Chapter 5 - THE DAUGHTER ANTONIO HID
Vincent did not speak for several seconds.
He simply stared at Isabella.
“My father’s what?”
“Granddaughter.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Isabella looked toward Antonio’s photograph.
“It’s the reason everything became dangerous.”
Vincent turned away from the screen.
“Start talking.”
Isabella sat.
“Samuel Reed wasn’t only your father’s accountant.”
“What was he?”
“His son.”
Vincent laughed once because the alternative was breaking something.
“My father had another family?”
“No. Samuel’s mother worked for the Moretti family before Catherine married Antonio. Samuel was born before you.”
“Father knew?”
“Eventually.”
“And Mother?”
Isabella hesitated.
“I don’t know when Catherine found out.”
Vincent remembered Catherine’s hatred whenever Samuel’s name appeared.
Apparently she had known.
“So Samuel is my half brother.”
“Yes.”
“And the girl?”
“Emma Reed. His daughter.”
Vincent looked at the photograph again.
Emma appeared seventeen or eighteen.
Terrified.
Blood stained one sleeve.
Vincent felt anger rising.
Whatever Samuel had done, the girl was innocent.
“Why didn’t Father acknowledge him?”
“Samuel refused.”
Vincent frowned.
“He didn’t want the Moretti name.”
Smart man.
“Antonio still trusted him.”
“With everything.”
That explained the accounting access.
The secret investigation.
Perhaps even the ledger.
Vincent walked to the door.
“Get Catherine.”
Minutes later, Catherine entered.
Vincent placed the photograph before her.
She stopped.
“You knew.”
Catherine stared at Samuel.
Then Emma.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Thirty-eight years.”
Vincent felt something close to disbelief.
“You knew before I was born?”
“Yes.”
“Father cheated on you?”
“No.”
She sat.
“Samuel was already six when I met your father.”
Vincent stared at her.
“Then why hide him?”
“Because Antonio was ashamed.”
“Of Samuel?”
“Of himself.”
Catherine looked toward the window.
“Your grandfather was still alive then. He believed illegitimate children were weaknesses enemies could exploit. Antonio obeyed him.”
“Until?”
“Until Samuel became an adult.”
Catherine’s voice softened unexpectedly.
“Your father tried to repair the relationship. Samuel never wanted money. Never wanted the name. He agreed to work for Antonio because he was brilliant with numbers.”
Vincent crossed his arms.
“And eventually he found the missing money.”
“Yes.”
“So you knew about that too.”
“Some of it.”
“Stop giving me pieces.”
Catherine’s eyes sharpened.
“Then stop pretending you’re the only person in this family who has ever carried something terrible.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“You made my wife wash dishes.”
Catherine’s expression flickered.
There was no defense.
“I was wrong.”
Isabella looked surprised.
Catherine continued.
“I believed she had the ledger. I believed if I pressured her enough, she would reveal where Antonio hid it.”
“You could have asked.”
“I did.”
“You could have believed her.”
“I couldn’t afford to.”
Vincent stared at his mother.
“Why?”
“Because someone has been threatening this family for four years.”
Catherine reached into her handbag.
She removed a stack of photographs.
Daniel leaving a casino.
Victoria entering a hotel.
Isabella shopping.
Catherine herself visiting Antonio’s grave.
Every image had been taken secretly.
On the back of each photograph was the same symbol.
A black crown.
Vincent recognized it.
His father used to mention an organization called Crown Holdings.
A shell company.
Supposedly dissolved years ago.
“Who sent these?”
“I don’t know.”
“When?”
“The first arrived four years ago.”
Exactly when Isabella’s treatment changed.
Vincent understood.
“You thought she was connected.”
“I thought everyone could be connected.”
“So you isolated her.”
“Yes.”
“You humiliated her.”
Catherine looked down.
“Yes.”
“You became her enemy because you were afraid she might be yours.”
Catherine’s eyes filled with something Vincent had almost never seen.
Regret.
“I was trying to keep my children alive.”
