Chapter 3
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## THE VOICE OF A DEAD MAN
Luca played the recording three times.
Each time, his father's voice became more unmistakable.
Anthony Moretti had been dead for four years. Luca had watched his coffin lowered into the ground. He had inherited the family business, the estate, and the enemies his father left behind.
Yet there was no mistaking the authority in that voice.
"If Luca ever learns what happened that night, he'll destroy this family."
Sophie covered her ears when Isabella screamed again.
Luca immediately stopped the recording.
"That's enough, sweetheart."
"Was Mommy scared?" she whispered.
Luca struggled to answer.
"Yes."
"Did Daddy leave her alone?"
The question struck harder than any bullet he'd ever taken.
"No, princess. I didn't know where she was. But I should have found her."
Sophie stared at the muddy box.
"Can we find her now?"
Luca kissed her forehead.
"I'm going to do everything I can."
He turned to Emily.
"How did you recognize the letter?"
Emily hesitated.
"I didn't recognize it, sir. Sophie did."
"You knew Vanessa was frightened before I arrived."
The young housekeeper glanced toward the greenhouse doors.
"Mrs. Sterling told me last week that if any mail arrived addressed to you in a woman's handwriting, I was to bring it directly to her. She said it concerned your business."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because she threatened to have me fired. My mother needs expensive medication, and this job pays for it."
Luca's expression softened slightly.
"You should have told me."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize for being afraid of someone who has power over your livelihood."
Emily looked surprised.
Luca called Marco.
"Find out who visited the estate during the week Isabella disappeared. I want the original police reports, the river search records, and every piece of evidence that was supposedly used to declare her dead."
Marco nodded.
"And Vanessa?"
"She stays here until I speak with her."
"Sir, she's demanding to call her attorney."
"Let her. But nobody destroys a single document or leaves the grounds without my knowledge."
Within an hour, Marco returned with troubling news.
The security footage from the service entrance had been erased.
Not corrupted. Not damaged.
Erased manually using an administrator's access code.
Only four people possessed that code: Luca, Marco, Vanessa, and the estate's former security director.
The director had died in a car accident eight months earlier.
"Who accessed the system?" Luca asked.
Marco placed a printed report on the table.
"Vanessa's credentials. At 11:42 this morning."
The time was eighteen minutes before Emily received the letter.
Luca stared at the report.
"Bring her to the library."
Vanessa entered wearing a silk robe over her wedding gown. Her makeup was smudged, but her chin remained lifted.
"This is ridiculous," she said. "I won't be interrogated in my own home."
"This isn't your home."
"Not yet."
"Not ever."
The words landed like a slap.
Vanessa looked at the recorder on the desk.
"What is that?"
"A recording of my father discussing Isabella's disappearance."
For the first time, Vanessa looked genuinely frightened.
Luca pressed play.
When Anthony's voice emerged, she sat down abruptly.
"You knew," Luca said.
Vanessa shook her head.
"I never heard that recording."
"But you knew my father was involved."
"No."
"Then tell me why your security credentials were used to erase the entrance footage."
She swallowed.
"Someone could have stolen my password."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Luca leaned across the desk.
"Where is Isabella?"
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know where she is now."
The word now hung between them.
Luca stood.
"You just admitted she might be alive."
Vanessa covered her mouth.
"I didn't mean—"
"Where was she when you last saw her?"
Silence.
Then she whispered, "The night she disappeared, I drove her to the river."
Luca's hand closed around the edge of the desk.
"Why?"
"Because she asked me to help her escape."
"From whom?"
Vanessa began crying.
"Your father."
Luca felt the room grow cold.
"Tell me everything."
Vanessa shook her head violently.
"If I tell you, they'll kill me."
"Who?"
She looked toward the library door.
Someone had stopped outside.
A shadow passed beneath it.
Vanessa's face turned white.
She whispered four words.
"He's still alive, Luca."
Before Luca could demand an explanation, the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere in the east wing.
Sophie screamed from the hallway.
Luca ran toward the door.
May you like
And as Marco shouted for everyone to get down, Luca heard Vanessa whisper behind him:
"Anthony Moretti never died."
