Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO SOLD EVERYONE
Renato escaped twelve hours later.
Not by breaking a window.
Not by overpowering guards.
He simply walked out.
One of Lorenzo's oldest security captains unlocked the door.
A second disabled the gate.
A third drove the car.
By the time Nico realized what happened, Renato had been gone nine minutes.
Nine minutes was enough.
"How many people belong to him?" I asked.
Lorenzo stood in the security office staring at employee records.
"I don't know."
"That's comforting."
He looked exhausted.
Leo had begun sleeping longer between feedings.
None of us had.
Nico entered.
"Car abandoned six miles east."
"Driver?"
"Gone."
"Renato?"
"Gone."
Lorenzo slammed his palm against the desk.
I flinched.
He saw.
Immediately, his hand dropped.
"Sorry."
That single apology told me how different he was becoming.
Or perhaps how different he had always been beneath everything Renato had trained him to be.
Nico placed a phone on the desk.
"Travis wants to talk."
I frowned.
"He already talked."
"Apparently not enough."
Travis was being held in a guesthouse near the edge of the property under guard.
When we entered, he stood immediately.
"Where's Renato?"
Lorenzo stopped.
"Why?"
"He knows I'm here."
"How?"
"Because Felix told him."
"Felix is missing."
Travis laughed bitterly.
"Felix is dead."
The room went still.
"How do you know?" Nico asked.
"I watched them put him in a car."
"When?"
"Three weeks ago."
"Then who arranged Maya's placement?"
"Felix started it. Renato finished it."
I stared at him.
"You knew Renato?"
"Not personally."
"You knew enough."
Travis wouldn't meet my eyes.
Lorenzo stepped forward.
"What haven't you told us?"
Travis swallowed.
"Aster isn't just medical shipping."
"We know."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You don't."
He sat.
"Aster creates shortages."
Lorenzo frowned.
"What?"
"Hospitals order ten thousand units. Aster sends eight. The paperwork says ten."
"Where do the other two go?"
"Private buyers. Overseas. Street markets. Other distributors."
My stomach turned.
"Medication?"
"Everything."
"Baby formula?"
Travis looked at me.
"Sometimes."
Lorenzo's face hardened.
"Renato's been stealing medical supplies?"
"For years."
"That's the great secret?"
"No."
Travis leaned forward.
"The missing inventory isn't the money."
"What is?"
"Replacement contracts."
Lorenzo stared.
Travis explained.
Aster created artificial shortages.
Then emergency subsidiaries appeared to sell replacement supplies at inflated prices.
Hospitals paid twice.
Insurance paid.
Charities paid.
Government programs paid.
The Rossi network collected from every side.
Hundreds of millions.
Maybe more.
"Elena found it," Travis said.
Lorenzo went completely still.
"What?"
"Your wife."
"How do you know?"
"Because Felix told me."
"When?"
"Last year."
My eyes moved to Lorenzo.
His face had lost color.
"Elena never mentioned Aster specifically."
"She didn't know how deep it went."
Travis shook his head.
"She thought it was accounting fraud."
"What happened?"
"She ordered an independent audit."
Lorenzo nodded.
"I know."
"Renato panicked."
My chest tightened.
"Did he hurt Elena?"
Lorenzo's eyes snapped toward Travis.
"Careful."
Travis raised both hands.
"No. No."
Lorenzo remained frozen.
"Then why mention her?"
"Because Renato shut the audit down after she got pregnant."
"We know."
"He didn't just shut it down."
Travis took a breath.
"He moved the records."
"Where?"
"Charity accounts."
Lorenzo frowned.
"What charity?"
"Elena's."
Silence.
Elena Rossi Foundation.
I had heard the name.
The organization funded maternal health clinics and neonatal programs.
Lorenzo looked sick.
"He laundered money through her foundation."
"Without her knowing."
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Guess."
"Thirty million? Maybe fifty."
Lorenzo turned away.
I understood why it hurt differently.
Renato hadn't merely betrayed him.
He had used Elena's name.
Her work.
Her attempt to do something good.
The same way he had used Lily's death to place me in the mansion.
Renato didn't destroy people directly.
He turned what they loved into tools.
Travis continued.
"When Elena died, Renato thought the audit was over."
"But Lorenzo planned to reopen it."
"Yeah."
"So Leo became leverage."
Travis nodded.
"And I became evidence."
His face changed.
"Maya—"
"Don't."
"I didn't know they were going to put you near the baby."
"You gave them everything they needed."
"I was scared."
"So was I."
"I owed people money."
"I lost our daughter."
His face collapsed.
"Maya."
"You don't get to be sad about Lily."
"She was my daughter too."
"No."
My voice came out calm.
"She was your child."
I stepped closer.
"But fathers don't leave their daughters dying at the bottom of stairs."
Travis stared at the floor.
I expected satisfaction.
I felt none.
Only emptiness.
Lorenzo looked at Nico.
"Get a statement."
Travis panicked.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Renato has a plan."
Lorenzo turned.
"What plan?"
"He always has an exit."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Lorenzo grabbed his jacket.
Travis shouted after him.
"He's not leaving!"
Lorenzo stopped.
"What?"
Travis stood.
"Renato doesn't run."
His eyes moved toward me.
"He takes insurance."
My blood turned cold.
"What insurance?"
Travis looked at Lorenzo.
"Leo."
We ran.
Not because we knew Renato was inside the estate.
Because suddenly we understood he didn't need to be.
He had people everywhere.
The nursery was empty.
Dr. Hart had moved Leo to the east guest suite earlier.
We reached it.
Leo was there.
Sleeping.
Teresa sat beside him.
She jumped when Lorenzo burst through the door.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
He checked Leo himself.
Breathing.
Warm.
Safe.
I let out a breath.
Then the alarms began.
A mechanical voice filled the mansion.
CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED.
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.
Teresa stood.
Lorenzo froze.
Nico's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"Security system initiated automatic evacuation."
"Shut it down."
"Controls aren't responding."
Lorenzo looked toward me.
I remembered Chapter 1.
Locked doors.
Disabled cameras.
Remote control.
"This is him."
Lorenzo picked up Leo.
The lights changed from white to red.
Doors began unlocking throughout the estate.
The front gate opened automatically.
Every security barrier designed to keep enemies out was now directing everyone outside.
Into waiting vehicles.
Into confusion.
Into Renato's hands.
Lorenzo looked at Nico.
"Nobody leaves with Leo."
May you like
Then every light in the mansion went black.
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