Chapter 6 - The Man Who Raised Her
Elena stared at her father's name until the letters stopped looking familiar.
Michael Bennett.
The man who had taught her to ride a bicycle.
The man who had repaired her first car.
The man who still called every Sunday to ask whether she was eating enough vegetables.
His name appeared on a document connected to Anthony Moretti's final investigation.
"No," Elena whispered.
Detective Shaw leaned toward the monitor.
"Can you enlarge the signature?"
The technician tried.
The image remained blurred.
"That's as clear as it gets."
Dante looked at Elena.
"Your father worked at the docks for thirty years."
"That doesn't make him a criminal."
"I didn't say it did."
"You were thinking it."
He lowered his eyes.
She hated that she still knew him well enough to read his silences.
Shaw intervened.
"We don't know what the document represents. It could be an invoice, a witness statement, or a maintenance record."
Elena stood.
"I want to call my father."
Shaw nodded.
"Do it here."
Michael answered after four rings.
"Hey, sweetheart."
"Dad, where are you?"
"At the workshop. Why?"
"Are you alone?"
A pause.
"Yes."
Elena looked at Shaw.
"Lock the door."
Michael chuckled nervously.
"What's going on?"
"Please."
She heard footsteps.
Then a metal latch.
"Okay."
"Did you ever work for Samuel Pierce?"
Silence.
"Dad?"
Michael exhaled.
"Who told you that?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"Answer me."
"Not directly."
"What does that mean?"
"Years ago, his office paid me to repair refrigeration units on several shipping containers."
"Did you know what was inside them?"
"No."
"Did you ever sign paperwork for him?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"Maintenance certificates."
Elena felt her chest tighten.
"Did you inspect every container you certified?"
Michael said nothing.
"Dad."
"I was behind on the mortgage."
The confession came out barely above a whisper.
"After your mother died, medical bills wiped out my savings. Samuel offered me work. Sometimes he'd ask me to sign off on equipment I hadn't personally inspected."
Elena sat down.
"Oh, Dad."
"I thought they were cutting corners on maintenance."
"How much did he pay you?"
"Two thousand dollars per certificate."
Dante looked away.
Michael continued.
"Then Anthony came to see me. He showed me photographs. People inside those containers."
His voice broke.
"I told him everything."
Elena pressed the phone harder against her ear.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was ashamed."
A terrible silence followed.
Then Michael said, "Anthony promised he'd help me make it right."
Elena wiped her eyes.
"What happened next?"
"He asked me to sign a sworn statement. Said he had a federal investigator willing to listen."
"Did you sign it?"
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"Anthony took it."
Elena looked at the frozen video.
The document in Bianca's hand.
Her father's signature.
It wasn't evidence of his participation in Anthony's murder.
It might be evidence that he had tried to stop the operation.
"Dad, I need you to stay where you are. The police are coming."
"Elena?"
"Yes?"
"There's something else."
Her stomach tightened.
"Tell me."
"Samuel called yesterday."
Elena stopped breathing.
"What did he want?"
"He asked whether I'd given you the key."
"And?"
"I said no."
"Did he believe you?"
"I don't think so."
A noise sounded in the background.
Metal scraping against concrete.
Michael stopped talking.
"Dad?"
Another noise.
Footsteps.
Then a man's voice.
"Mr. Bennett? We need to speak with you."
Elena stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
"Dad, don't open the door!"
The phone crackled.
Michael whispered, "They're already inside."
Then the call ended.
Elena screamed his name.
Shaw immediately dispatched officers.
Dante grabbed his coat.
"Come on."
Shaw blocked the doorway.
"Absolutely not. Neither of you is going anywhere near that workshop."
"My father is there!" Elena shouted.
"And if the people targeting your family are still there, you'll give them exactly what they want."
Elena wanted to argue.
Instead, she collapsed into the chair.
Dante knelt in front of her.
"Look at me."
She shook her head.
"Elena."
"Don't."
He stopped.
She was shaking.
"My father helped Anthony. That's why they're after him."
"We don't know that."
"I do."
Dante reached toward her hand, then hesitated.
She noticed.
For the first time in months, he was waiting for permission.
Elena extended her fingers.
He held them.
Not tightly.
Just enough to let her know he was there.
Twenty-seven minutes later, Shaw received a call.
Two patrol officers had reached Michael's workshop.
The building was empty.
No sign of forced entry.
No blood.
No Michael.
But someone had left a message on the workbench.
A photograph of Elena at her wedding.
Across her face, written in black marker, were three words.
SHE IS NEXT.
Dante stared at the photograph when Shaw showed it to him.
Then he made a decision that would change everything.
He called his operations manager.
"Shut down Pier Seventeen."
The man protested.
"Boss, we have six ships scheduled—"
"Cancel them."
"That'll cost millions."
"I don't care."
"Samuel's people still control the terminal contracts."
"Then let them come after me."
Dante disconnected.
Elena watched him.
"Why now?"
He looked at her.
"Because Anthony tried to stop this, and I ignored the warning signs."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Dante swallowed.
"Because I spent a year protecting my empire while the people I loved were being destroyed."
She stared at him.
"And I won't do it again."
For the first time, Elena believed he meant it.
But believing he meant it was not the same as forgiving him.
That night, Shaw received an anonymous email.
Attached was a photograph of Michael Bennett sitting in a warehouse office.
He was alive.
Beside him stood Bianca Salvi.
May you like
And beneath the photograph was a message.
If Dante wants his father-in-law back, Elena must come alone.
