Chapter 3 - The Locked Gates
By sunrise, Evelyn understood she was no longer simply a homeless woman who had rescued a child.
She was a witness.
Lorenzo's security captain, Marco Vieri, had disappeared before dawn.
So had two guards.
Every gate around the Moretti estate was locked.
Lorenzo found Evelyn in the kitchen drinking coffee.
“I need you to remain here.”
“Need?”
“Until I know you're safe.”
“That's an interesting word for imprisonment.”
“You can leave.”
“Good.”
“But someone may kill you before lunch.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You really need to work on your hospitality.”
To her surprise, Lorenzo almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Matteo entered wearing pajamas.
The moment he saw Evelyn, relief softened his face.
She understood then why leaving would be harder than she wanted.
Over breakfast Matteo began remembering fragments.
A familiar voice.
A car.
A sweet-smelling cloth.
And one sentence.
“Your father should have listened.”
Lorenzo's coffee cup stopped halfway to his mouth.
“To whom?” Evelyn asked gently.
Matteo shook his head.
That afternoon Lorenzo's men discovered Marco’s abandoned vehicle.
Inside was blood.
Not Marco’s.
A lab later identified it as belonging to Vincent Moretti.
Lorenzo's younger brother.
Vincent arrived at the mansion furious.
He denied everything.
“You think I kidnapped my nephew?”
“I think your blood was inside Marco’s car,” Lorenzo said.
Vincent slammed both hands onto the table.
“He works for us!”
“He worked for me.”
Evelyn watched from the doorway.
Vincent noticed her.
“Who's this?”
“The woman who saved Matteo.”
Recognition flashed across his face.
Too quickly.
Evelyn felt it immediately.
He had seen her before.
Or knew who she was.
That night, she searched the guest room Lorenzo had given her.
Someone had been inside.
Nothing valuable was missing.
But her old backpack had been opened.
At the bottom was the only photograph she still carried: Evelyn in nursing scrubs beside her younger sister, Claire.
The photograph had been moved.
Then she saw something beneath it.
A white envelope.
Inside were four words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED TOO.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Six months earlier, Claire had died in a car accident.
Three weeks afterward, Evelyn had lost her apartment.
Then her job.
Then nearly everything else.
But there had always been something about Claire’s accident that bothered her.
Claire had called Evelyn the night before she died.
She had sounded terrified.
She had said she had discovered something at work.
Claire had been an accountant.
For Moretti Maritime Holdings.
Evelyn ran downstairs.
Lorenzo was in his office.
She threw the photograph onto his desk.
“Did you know her?”
Lorenzo stared at Claire.
His expression changed.
“Yes.”
Evelyn's chest tightened.
“How?”
“She worked for one of my companies.”
“She died six months ago.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
Lorenzo rose slowly.
“Evelyn—”
“My sister told me she'd found something. The next day she was dead.”
Lorenzo looked toward the photograph again.
“What did she find?”
“I don't know.”
His answer came immediately.
“Then someone thinks you do.”
Evelyn showed him the note.
For several seconds Lorenzo said nothing.
Then he pressed a button beneath his desk.
The office doors locked.
Evelyn stepped backward.
“What are you doing?”
“Protecting you.”
“From whom?”
His answer chilled her.
“Apparently, from the same person who took my son.”
Then the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot exploded downstairs.
And somewhere in the darkness, Matteo screamed.
