Chapter 6 - The Dead Man at the Airport
For several seconds, Sebastian couldn't move.
Richard Romano had been declared dead eleven years earlier.
Antonio had attended the funeral.
The family had received the official death certificate.
The accident report had been signed and filed.
Yet the man in the photograph was unmistakably Richard.
Older, heavier, with gray at his temples.
But alive.
Sebastian enlarged the image.
Vanessa stood beside him, holding a black leather case.
Richard was speaking to someone outside the frame.
“Where was this taken?” Sebastian demanded.
His attorney answered over the phone.
“O'Hare. The photograph came from an airport security contact. The image is authentic, but we're still verifying the man's identity.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
Sebastian looked at his father.
Antonio had gone pale.
“Richard,” the old man whispered.
Sebastian knelt beside him.
“Dad, I need you to stay calm.”
Antonio shook his head.
“I knew it.”
“You suspected he survived?”
“No. I suspected someone had lied about what happened that night.”
Antonio's hands trembled.
“Richard's body was never shown to me. They said the accident had left him unrecognizable. I was told the identification had been confirmed through personal effects.”
Sebastian felt sick.
“Who confirmed it?”
Antonio closed his eyes.
“Thomas Sterling.”
The room went silent.
Sebastian stood.
“Then Thomas may have helped fake his death.”
Antonio nodded slowly.
“And if Richard is alive, he may know where the missing money went.”
Sebastian's attorney arranged for the photograph to be examined and for the relevant authorities to be notified. Sebastian refused to send anyone after Richard without knowing whether he was being followed or whether the photograph was part of another trap.
Meanwhile, Clara noticed something unusual in the airport image.
“Look at Vanessa's hand.”
Sebastian turned toward her.
“What?”
“She isn't holding the case by the handle. She's holding the side, like it's heavy.”
Sebastian looked closer.
A small metallic corner was visible beneath the leather flap.
“What's inside?”
Clara pointed to the case's reflection in the glass.
“There's a label.”
Sebastian enlarged the image.
The letters were faint, but readable.
R. ROMANO — ORIGINAL RECORDS.
The case contained documents.
Possibly the original financial records.
Possibly evidence connecting Richard to the missing money.
Sebastian's attorney arranged for the airport footage to be preserved. By evening, investigators had confirmed that the man was almost certainly Richard Romano.
They also discovered that he had entered the country under a different name three months earlier.
Vanessa had visited him twice.
Marcus had visited him once.
Sebastian stared at the report.
“Marcus knew he was alive.”
His attorney nodded.
“That's the likely conclusion.”
“Bring him in.”
Marcus arrived at the mansion after midnight.
This time, he didn't try to pretend everything was normal.
He looked at the photograph and sank into a chair.
“I can explain.”
Sebastian stood over him.
“You'd better.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“Richard contacted me last year. He told me he'd been living under another identity because he believed someone wanted him dead.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn't say.”
“And you believed him?”
Marcus looked up.
“He showed me records proving the accident report had been manipulated.”
Sebastian's jaw tightened.
“Why didn't you tell Dad?”
“Because Richard said the person responsible was still watching the family.”
“Then why involve Vanessa?”
Marcus swallowed.
“She said she could arrange a meeting. She claimed her father had left her information that would help establish the truth.”
Sebastian stared.
“And instead, she used you to access the trust.”
Marcus nodded.
“I didn't understand what she was doing until it was too late.”
“You helped file the application.”
“I thought it would temporarily protect Dad's assets while we investigated Richard's claims.”
“Without telling me.”
Marcus lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Sebastian stepped back.
“Did you know about the missing meals?”
“No.”
“The medication?”
“No.”
“The dog food?”
Marcus's face twisted.
“No, Sebastian. I swear.”
For the first time, Sebastian believed him.
Not because Marcus deserved his trust, but because his horror looked genuine.
Then Marcus reached into his coat and removed a folded letter.
“Richard sent me this after the application was filed.”
Sebastian unfolded it.
The message was brief.
The trust isn't what Vanessa wants. It's what the trust can expose.
Beneath it was a second sentence.
Your father knows who signed the original transfer.
Sebastian looked up.
“Who?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Richard wouldn't tell me.”
Sebastian turned toward Antonio's room.
His father was standing in the doorway, supported by Clara.
“I know,” Antonio said.
Everyone turned.
Antonio looked at his sons.
“The signature belonged to your mother.”
Sebastian felt the room tilt.
Their mother had been dead for twelve years.
May you like
And according to their father, she had authorized the transfer of the missing money shortly before Richard's supposed death.
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