“And nearly destroyed my marriage doing it.”
Catherine did not argue.
Vincent stood.
“Room 317.”
Catherine froze.
“What happened?”
She closed her eyes.
“The official story was that Antonio had a heart attack.”
“I know.”
“It wasn’t true.”
Vincent’s chest tightened.
“He was poisoned.”
Isabella whispered, “By whom?”
“We never proved it.”
“Who was there?”
Catherine looked directly at Vincent.
“Samuel.”
Vincent stared.
“And me.”
The room became still.
Catherine continued.
“Antonio called us both to the hospital. He knew he was dying.”
“Why?”
“He had been sick for hours. The doctors couldn’t understand what was happening.”
“What did he say?”
“That the family had been infiltrated.”
Vincent felt cold.
“He said the missing money was only the beginning. Someone was buying judges, police officers, shipping executives, union leaders. Building a network.”
“The black crown.”
Catherine nodded.
“He told Samuel to take the evidence and disappear.”
“And you?”
“He told me to protect you.”
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“You’ve all done an excellent job with that word.”
Catherine ignored him.
“He also said something else.”
“What?”
“That the traitor would eventually reveal himself when you returned.”
“Why?”
“Because the ledger required two keys.”
Vincent remembered the brass key.
“Where is the second?”
Catherine looked at Isabella.
“Antonio gave it to her.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No. I told you. I gave Samuel the key Antonio entrusted to me.”
Catherine frowned.
“Then Samuel has both.”
“No,” Vincent said.
Everyone looked at him.
He removed the brass key from the pocket watch.
“This was inside Father’s watch.”
Catherine stared.
“Then Antonio lied to all of us.”
Vincent almost smiled.
That sounded like his father.
Never allow one person to know everything.
Michael entered.
“We traced the message.”
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
“Too obvious.”
“Yes.”
“And Samuel?”
“Could be anywhere.”
Vincent looked at the photograph of Emma.
“We have until midnight.”
Michael nodded.
“I’m assembling teams.”
“No.”
“Boss—”
“They told me to come alone because they expect me not to.”
Michael understood.
“So we make them believe you did.”
Exactly.
Vincent looked at Isabella.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Isabella.”
“I waited six years while everyone else decided what I was allowed to know.”
“This is different.”
“It always is.”
She stepped toward him.
“Samuel protected me. If his daughter is there, I’m going.”
Vincent wanted to refuse.
Old Vincent would have.
But perhaps old Vincent was part of the problem.
“Fine.”
Catherine objected.
“That is insane.”
Vincent looked at his mother.
“Tonight, you don’t get a vote.”
At 11:47 the following evening, Vincent entered Union Station.
Alone.
At least, that was what anyone watching would believe.
Michael’s teams occupied surrounding streets.
Isabella waited inside a maintenance van two blocks away.
Vincent carried the pocket watch.
The station was nearly empty.
A message arrived.
PLATFORM 6.
Vincent descended.
Nobody.
Another message.
PUT THE WATCH ON THE BENCH.
He did.
A train thundered past.
When it cleared, the watch was gone.
Vincent reached beneath his coat.
A voice came from behind.
“Don’t.”
Vincent froze.
Samuel Reed stood twenty feet away.
Alive.
Older.
Exhausted.
But not tied up.
Not kidnapped.
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“Where’s your daughter?”
Samuel looked devastated.
“They took her.”
“The photograph showed you tied beside her.”
“They forced me to cooperate.”
“Who?”
Samuel stepped closer.
“The person who has been controlling this family since Antonio died.”
“Name.”
Samuel looked around.
Then whispered:
“Michael Russo.”
Vincent stopped breathing.
His oldest friend.
His security chief.
The man currently commanding every armed guard around the station.
Vincent’s phone buzzed.
Michael.
Vincent answered without speaking.
Michael’s voice was calm.
“Boss?”
“Yes.”
“We have a problem.”
Vincent looked at Samuel.
“What problem?”
A pause.
May you like
Then Michael said:
“Isabella is gone.”
