Chapter 8 - THE BETRAYAL INSIDE THE HOUSE
The investigation turned toward the estate's maintenance contractor.
Records showed that the company had been acquired six months earlier by an investment group linked to Victor Hale.
The earliest microphones had been installed shortly afterward.
Victor had not merely concealed Mara's whereabouts.
He had arranged surveillance of Gabriel.
But why?
Matteo found the answer in the financial records.
Victor had been transferring money out of several Duca family trusts.
He feared Gabriel would discover the theft during a planned audit.
The microphones allowed him to monitor conversations about the accounts.
Then a second person had discovered the surveillance system.
Someone who wanted Gabriel to find it.
Someone who added the relay in Guest Room 7.
Someone who played sounds through the vents until Nero noticed.
Olivia studied the timeline.
“Who knew about the audit?”
Gabriel answered.
“Me. Matteo. My attorneys. Victor.”
“And Luca?”
Gabriel went still.
“Luca knew about the original accounts before he disappeared.”
Olivia nodded.
“Then maybe he found out Victor was still stealing.”
Matteo looked toward the plans.
“And used the old passage to expose him.”
Gabriel stared at the room.
“Why not just call me?”
Olivia hesitated.
“Maybe he couldn't trust the phones.”
That afternoon, a security consultant located an old maintenance entrance near the estate's greenhouse.
Its electronic lock had been bypassed.
Inside, investigators found a small sleeping area.
A blanket.
Bottled water.
Medical supplies.
And a photograph of Mara and Luca as children.
Someone had been living on the property.
For days.
Perhaps weeks.
Gabriel stood inside the narrow room.
His face was pale.
“He was here.”
Matteo nodded.
“Possibly.”
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
“Luca was here.”
Then Nero began whining.
He moved toward the rear wall.
Olivia crouched beside him.
“What is it, boy?”
The dog pressed his nose against a loose wooden panel.
A technician removed it.
Behind the panel was a waterproof pouch.
Inside were copies of financial records.
A flash drive.
And a handwritten letter.
Gabriel opened it.
The first line made him sit down.
Gabe, I'm sorry I let you bury an empty coffin.
The letter was from Luca.
He explained that he had discovered evidence of Vittorio's crimes shortly before the boating accident.
He also learned that Mara might still be alive.
When he tried to investigate, someone sabotaged his boat.
He survived by reaching a maintenance platform near the shoreline.
An old family associate helped him disappear.
Luca spent years gathering evidence against the people who had hidden Mara.
But the network protecting them was larger than he expected.
He feared returning openly would endanger her.
Recently, he learned Victor had begun stealing from Gabriel and using surveillance to protect himself.
Luca entered the estate through the old passage and added equipment designed to expose the microphones.
He knew Nero could hear the sounds.
He counted on the dog being persistent.
And he counted on someone eventually listening.
At the bottom of the letter, Luca wrote:
If you want to find Mara, follow the records. Not the threats. Not the rumors. The records.
Gabriel stared at the page.
For four years, he had grieved his brother.
Now he held proof that Luca had been alive.
May you like
But the letter ended with another warning.
If I disappear again, don't assume I left willingly.
