Chapter 4 - THE CAR THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
The drawing showed a black sedan with a silver stripe along its side.
Sophia had drawn the stripe carefully.
She had even added a small white scratch near the rear wheel.
Elena recognized it immediately.
Nathan's company car.
A black sedan issued by the freight terminal where he worked.
She remembered the scratch.
Nathan had made it backing into a concrete post.
He joked about it for weeks.
But the car had supposedly been destroyed in the fire that killed him.
Elena stared at the drawing.
“Sophia, sweetheart, where did you see that?”
Sophia looked confused.
“At the house.”
“What house?”
“Mr. Alessandro's house.”
Alessandro felt a cold sensation move through him.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Where?”
“Near the little garage.”
Elena shook her head.
“That can't be.”
Sophia frowned.
“It had Daddy's scratch.”
Detective Shaw asked gentle questions, careful not to pressure the child.
Sophia described seeing the vehicle through a window near the servants' staircase.
A man in a dark coat had been standing beside it.
She had not seen his face.
She remembered the car because Elena kept an old photograph of Nathan standing beside it.
Sophia had studied that photograph for years.
Alessandro listened.
Then turned to Gabriel.
“Check the garage records.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And the storage buildings.”
By morning, investigators had identified a vehicle matching Sophia's description.
It was registered to a company called Lakefront Industrial Services.
The company had purchased several assets from Nathan Moreland's former employer after its bankruptcy.
One of those assets was the black sedan.
Alessandro stared at the report.
“Who owns Lakefront Industrial?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Victor's brother-in-law.”
The room fell silent.
Elena sat beside the window.
Her hands trembled.
For four years, she had believed Nathan died in an accident.
Now his car had appeared at the estate of the man she worked for.
And the vehicle was connected to Victor Salvatore.
She looked at Alessandro.
“Did you know?”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“Did you know my husband?”
Alessandro hesitated.
“I knew his name.”
Elena's eyes filled.
“Why?”
Alessandro looked away.
“Because he worked on a project that went wrong.”
She stood.
“What project?”
He said nothing.
Elena stepped closer.
“Mr. Moretti, my daughter has spent four years asking why her father never came home.”
Her voice broke.
“I deserve an answer.”
Alessandro looked at her.
For the first time, the powerful man seemed unable to find words.
Then he said quietly:
“Nathan Moreland discovered something inside my transportation company.”
Elena stopped breathing.
“What?”
May you like
Alessandro swallowed.
“Something I was never supposed to see.”
