Chapter 5 - GRANDPA HAD A GUN UNDER HIS BLANKET
Leo’s grandfather lived in a house that looked like innocence had been professionally staged.
White clapboard.
Deep porch.
Maple trees.
A pond.
Two golden retrievers.
Mave stared through the SUV window.
“This is where the mastermind lives?”
“We don’t know that.”
“There are flower boxes.”
“Criminals can enjoy geraniums.”
Carmine, riding in front, muttered, “My father hates begonias.”
Mave leaned forward.
“Useful intelligence.”
“It might be.”
Leo looked at them both.
“Can we take this seriously?”
Mave pointed toward the house.
“Your ninety-one-year-old grandfather may be running a trafficking network while surrounded by hydrangeas. If I don’t make jokes, I’m going to scream.”
Leo couldn’t argue with that.
August Castiglion sat beneath a blanket in the sunroom.
He looked fragile.
That was the first thing Mave noticed.
Thin white hair.
Papery hands.
Oxygen tubing.
One cloudy eye.
A plate of untouched cookies beside him.
He looked like somebody’s sweet grandfather.
Then Mave noticed the pistol beneath the blanket.
“Seriously?”
August smiled.
“You must be Mave.”
Leo stopped.
“How do you know her?”
August waved one hand.
“Everybody knows about the housekeeper.”
Mave looked at Leo.
“Comforting.”
August laughed.
“I like her.”
Leo remained standing.
“Did you order Raffaele Carmine to bring her home?”
August’s smile disappeared.
For ten seconds, only the oxygen machine made noise.
Then he said:
“Yes.”
Carmine reached for his weapon.
Leo lifted one hand.
“Why?”
August looked toward the pond.
“Because Evelyn Bennett’s ledger was supposed to come to me sixteen years ago.”
Mave stepped forward.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her?”
“No.”
“Raffaele did.”
“Yes.”
“And he worked for you.”
August’s eyes sharpened.
“Everyone worked for me.”
Leo’s voice went cold.
“Did you kill my father?”
August looked at his grandson.
“No.”
“Did you order it?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
The old man sighed.
“Your father found the trafficking routes. He came to me.”
“You knew?”
“Afterward.”
“And?”
“I ordered Raffaele to shut it down.”
Carmine laughed bitterly.
“And he listened?”
“No.”
August looked at him.
“Your father believed the organization had become weak.”
“My father murdered Luca?”
“I believe so.”
“You believe?”
“I never proved it.”
Leo stepped closer.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were twenty-two.”
There it was again.
Protection.
Mave muttered, “Family motto.”
August heard.
He almost smiled.
“I sent Renato after Raffaele.”
Leo frowned.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
“So Renato wasn’t running the trafficking.”
“He took money from it before Luca discovered it. He was guilty of greed. Not murder.”
“Where is Renato now?”
“Trying to find Raffaele.”
Leo stared.
“Why secretly?”
“Because Raffaele has people inside your organization.”
That fit.
Too well.
Mave looked at August.
“Why bring me to Pier Fourteen?”
“I didn’t.”
Everyone stopped.
“You just said—”
“I told Raffaele to bring you home if he found you.”
“Why?”
“Protection.”
Mave laughed.
“No offense, but your family’s version of protection needs work.”
August’s mouth twitched.
“I told him not to touch you.”
“He kidnapped Tessa.”
The old man’s face changed.
That appeared genuine.
“I did not authorize that.”
Leo watched closely.
“Then Raffaele is acting independently.”
“Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
August looked at him.
“Raffaele is desperate.”
“For the ledger?”
“For something hidden inside it.”
Mave frowned.
“There’s nothing hidden.”
“You checked the binding?”
She looked at Leo.
They had not.
August leaned back.
“Evelyn kept two sets of records.”
“What’s in the second?”
“A list of buyers.”
Mave went still.
“What buyers?”
The room became colder.
August answered quietly.
“Men who paid for people.”
Mave felt sick.
“Politicians?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Businessmen?”
“Yes.”
Leo asked, “Family?”
August did not answer.
Leo knew.
“Who?”
“One name matters more than the others.”
“Whose?”
August looked directly at him.
“Yours.”
Mave turned.
Leo’s face emptied.
“What?”
August pointed weakly toward the ledger in Mave’s bag.
“Your name is in Evelyn’s second list.”
Silence.
Mave stared at Leo.
He looked almost angry enough to overturn the chair.
“I was twenty-two.”
“Yes.”
“I never bought anyone.”
“I know.”
“Then why is my name there?”
“Because someone used your identity.”
Leo’s thoughts accelerated.
Contracts.
Shipping clearances.
Accounts.
A twenty-two-year-old heir who signed whatever his father’s executives placed in front of him.
Mave understood simultaneously.
“You signed paperwork.”
Leo closed his eyes.
August nodded.
“Raffaele routed purchases through companies legally assigned to Leo.”
Mave’s stomach dropped.
“So if that list comes out without context…”
“Leo looks like one of the buyers.”
Carmine cursed.
August continued.
“Raffaele doesn’t only want the evidence destroyed. He wants Leo blamed for the entire operation.”
That was worse.
Far worse.
Because a dead Raffaele could still destroy Leo.
Mave looked at the ledger.
“We need the hidden list.”
August nodded.
“And Renato?”
“Find him before Raffaele does.”
Leo’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man’s voice came through.
Older.
Rough.
Carmine went completely still.
He recognized it before anyone.
“Son.”
Carmine’s face changed.
Raffaele.
“I’m disappointed.”
Carmine’s hand shook.
“You’re alive.”
“Obviously.”
“You let Ma mourn you for twelve years.”
“She always was dramatic.”
Carmine’s face twisted with fury.
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Get in line.”
Leo took the phone.
“Raffaele.”
The man laughed.
“Little Leo.”
Leo’s eyes turned lethal.
“Where is Renato?”
A pause.
“Near.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“No.”
“Then your housekeeper dies.”
Mave frowned.
“I’m standing right here.”
Raffaele laughed.
“I know.”
Leo looked toward the windows.
The sunroom glass exploded.
Everyone dropped.
A bullet tore through August’s empty cookie plate.
Mave screamed.
Leo threw himself over her.
Carmine dragged August behind the stone fireplace.
Security men fired toward the tree line.
Then another bullet struck the wall.
Not aimed at Mave.
At August.
Leo understood.
Raffaele was not threatening Mave.
He was trying to kill the one person who could prove Leo had been framed.
August gasped.
Blood appeared beneath his shirt.
Mave crawled toward him.
“Leo!”
He moved.
The bullet had grazed August’s side.
Not fatal.
Mave pressed a towel against the wound.
August looked down at her hands.
“Housekeeper?”
“Among other things.”
“You’re very bossy.”
“I’ve been told.”
He smiled weakly.
Then whispered:
“The binding.”
Mave reached for the ledger.
She sliced the spine open with a kitchen knife.
A thin folded sheet dropped out.
Names.
Dozens.
Then she found Leo.
LEONARDO CASTIGLION — account used without knowledge. Luca investigating.
Proof.
Leo had not been involved.
Relief lasted approximately three seconds.
Then Mave saw another familiar name.
She looked at August.
“No.”
Leo followed her gaze.
Near the bottom of the list:
GIANNI MORETTI — security liaison.
They both turned.
Giani stood near the doorway.
His weapon was pointed directly at Leo.
May you like
“I’m sorry, boss.”
And suddenly the man who had protected Leo for fifteen years became the greatest threat inside the room.
