Chapter 7 - The Man Who Had Been Watching Me for Years
Dante wanted to lock me inside the house.
I told him he could try.
My mother told both of us to stop acting like Rossellis.
Apparently that included me now.
The security footage showed Leo’s night nurse leaving through the east entrance at 6:12 a.m.
She had worked for Dante for fourteen years.
Someone had threatened her son.
She had handed Leo to Samuel Vega in a grocery-store parking lot.
Vega had not harmed her.
That mattered.
“He wants something,” I said.
Dante paced.
“He took my grandson.”
“If he wanted Leo dead, he had the opportunity.”
Dante stopped.
“You’re asking me to find comfort in that?”
“I’m asking you to think.”
His eyes flashed.
My mother stepped between us.
“Alina is right.”
Dante muttered something in Italian.
I ignored it.
The receipt contained an address written in ultraviolet ink.
A closed diner in Revere.
We arrived with federal agents positioned several blocks away.
This time Dante did not pretend I would stay behind.
Samuel sat alone inside a booth.
Leo was in a high chair eating Cheerios.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
Dante entered first.
Samuel raised both hands.
“No weapons.”
“You kidnapped my grandson.”
“I borrowed him.”
Dante moved so fast I barely saw it.
He grabbed Samuel by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
Leo laughed.
Apparently he thought this was entertainment.
“Dante.”
My voice stopped him.
Samuel coughed.
“He’s safe.”
“Why take him?”
“Because Vittorio wasn’t the end.”
Dante released him.
Samuel straightened his shirt.
I stared at the man who had scheduled my shifts for three years.
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
“You watched me worry about my mother.”
His face tightened.
“I was protecting you.”
“I’m getting very tired of people protecting me by lying.”
“That sounds like Gabriel.”
“Everybody keeps saying that.”
Samuel looked almost amused.
Then he became serious.
“Sofia discovered something before she died. Vittorio was taking orders from someone else.”
Dante scoffed.
“My brother took orders from nobody.”
“He did when enough money was involved.”
Samuel slid a folder across the table.
Inside were photographs of a polished businessman I recognized from television.
Charles Whitmore.
Senator.
Philanthropist.
Potential presidential candidate.
And chairman of a federal maritime oversight committee.
“This is bigger than the Rossellis,” Samuel said.
I stared at him.
“What does Leo have to do with it?”
“Sofia hid the final evidence somewhere connected to him.”
“We found the rabbit.”
“That wasn’t the final evidence.”
Dante looked at Leo.
“What else?”
Samuel pointed at the baby’s vest.
“His medical-alert bracelet.”
Leo wore a tiny silver bracelet engraved with his name.
Dante removed it.
The clasp contained a miniature storage device.
Sofia had hidden evidence on her own child.
Dante looked devastated.
“She knew.”
Samuel nodded.
“She knew she was going to die.”
“No,” my mother said. “She knew someone might try.”
We accessed the device on Samuel’s laptop.
One video file.
Sofia sat inside her car.
“If this recording is found, Senator Charles Whitmore ordered my murder.”
Dante stopped breathing.
“He has been laundering campaign money through companies controlled by Vittorio. My uncle thinks he’s using Whitmore. He’s wrong. Whitmore has been using him.”
She named dates.
Accounts.
Meetings.
Then she said something that changed everything.
“Samuel Vega is not the traitor. He has been working with me.”
I looked at Samuel.
He closed his eyes.
Sofia continued.
“If I die, Samuel will stay close to Alina. She is the only person besides Maria who can authenticate Gabriel’s archive.”
The video ended.
Dante sat down slowly.
“You should have come to me.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Sofia said you’d kill Vittorio before we could expose Whitmore.”
Dante could not argue.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A video call.
I answered.
Charles Whitmore appeared.
He looked exactly as he did on television.
Silver hair.
Calm smile.
American flag pin.
“Ms. Valdez.”
Dante reached for the phone.
I pulled away.
“What do you want?”
“To correct a misunderstanding.”
“You murdered Sofia.”
His smile barely changed.
“An unfortunate accident.”
Dante’s hand tightened into a fist.
Whitmore continued.
“You currently possess stolen financial information that could be misunderstood by people unfamiliar with international shipping.”
“You mean evidence.”
“I mean leverage.”
“Against you?”
“Against everyone.”
He leaned closer to the camera.
“Your father made the same mistake you’re making.”
My blood chilled.
“What mistake?”
“Believing the truth protects people.”
The call ended.
Samuel looked toward the diner windows.
“Everybody down!”
Gunfire shattered the glass.
Dante threw himself over Leo.
I hit the floor beside my mother.
Federal vehicles raced toward us.
The shooters fled before agents could close the street.
When the silence returned, Samuel was bleeding from the shoulder.
But alive.
Dante picked up Leo.
The baby buried his face against Dante’s chest.
I touched his back.
He reached blindly until he found my hand.
Dante looked at me.
Something had changed between us.
Not trust exactly.
Something closer to family.
“We finish this,” he said.
I nodded.
But my mother shook her head.
“No.”
We turned.
She looked terrified.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?” I asked.
Maria looked at Samuel.
Then Dante.
Finally at me.
“Gabriel’s archive doesn’t only destroy Whitmore.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“It destroys Dante too.”
