Chapter 7 - What Ryan's Father Wanted
The first thing I did was call 911.
The second was refuse Luca's order to stay hidden.
"You go inside, they'll use you against Joseph."
"They already are."
"Amanda—"
"Give me the phone."
Luca stared at me.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel doesn't know how much I've figured out."
He handed it over.
I called Daniel.
Through the security feed, I watched him glance at his phone.
He answered.
"Amanda."
"Let Joseph go."
Thomas Cooper smiled beside him.
Daniel said, "You shouldn't have come."
"I know about Madeira."
His expression changed.
Good.
I continued.
"I know the transfers aren't just money laundering."
Joseph looked toward Daniel's phone.
"Amanda?"
I ignored him.
"They're ownership transfers."
Daniel stopped smiling.
That was the confirmation I needed.
For months, Daniel had been shifting assets from Raldi-controlled companies into shell corporations.
The baby hadn't created the scheme.
She had created a deadline.
Once Joseph had a direct heir, certain trust provisions made Daniel's takeover nearly impossible.
"You needed Joseph without an heir," I said.
Daniel's silence answered.
Thomas took the phone.
"You're smarter than Ryan ever deserved."
My skin crawled.
"Where have you been for five years?"
"Dead."
He laughed.
"It has advantages."
"You used your own son."
"Ryan has always been useful when properly motivated."
My anger sharpened.
"You paid him to spy on me."
"I knew resentment would make him cooperative."
"And when he stopped?"
Thomas's smile disappeared.
"He became inconvenient."
That frightened me.
"Where is Ryan?"
Thomas said nothing.
"Where is your son?"
"Safe for the moment."
The line disconnected.
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Inside, chaos erupted.
Daniel moved toward a rear exit.
Joseph lunged.
The feed shook.
Then disappeared.
Minutes later, officers surrounded the property.
Thomas escaped through a hidden passage.
Daniel didn't.
Joseph emerged with blood on his shirt.
I ran toward him.
"Amanda!"
He caught me.
"Are you hurt?"
"That's my question."
"Not mine."
I touched the blood.
"Luca?"
"Alive."
Joseph looked furious.
"You left the SUV."
"Yes."
"I specifically—"
"Don't."
He stopped.
I stared at him.
"You don't get to be angry because I helped save you."
His jaw flexed.
Then he pulled me into his arms.
"I was terrified."
That changed everything.
Not you disobeyed me.
Not you shouldn't have.
I was terrified.
I wrapped my arms around him.
"So was I."
At the hospital, Joseph received six stitches.
Luca survived a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Daniel was arrested on weapons charges while investigators began unraveling the financial scheme.
But Thomas Cooper remained missing.
Ryan was missing too.
For two days, nobody could find him.
Then I received a voicemail.
"Amanda."
Ryan sounded terrified.
"My father has me."
Joseph listened beside me.
"I know what I did to you doesn't give me the right to ask anything. But he's going after the hospital."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"He knows your due date. He has someone inside."
The recording ended.
Joseph immediately contacted security.
My doctor.
The police.
Every appointment was changed.
But something about Ryan's message bothered me.
Not what he said.
What I heard behind him.
A horn.
Then bells.
I replayed it.
"Those are ship bells."
Joseph listened.
Marco, recovering nearby, shook his head.
"Rail crossing."
I played it again.
Then I heard something else.
A recorded announcement in Spanish.
I translated.
"Port Everglades employee shuttle."
Joseph stood.
Thomas had Ryan near the port.
Police found the warehouse four hours later.
Ryan was tied to a chair inside.
Thomas was gone.
When Ryan saw me at the hospital afterward, he looked embarrassed.
"You came?"
"You're the reason we found you."
He stared at his hands.
"My father isn't who I thought."
"I know the feeling."
He looked at me.
"I think that's why I became like him."
I didn't respond.
Ryan swallowed.
"He taught me that if you make somebody insecure enough, they'll spend all their energy trying to please you."
The words hit somewhere deep.
"I did that to you."
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
This time, I believed him completely.
Forgiveness still didn't come automatically.
But something loosened inside me.
"I hope you become better than him."
Ryan nodded.
"So do I."
Outside the room, Joseph waited.
"You okay?"
"Yes."
He took my hand.
For the first time, I didn't think about whether I should let him.
I simply did.
Then Marco approached.
"We found Thomas."
Joseph straightened.
"Where?"
"We didn't."
Marco handed him a photograph.
"He found us."
It showed the Raldi estate.
Taken less than an hour earlier.
On the back was a message.
YOUR DAUGHTER WILL NEVER INHERIT WHAT BELONGS TO ME.
Below it was a date.
Tomorrow.
May you like
And underneath that, one final sentence.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO MATEO CARMONA.
