THEe MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE CALLED ME “AN IGNORANT LITTLE MAID” WHEN I REFUSED TO BLAME HIS RESTAURANT MANAGER—THEN LUCA REALIZED I HAD UNDERSTOOD EVERY WORD SHE SAID IN ITALIAN.

Luca took the phone from my hand.

“Teresa, listen carefully. Lock your doors. Don't leave the house. Daniel is sending someone to you now.”

My mother was crying too hard to answer.

He spoke to her until she could follow his instructions, then ended the call and turned toward Daniel.

“Get every available camera recording near the Reed residence. Contact the police and tell them a man with medical vulnerabilities has been abducted.”

Daniel was already moving.

I stood frozen, staring at the note.

“They have my father.”

“We're going to find him.”

“They said to come alone.”

“You're not going alone.”

“They'll hurt him if they see you.”

Luca stepped in front of me.

“Emma, look at me.”

I forced myself to meet his eyes.

“We don't know who took your father, where they brought him, or whether the note was written by the person holding him. If you rush into the old restaurant, you could become another hostage.”

“I can't just wait.”

“You won't.”

He handed the note to Daniel.

“Find out whether the old restaurant still has power. Check the neighboring properties, traffic cameras, and any private security systems facing the street.”

Then he turned to Marco.

“Call every person you trust who can help locate Samuel Reed without tipping off the Bellinis.”

Within an hour, Daniel discovered that a black SUV had been seen near my parents' house. The license plate was registered to a company that had recently received a payment from Bellini Hospitality Consulting.

The vehicle had crossed the city toward the West Side.

Toward the restaurant where I'd grown up.

Luca wanted to wait until the police had a location, but another message arrived before they could confirm one.

It contained a photograph of my father sitting in a chair beneath a flickering light.

His hands were tied.

He was conscious.

And beside him stood Vanessa Bellini.

Her red dress was gone. She wore a black coat and looked directly into the camera.

The message beneath the photograph contained only six words.

Midnight. Bring the original ledger.

I stared at her face.

“She knows about the notebook.”

Luca nodded.

“Which means someone has been watching us.”

“Or someone inside your organization told her.”

His eyes narrowed.

“That's possible.”

For the first time, he seemed to consider that the threat might be coming from someone closer than Adrian.

He called Daniel back into the office and showed him the photograph.

“Restrict access to the investigation records. Nobody gets copies without my authorization.”

Daniel nodded.

“Understood.”

Then Luca looked at me.

“We need to find out why Vanessa wants the ledger.”

“Because it proves what happened to my parents.”

“Possibly. But she may also need something that's in the original records and missing from the copy.”

I thought about the brass key we'd found in the metal box.

“There's another lock.”

Luca's expression sharpened.

“The key.”

We returned to Dominic's old property and searched the basement again. This time, Marco examined the desk, running his fingers along the underside until he found a small keyhole concealed behind a wooden panel.

The brass key fit.

Inside the compartment was a thin envelope containing a handwritten letter addressed to Dominic Moretti's attorney.

Luca unfolded it.

The letter described a plan to transfer ownership of several restaurant properties into a trust. It also named a person who had witnessed the original agreement.

Samuel Reed.

My father.

But the final paragraph was even more disturbing.

If Adrian Bellini discovers the duplicate accounts, he will attempt to eliminate the witness and destroy the records. Eleanor believes the only way to stop him is to expose the entire arrangement.

Vanessa's grandmother had known.

The Bellinis had been involved in the financial scheme for decades.

And my father had been a witness to it.

Luca looked at me.

“Your father wasn't merely connected to the past. He was the person who could prove what happened.”

“Then why didn't he tell us?”

“Maybe he tried.”

I remembered the fire. The months of uncertainty afterward. The insurance investigation that had gone nowhere. My father's reluctance to discuss the old restaurant.

Perhaps silence had been the only way he'd known to protect us.

My phone rang again.

An unfamiliar number.

I answered.

Vanessa's voice filled the room.

“Emma. How touching that Luca has made you his little partner.”

“Where's my father?”

“Safe. For now.”

“If you hurt him—”

“Don't threaten me. You have no idea what you're involved in.”

“I know you used his identity.”

A brief silence followed.

Then Vanessa laughed.

“Your father was supposed to sign a few papers and forget everything he saw eighteen years ago. Instead, he became a martyr to his own principles.”

“You used him.”

“I used what was available.”

My hands trembled.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because Dominic Moretti promised my family something, then betrayed us. My grandfather lost everything. My father spent his life trying to recover what was stolen. And now Luca thinks he can sit in judgment of me.”

“Then why blame Marco? Why forge documents?”

“Because Marco refused to cooperate. Because Luca was beginning to examine the accounts. Because every door closes unless someone is willing to open it.”

Her voice dropped.

“Bring the ledger to the old restaurant at midnight. If you bring Luca, your father will pay for it.”

The call ended.

I looked at Luca.

“She admitted it.”

“Not enough to establish the whole case,” Daniel said, “but enough to help us narrow the investigation.”

Luca was already studying a map of the old neighborhood.

“We'll use the ledger as bait.”

“No,” I said.

He looked up.

“Emma—”

“You're not using my father as bait.”