Chapter 5 - The Betrayal at the GateFor the first time in fifteen years, Lorenzo Moretti pointed a gun at the man who had protected his life.
Dante did not reach for his weapon.
He simply stared at the property record on the screen.
“Enzo, I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Lorenzo's voice was dangerously quiet.
Elena stood beside the desk, her injured shoulder throbbing.
Dante slowly removed his pistol and placed it on the table.
“I bought the cottage for an informant.”
“Name?”
“I didn't know his real name.”
Lorenzo gave a bitter laugh.
“You purchased a property for a man you couldn't identify?”
“He was providing information about the Krasnikis.”
“Who authorized it?”
“I did.”
“Without telling me?”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“Why?”
Dante looked at Elena.
“Because the informant said the threat wasn't just against you.”
“Against whom?”
“Her.”
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
Dante continued.
“Six months ago, a man contacted me through an old Black Crown intermediary. He said a waitress in Tribeca was being watched.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” Lorenzo demanded.
“Because he threatened to kill her if I did.”
Elena shook her head.
“You knew someone was watching me?”
Dante nodded.
“I tried to keep people away from your restaurant.”
“And you never warned me?”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“By keeping me ignorant?”
He had no answer.
Lorenzo lowered his weapon slightly.
“Who was the informant?”
Dante reached into his coat.
Lorenzo immediately raised the gun again.
“Slowly.”
Dante withdrew a folded photograph.
He placed it on the desk.
Elena recognized the man instantly.
Older now.
Heavier.
Gray at the temples.
But the same cruel eyes.
Her father.
Robert Vance.
She stumbled backward.
Lorenzo caught her before she fell.
“That's him,” she whispered.
Dante nodded.
“He called himself Thomas Reed.”
Lorenzo looked at the photograph.
“Why would he pay you to protect his daughter?”
Dante's expression became grim.
“Because he claimed someone was going to use her to get close to you.”
Elena felt sick.
“Then the shooting—”
“May have been planned to put you in the same place,” Lorenzo finished.
She stared at him.
“You think I was supposed to save you?”
“I think somebody knew you would react.”
Elena shook her head.
“No. Nobody could know that.”
“Your father knows how you respond to danger.”
“But he couldn't know I'd see the gun.”
Lorenzo considered that.
She was right.
The attack had been too unpredictable.
Unless the intended result was not her rescue.
Unless someone had expected her to die.
The thought settled heavily between them.
That afternoon, Lorenzo ordered the cottage searched.
He insisted Elena remain at the estate.
She refused.
“My father is the reason this is happening.”
“Which makes him dangerous.”
“Which makes me the one person who might recognize what he leaves behind.”
Lorenzo studied her.
Then nodded.
“You stay beside me.”
The cottage sat behind a row of tall pines.
Its windows were dark.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, the furniture was sparse.
A table.
Two chairs.
A refrigerator containing bottled water.
And a wall covered in photographs.
Elena stopped breathing.
Every photograph showed her.
Leaving her apartment.
Walking to nursing classes.
Buying groceries.
Working at Ljardan.
Some had been taken years earlier.
Others were recent.
Lorenzo moved beside her.
His jaw tightened.
Then Elena saw a photograph showing her mother.
Rachel Vance stood outside a medical building.
The date printed in the corner was from only eight months earlier.
Elena touched the picture.
“No.”
Lorenzo looked at it.
The woman was older than in the original photograph.
But the resemblance was unmistakable.
Her mother might be alive.
Dante searched the adjoining room.
He found a laptop and several folders.
One contained bank statements.
Another contained medical records.
The third held photographs of Lorenzo's brother Matteo.
Elena followed Lorenzo into the bedroom.
On the nightstand sat a small wooden box.
Inside was a silver necklace.
A tiny heart-shaped pendant.
Elena recognized it.
Her mother had worn it every day.
She picked it up with shaking fingers.
The clasp was broken.
A piece of folded paper had been placed inside the pendant.
She opened it.
Three words were written in blue ink.
Don't trust Dante.
Elena looked toward the doorway.
Dante was standing there.
His expression was unreadable.
Before she could speak, a loud crack echoed outside.
One of the guards shouted.
“Shots fired!”
Lorenzo grabbed Elena and pulled her behind the bed.
Another shot shattered the window.
Glass rained across the floor.
Dante drew his weapon.
“Stay down!”
He ran toward the hallway.
Lorenzo covered Elena with his body as bullets struck the exterior wall.
Then the shooting stopped.
Silence followed.
A guard shouted that the attacker was fleeing.
Lorenzo rose cautiously.
Outside, Dante lay beside the front steps.
Blood spread beneath his coat.
Elena rushed toward him despite Lorenzo's warning.
She dropped to her knees.
Dante's breathing was shallow.
He gripped her wrist.
“Your father…”
“What about him?”
Dante coughed.
“He wasn't the one who wanted you dead.”
Elena leaned closer.
“Then who?”
Dante's eyes filled with terror.
“The woman…”
His fingers tightened.
May you like
“The woman you think is your mother…”
Then he lost consciousness.
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