Chapter 5 - The Man Matteo Trusted Most
Marco did not reach for his gun.
That was the only reason Matteo didn't shoot him.
“Explain.”
Marco closed the door.
“I've waited seven years for you to ask.”
Matteo crossed the room and slammed him against the wall.
“My wife named you.”
“I know.”
“You knew Daniel was alive?”
“I knew he survived the first four years.”
Elena stood.
“Where is my father?”
Marco looked at her.
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer,” Matteo said.
Marco didn't flinch.
“Sofia found me because I was working for Vittorio.”
Matteo's fist tightened.
“You betrayed my father?”
“No. Your father planted me beside Vittorio.”
Silence.
Marco explained.
Salvatore had suspected his brother years before Daniel discovered the financial records. Marco became Salvatore's eyes inside Vittorio's circle.
When Daniel was captured, Marco learned he was being held outside Joliet.
Sofia attempted to rescue him.
Marco tried to stop her.
She went anyway.
Vittorio discovered the plan.
Three days later, Sofia's brakes failed.
Matteo looked like he'd been struck.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“For seven years?”
“I couldn't prove it.”
“You let him stand beside me at her funeral.”
“If I'd accused him without evidence, he would've killed me and destroyed everything.”
Matteo hit him.
Marco crashed against the desk.
Lucia screamed.
Elena pulled her close.
Matteo immediately stopped.
His daughter stared at him in terror.
That hurt more than anything Marco could have said.
Matteo stepped back.
“Lucia, go with Elena.”
“No.”
“Please.”
The word stunned everyone.
Matteo Falcone rarely said please.
Lucia obeyed.
In the hallway, she looked at Elena.
“Is Daddy bad?”
Elena crouched.
“No.”
“He hurts people.”
“Sometimes good people do bad things when they're hurting.”
“Does that make it okay?”
Elena thought carefully.
“No.”
Lucia nodded.
“My mommy used to tell him that.”
Elena smiled sadly.
“I think your mommy was smart.”
Inside, Marco gave Matteo the final piece.
Vittorio had moved Daniel years earlier.
But Marco knew who transported him.
A retired physician named Dr. Harold Vance.
They found Vance living in Wisconsin.
Matteo drove there with Elena and Marco.
Vance opened the door, saw Elena, and nearly collapsed.
“You have Daniel's eyes.”
Elena couldn't breathe.
“Where is he?”
The old doctor invited them inside.
Daniel had survived years of captivity because Vittorio needed information only he possessed: access codes to hidden Salvatore accounts containing records capable of destroying Vittorio's network.
Seven years earlier, Daniel escaped during a transfer.
Vance secretly treated him.
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
Elena's hope shattered.
Then Vance added, “But he left something for you.”
He returned with an envelope.
Inside was a birthday card.
For Elena, when she's finally safe.
Her hands shook.
The card had been written six years earlier.
My Ellie,
Every day I don't come home is another day I'm trying to keep danger away from you. If Matteo Falcone ever learns the truth, tell him his father was a better man than either of us understood. Tell him Sofia was brave. And tell him Vittorio's greatest weakness is that he thinks blood makes family. It doesn't. Choice does.
Elena pressed the card to her chest.
“Was he sick?”
Vance hesitated.
“Daniel suffered significant injuries.”
“Was he dying?”
“No.”
Hope returned.
“He was determined to find evidence against Vittorio. He said he wouldn't see you until he could guarantee Vittorio couldn't follow him.”
Matteo asked, “Where would he go?”
Vance shook his head.
Then Elena noticed a postal stamp on the envelope.
Milwaukee.
A return routing code.
She remembered something.
Her father used to take her fishing every summer at a lake near a small town north of Milwaukee.
They drove there.
At sunset, they found a cabin.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
Elena stopped fifty feet away.
A man emerged.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Walking with a cane.
He stared at the vehicles.
Then at Elena.
The cane fell from his hand.
“Elena?”
She broke.
“Dad?”
Daniel Carter began crying.
Elena ran.
Eleven years disappeared in the distance between them.
She slammed into her father's arms.
He held her as if letting go would lose another decade.
Matteo turned away.
Even Marco wiped his eyes.
Daniel kissed Elena's hair.
“My baby.”
“You were alive.”
“I'm sorry.”
“You were alive.”
“I know.”
She hit his chest once.
Then hugged him harder.
Matteo gave them time.
Eventually Daniel looked at him.
“You look like Salvatore.”
“So I've been told.”
Daniel's expression became serious.
“Then I hope you inherited the part of him that knew when to listen.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“I owe you my life.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, Matteo. You owe me something much harder.”
“What?”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
“Keep my daughter alive.”
Before Matteo could respond, Marco shouted.
“DOWN!”
The cabin windows exploded.
Men emerged from the tree line.
And through the smoke, an elderly figure stepped from a black SUV.
Vittorio Falcone.
May you like
He smiled.
“Hello, nephew.”
