Chapter 7 - THE MAN WHO BETRAYED THEM
Roman’s gun appeared instantly.
“Put it down.”
Peter shook his head.
“I can’t.”
Serena stepped in front of Luca.
“You’ll have to shoot me first.”
“Serena, move.”
“No.”
Peter’s hand trembled.
Claire studied him.
Something did not fit.
A man intending murder did not usually look this terrified of succeeding.
“Who told you to do this?”
Peter looked at her.
That was enough.
“Victor.”
Peter flinched.
Roman’s voice became cold.
“Kane is here.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“Not yet.”
“What does he want?”
“The recorder.”
Claire looked toward the steel compartment.
Roman shifted slightly.
Peter raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
Roman stopped.
Luca’s expression changed.
“Peter.”
“What?”
“You never warned Kane fourteen years ago.”
Peter stared.
“You told us you did,” Luca continued. “But Daniel knew the warning came before you reached him.”
Peter’s face went blank.
Claire understood.
“You confessed to something you didn’t do.”
Peter looked at Evelyn’s brother as if he had forgotten how to breathe.
Claire stepped closer.
“Who have you been protecting?”
Peter shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“Who?”
Peter whispered, “Evelyn.”
Claire stopped.
“My mother?”
“No.”
Peter lowered the gun slightly.
“Not like that.”
Roman moved.
Peter swung the weapon back up.
“Stay there.”
Claire’s pulse pounded.
“Explain.”
Peter’s voice cracked.
“Your mother gave Kane Daniel’s location.”
Claire felt the room disappear beneath her.
“No.”
“She didn’t know Kane was going to kill him.”
Claire’s eyes burned.
“You’re lying.”
“I spent fourteen years pretending I was the one who betrayed Daniel because Evelyn had a daughter to protect.”
Luca slowly stood.
“Why would Evelyn tell Kane?”
Peter looked toward the recorder.
“Because Daniel planned to disappear with Claire.”
Claire stared.
“My father was taking me?”
“Out of the country.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed Kane was compromised.”
Roman picked up the photograph again.
“Daniel wrote Kane wasn’t the traitor.”
Peter nodded.
“He learned that later.”
Claire shook her head.
“This makes no sense.”
“Play the tape.”
Roman looked at the cassette recorder.
No one moved for several seconds.
Then Luca crossed the room, keeping his hands visible.
He inserted the cassette.
Static crackled.
Daniel Mercer’s voice filled the warehouse.
Claire covered her mouth.
Fourteen years vanished.
“July seventeenth.”
Her father sounded tired.
“If this recording is being played, then I either became much more dramatic than Evelyn believes I am, or everything went badly.”
Claire laughed once through tears.
Roman looked at her.
The tape continued.
“Kane is dangerous. But he is not the leak.”
Everyone went still.
“The leak is inside Raffaele’s house. Someone is using Victor’s network without his knowledge to move weapons.”
Roman whispered, “My father.”
But Daniel’s voice continued.
“Raffaele discovered it too.”
Roman froze.
“He believes the responsible man is his younger brother, Carlo.”
Roman looked physically struck.
Claire knew the name.
Carlo Rinaldi.
Roman’s uncle.
The man who died twelve years ago.
The man Roman had described as a second father.
Daniel continued.
“Carlo has been forging Kane’s authorizations and using Peter’s debts to gather family information.”
Peter shut his eyes.
Serena whispered, “So Kane wasn’t behind it?”
“Not originally,” Luca said.
The tape explained the rest.
Daniel discovered Carlo’s operation.
Kane discovered someone was using his name.
For a brief period, Daniel, Raffaele, Luca, and Kane were aligned.
The photograph proved it.
They planned to expose Carlo.
Then someone warned Carlo.
The recording paused.
Claire heard her father breathe.
“Evelyn believes I’m taking Claire away because Victor threatened her.”
Claire squeezed her eyes shut.
“She doesn’t know I’m trying to protect Claire from Carlo.”
The tape clicked.
“Evelyn is frightened. Peter is frightened. Everyone is making decisions from fear.”
Claire looked at Peter.
Then Daniel said the words that changed the room.
“If Claire ever hears this, tell her her mother made mistakes because I lied to her first.”
Claire began crying silently.
“I thought I could protect my family by controlling what they knew. I was wrong.”
Roman looked at her.
The message was for Claire.
But somehow, it was for him too.
The tape continued.
Daniel had planned to move Claire temporarily.
Evelyn panicked.
Carlo approached her pretending to help.
She revealed where Daniel would meet Raffaele.
Carlo ambushed them.
Kane arrived later.
Daniel disappeared.
Luca escaped.
Raffaele hid Luca.
“What happened to Daniel?” Claire whispered.
The tape could not answer.
But Peter did.
“Carlo killed him.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Carlo died two years later.”
Peter looked at him.
“You killed him.”
Claire turned sharply.
Roman stared at Peter.
“No.”
Peter nodded.
“You did.”
Roman’s face went pale.
Claire had never seen him look lost.
“I was told Carlo ordered a hit on my father.”
“He did.”
“So I killed him.”
“Yes.”
Roman looked at the old photograph.
“Then Kane wasn’t responsible.”
“Not for Daniel,” Peter said.
Serena’s face hardened.
“What about my brother?”
“Kane hunted Luca afterward because Luca had the evidence,” Peter said. “By then, Kane decided the easiest solution was killing everyone who knew too much.”
There it was.
Victor Kane had not created the original betrayal.
But he had become the monster everyone feared because afterward he chose survival over innocence.
A reasonable beginning.
An unforgivable ending.
Claire looked at Peter’s gun.
“Why does Kane want Luca dead now?”
“Because Luca can prove Kane participated in the cover-up.”
Roman frowned.
“What cover-up?”
Luca looked at the microfilm.
“Kane helped Raffaele bury what Carlo had done.”
Roman stared.
“To protect the organization.”
“And himself,” Luca said.
The truth settled.
Then headlights swept across the warehouse windows.
Peter’s hand dropped.
“He’s here.”
Roman’s men moved toward the doors.
Peter looked at Claire.
“I’m sorry.”
He handed Roman the gun.
“I was supposed to keep you here until Kane arrived.”
Roman’s expression darkened.
“You did.”
Peter shook his head.
“No.”
Then he looked at the open steel compartment.
“The recorder was never what Kane wanted.”
Claire followed his gaze.
The microfilm was gone.
Serena checked the compartment.
“Where is it?”
Peter whispered, “Your mother took it.”
Claire’s breath stopped.
“When?”
“This morning.”
Headlights multiplied outside.
Roman looked toward the entrance.
Claire looked at Peter.
“Where is my mother?”
May you like
Peter swallowed.
“With Victor Kane.”
