the bank,” Luca said, his eyes burning with absolute, lethal purpose. “I have to finish what Claire started.”

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