Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Z
There are moments when fear becomes so complete that it feels almost ordinary.
That was how I felt standing in Luca Moretti's study at eleven forty-seven on a Friday night.
My shoulder throbbed beneath the temporary sling Dr. Harris had given me. I had an ice pack against my upper arm and a prescription for pain medication in my pocket. The doctor suspected a significant soft-tissue injury and had ordered imaging for the following morning.
Yet the pain was no longer the thing occupying my mind.
Charles Whitmore was alive.
And I had seen him.
Luca studied the photograph without touching the camera.
“David,” he said, “tell me exactly where this was taken.”
“The bridal suite.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“At what time?”
“Two fourteen.”
Luca turned toward Gabriel.
“Who identified Charles's body?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“The medical examiner's office. His wife confirmed his belongings.”
“Did anyone from our organization see his face?”
“No.”
The silence that followed seemed to pull the warmth from the room.
Charles Whitmore had served as Luca's attorney for fourteen years. Three weeks earlier, he'd supposedly died in a highway collision outside Milwaukee. His vehicle burned after striking a concrete barrier.
The funeral had been private.
Vanessa attended in black.
I remembered because she had complained that the rain ruined her shoes.
Luca looked at David.
“Why was Charles in my house?”
David shook his head.
“I don't know. I was hired to photograph Vanessa. That's all.”
“Who hired you?”
“Vanessa's assistant. I received instructions by email.”
“Were you told the bruises were theatrical makeup?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't question why a woman wanted photographs of herself appearing injured?”
David's eyes filled.
“I needed the money.”
I understood that answer more than I wanted to.
Luca seemed to understand it too.
But his expression didn't soften.
“Did you know she intended to accuse me of assault?”
David lowered his head.
“Not until afterward.”
“Then why did you stay silent?”
David whispered, “She threatened my family.”
Gabriel took a step forward.
“Who threatened them?”
“Whitmore.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
I looked toward the door.
My mind had returned to that afternoon.
Vanessa's dressing room had smelled of hairspray and expensive perfume. I had been sent upstairs to replace the flowers beside her mirror.
The door was partly open.
I heard Vanessa laughing.
Then a man's voice.
“Once the ceremony is finished, the signature becomes irrevocable.”
I had stopped outside the room.
Vanessa said, “And Anna?”
The man answered, “She's nobody.”
I should have walked away.
Instead, I knocked.
Vanessa opened the door and looked furious.
“Why are you here?”
“The flowers, ma'am.”
Her eyes moved toward the corridor.
Then back to me.
She grabbed my upper arm.
Hard.
“Did you hear anything?”
“No, ma'am.”
“Liar.”
She twisted my arm behind me.
Pain shot through my shoulder.
I cried out.
She shoved me against the dressing table.
A perfume bottle shattered.
“Clean that up,” she whispered, “and forget what you heard.”
Now, in Luca's study, I realized I'd heard something important without understanding it.
“The signature,” I said.
Luca turned.
“What?”
“Mr. Whitmore said something about a signature becoming irrevocable after the ceremony.”
Gabriel looked at Luca.
Luca's face changed.
“Which signature?”
“I don't know.”
Luca walked to his desk.
He opened a drawer and removed a leather folder.
Inside were documents I'd seen carried through the mansion all week.
The wedding agreement.
The transfer schedules.
The charitable trust papers.
Luca flipped through them.
Then stopped.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“Get Rebecca Shaw here.”
“Tonight?”
“Now.”
He looked at me.
“Anna, I need you to remember everything you heard.”
I swallowed.
“Am I in trouble?”
For the first time that evening, his expression softened.
“No.”
He paused.
“Someone hurt you because you were standing near a secret. That makes you a witness, not a suspect.”
I wanted to believe him.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face darkened.
“Boss.”
Luca looked up.
May you like
“Vanessa's gone.”
---
