Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE OF A DEAD WOMAN
“SOMEONE USED YOUR DEAD MOTHER'S NAME TO EMPTY MY FATHER'S VAULT.”
Luca placed the withdrawal record on the dining table.
Vanessa stared at Evelyn Sterling's signature as though the paper might burn her.
“It's not hers.”
“How can you be sure?” Luca asked.
“My mother never signed Evelyn Sterling.”
Thomas looked up.
“What?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She used her maiden name on financial documents. Evelyn Ward. She hated my father's name.”
Luca looked at Caleb.
“Find every document filed under Evelyn Ward.”
Caleb nodded.
“And I want the original Bellwether records, not a computer printout.”
“Understood.”
Vanessa reached for the withdrawal form.
Luca moved it away.
Her expression hardened.
“You still think I'm responsible.”
“I think you've been lying to me.”
“I've been trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Luca looked at the engagement ring on her finger.
Three years earlier, he'd proposed on a balcony overlooking Central Park.
Vanessa had cried.
She'd told him nobody had ever made her feel safe.
He'd believed her.
Now he couldn't tell which memories were real.
“Take off the ring,” he said quietly.
Vanessa went still.
“Luca.”
“Until I know the truth, there is no wedding.”
Her lips trembled.
She slowly removed the diamond ring.
Then placed it beside the photograph.
“I never wanted any of this.”
“Then you should have told me.”
She walked toward the doors.
Luca stopped her.
“You're not leaving the property until we understand what Robert is doing.”
Vanessa turned.
“Am I your prisoner?”
“No. You can leave with Caleb's escort, or stay in the guest wing. But you won't take anything from this room.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You sound just like my father.”
The words struck harder than Luca expected.
Vanessa left with a security officer.
Clara remained near the dining table.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Luca looked at her.
“Yes?”
“May I say something?”
He nodded.
“When Miss Sterling was outside with Mr. Miller, she wasn't only trying to buy the box.”
“What else?”
“She asked him whether there was a letter inside.”
Luca frowned.
“Those exact words?”
Clara nodded.
“She said, ‘Did Antonio leave a letter for Luca?’”
Thomas looked up.
Luca turned toward him.
“How could she know?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I never told her.”
Clara hesitated.
“And she asked whether the letter was sealed with blue wax.”
Luca reached for the envelope.
The broken seal was dark blue.
A chill passed through him.
“Thomas, who knew about this letter?”
“Your father. Me. And the man who wrote down his instructions.”
“Who was that?”
Thomas lowered his eyes.
“His attorney.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Daniel Mercer?”
Thomas nodded.
Daniel Mercer had served the Moretti family for nearly twenty-five years.
He had handled Antonio's estate.
He'd been the person who told Luca that Victor Harlan had stolen the money.
And he had arranged Luca's first business meeting with Robert Sterling.
Luca turned toward Caleb.
“Where's Daniel tonight?”
Caleb checked his phone.
“He was invited to dinner. He canceled this afternoon.”
“Why?”
“Family emergency.”
Luca stared at the birthday cake.
A family emergency.
On the exact night Antonio's letter was scheduled to surface.
“Find him.”
Caleb left.
Thomas rubbed his hands together.
“Luca, there's something I should have told you earlier.”
Luca turned.
“Another secret?”
The gardener accepted the accusation.
“Yes.”
He reached inside his coat and removed a small envelope.
“I received this yesterday.”
Luca took it.
The envelope contained a photograph.
It showed the Moretti mansion's old greenhouse.
On the back was a handwritten message.
THE OAK TREE WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
Luca frowned.
“Who sent it?”
“No return address.”
“Why didn't you show me?”
“Because I thought it was a warning not to come.”
Clara examined the photograph.
“Mr. Miller, when was this taken?”
“Recently, I think.”
She pointed to the corner.
“That's the new irrigation pump. It was installed last spring.”
Luca looked closer.
The greenhouse had been abandoned for years.
Yet the photograph showed fresh footprints in the soil.
Someone had been there.
Recently.
“Caleb,” Luca called into his phone. “Send two men to the greenhouse. Nobody enters until I arrive.”
He turned to Thomas.
“Come with me.”
Clara stepped forward.
“Sir, I know where the old irrigation tunnel is.”
Luca frowned.
“You do?”
“Your father showed me the entrance when I first started working here. He said the old passage needed to stay clear in case of flooding.”
Luca studied her.
“How long have you worked here?”
“Four years.”
“And my father told you about a hidden tunnel?”
Clara nodded.
“He said it was part of the original estate drainage system.”
Thomas looked surprised.
“Antonio showed you that?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say anything else?”
Clara hesitated.
“He said that someday someone might need a way out.”
Luca felt an uncomfortable stirring.
His father had died six years ago.
Clara had begun working at the mansion two years before his death.
Antonio had known her.
And apparently trusted her.
“Why did he trust you?” Luca asked.
Clara looked down.
“Because my mother worked for him.”
“What was her name?”
“Margaret Hayes.”
Thomas suddenly gripped the back of a chair.
Luca turned.
“Thomas?”
The gardener stared at Clara.
“Margaret Hayes was your mother?”
Clara nodded slowly.
“Did you know her?”
Thomas looked toward the photograph of Antonio and Victor.
His face had gone white.
“Your mother worked with Evelyn Ward.”
Clara froze.
“My mother was a housekeeper.”
“No, child.”
Thomas's voice trembled.
“Your mother was the woman who helped Victor hide the original records.”
Luca stared at Clara.
She looked equally stunned.
“My mother died when I was nineteen,” she whispered. “She never mentioned Victor.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“She was protecting you.”
Before Luca could ask another question, Caleb called.
“Sir, we've reached the greenhouse.”
“What did you find?”
“The door was locked from the inside.”
“Break it.”
A crash sounded through the phone.
Then footsteps.
Then silence.
“Caleb?”
His security chief spoke again.
“There's a chair. A table. Someone's been living here.”
Luca felt his pulse quicken.
“Who?”
“We don't know. But there's a fresh cup of coffee.”
“And?”
Caleb hesitated.
“There's a photograph pinned to the wall.”
“Of what?”
“Of Clara Hayes.”
Clara went still.
Luca looked at her.
“Is she alone?”
“No, sir.”
“Who's with her?”
May you like
Caleb's voice dropped.
“Victor Harlan. And he's holding Clara when she was a baby.”
