Chapter 10 - THE WAREHOUSE WHERE EVERYTHING BEGAN
I didn't go alone.
Elena contacted investigators.
Daniel stayed with me.
Adrian was informed but kept away from the meeting.
For once, he didn't argue.
Victor Sloane arrived at the arranged location just after ten.
He was older than in the photographs.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
With a scar along his jaw.
He sat across from me.
For a long moment, he simply stared.
“You look like your father.”
My throat tightened.
“Did you know him well?”
Victor nodded.
“He was a good man.”
I swallowed.
“Then tell me what happened.”
Victor looked down.
“Your father discovered that Carlo Moretti was using company accounts to hide illegal payments.”
I nodded.
“He planned to testify.”
“Yes.”
Victor's eyes filled.
“I told him to leave Chicago.”
“Why didn't he?”
“He said he couldn't let innocent people take the blame.”
I closed my eyes.
That sounded like my father.
Victor continued.
“Carlo ordered someone to silence him.”
My stomach turned.
“Who?”
Victor hesitated.
Then said, “A man named Raymond Kessler.”
I stared.
I knew the name.
Raymond had been my father's closest friend.
He attended our family dinners.
Brought birthday presents.
Helped carry my father's coffin.
I felt sick.
“Raymond?”
Victor nodded.
“He arranged the circumstances that led to your father's death.”
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
Elena asked for evidence.
Victor provided documents.
Payment records.
Messages.
A sworn statement.
He also explained why he had disappeared.
Carlo had threatened his family.
Victor staged his death and went into hiding.
Years later, Lily found him.
She wanted to expose the truth.
But someone discovered her investigation.
She disappeared before Victor could help her.
That evening, investigators searched the old Moretti warehouse.
They found evidence that Lily had been held there.
A blanket.
A woman's scarf.
A handwritten note.
On the wall, scratched into the paint, were three letters.
E.C.
My initials.
I stared at the photograph.
Lily had left a message for me.
But where was she now?
Then Adrian received a call.
Raymond Kessler.
His voice was calm.
“Adrian.”
“What do you want?”
“A trade.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“What trade?”
“Your cooperation ends. The records disappear. And Evelyn Carter gets her sister back.”
Adrian went still.
“Where is Lily?”
Raymond laughed.
“Alive. For now.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Then said, “You'll have your answer.”
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Tell the investigators everything.”
I blinked.
“You're not going to make the deal?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
I stared.
He continued.
“Seven years ago, I thought protecting people meant deciding everything for them.”
His voice hardened.
May you like
“I'm not doing that again.”
And for the first time, I believed he might actually be changing.
