Chapter 16 - BRODY WAS THE EASY MAN TO BLAMELorenzo wanted Brody brought to the estate.
Nora refused.
“He isn't one of your employees.”
“He may have leaked federal evidence.”
“Then federal investigators can question him.”
“He endangered you.”
“We don't know that.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“You're defending him?”
“I’m defending facts.”
Brody arrived voluntarily anyway.
He placed his phone on the table.
“Take it.”
Nora folded her arms.
“Why?”
“Because somebody used my credentials.”
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Brody looked at him.
“I expect you to investigate it.”
Nora watched.
Four years earlier, Brody would have lied.
Run.
Deflected.
Now he stood in the center of a Moretti house and asked them to verify his story.
Matteo took the phone.
“When did you last access the federal system?”
“Eight months ago.”
“Why?”
“My cooperation agreement lets me review specific records involving my testimony.”
“Did you download the Saint Gabriel files?”
“No.”
Nora asked:
“Did you talk to Adrian?”
Brody hesitated.
Lorenzo noticed.
“Yes.”
Nora's stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He approached me.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That Giovanni was complicated.”
Lorenzo laughed without humor.
Brody continued.
“That the Morettis hurt people.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“And?”
“That they also changed.”
Nora frowned.
“Did you tell him about the ledger?”
“Nothing he couldn't already know from court records.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
No argument.
Again.
Brody had become infuriatingly good at admitting mistakes.
Matteo looked up from the phone.
“He's telling the truth about one thing.”
Lorenzo turned.
“The archive login came from Brody's account.”
Nora's heart sank.
“But not his device.”
Everyone stopped.
“It originated from an IP address registered to Creed, Harmon & Vale.”
Lorenzo became completely still.
Samuel Creed's law firm.
Brody whispered:
“Why would your lawyer use my identity?”
Matteo answered:
“Because you were the obvious suspect.”
Nora thought of Samuel at birthdays.
Samuel holding Lily when she was six months old.
Samuel helping structure the center.
Samuel telling Lorenzo to trust prosecutors.
Nora sat.
“No.”
Giovanni rolled into the room.
His expression said he already knew.
He typed:
SAMUEL HAD ACCESS TO BRODY FILE.
Lorenzo looked at his father.
“Why?”
LEGAL DEFENSE.
Samuel had represented the Moretti companies during federal cooperation.
He had seen everything.
Brody's credentials.
The ledger.
The restitution trust.
The old signatures.
Lucia whispered from the doorway:
“And my son's article?”
Everyone turned.
She looked furious.
“Adrian says his source contacted him six months ago.”
Nora stared.
Before Lucia contacted Giovanni.
Before anyone knew she was coming.
Someone had been preparing this.
Not reacting.
Planning.
Lorenzo looked at Matteo.
“Where is Samuel?”
Matteo checked his phone.
Then stopped.
“What?”
“His office says he left for court this morning.”
“And?”
“He never arrived.”
Giovanni typed three words.
CHECK THE TRUST.
Matteo opened the latest banking report.
The Saint Gabriel account balance was zero.
Not forty-two million missing.
Fifty-eight million.
Every remaining dollar had been transferred at 5:47 that morning.
Fifteen minutes before Adrian’s article went live.
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Samuel Creed had not merely leaked a scandal.
He had used it as cover.
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