Chapter 5 - THE COOK THEY TRIED TO MAKE A MURDERER
The handcuffs clicked around Anna Brooks's wrists while Marco Bellini watched in absolute silence.
For a man who had spent most of his adult life making other people afraid, it was an unfamiliar kind of helplessness.
"Take those off her," he said.
The officer shook his head.
"I can't do that, Mr. Bellini."
"You arrested the woman who prevented my mother from drinking that medication."
"We're following a warrant."
"Based on whose evidence?"
The officer hesitated.
"That information will be presented through the investigation."
Marco stepped closer.
Dominic touched his shoulder.
"Boss."
It was a warning.
The officers were wearing body cameras.
The neighborhood was already filling with police vehicles.
Anything Marco did now could make Anna's situation worse.
Anna understood that before he did.
"Marco."
He turned.
It was the first time she had used his name without a title or hesitation.
"Don't."
The single word stopped him.
She lifted her chin despite the tears gathering in her eyes.
"I haven't done anything wrong."
"I know."
"Then let them take me. We'll prove it."
Marco looked at the handcuffs again.
Something dangerous passed across his expression.
Then he stepped aside.
But he leaned toward the arresting officer.
"If one person mistreats her, I want it documented."
The officer nodded.
Anna was escorted into the police car.
As the door closed, she saw Marco standing in the rain.
He hadn't moved.
And somehow, that frightened her more than the handcuffs.
At the police station, Anna learned how easily an innocent person's life could be rewritten.
A detective named Peter Sloan placed three photographs on the interrogation table.
The first showed prescription bottles inside a kitchen cabinet.
The second showed medication hidden beneath Anna's mattress.
The third showed a handwritten note.
Increase the evening dosage if she becomes agitated.
Anna stared at it.
"That's not my handwriting."
Sloan leaned back.
"The house manager says you wrote it."
"She's lying."
"She says you told her the medication was approved."
"Then why would I stop Mrs. Bellini from drinking it?"
Sloan shrugged.
"Perhaps because Mr. Bellini was watching."
Anna stared at him.
"That doesn't make sense."
"People do strange things when they realize they're about to be caught."
Anna looked toward the mirror on the wall.
She had watched enough crime shows to recognize an interrogation room.
But television had never shown how cold the metal chair felt against someone's back.
Or how terrifying it was to know that a stranger could write down a lie and make it sound official.
"I want a lawyer."
Sloan smiled faintly.
"Mr. Bellini has already arranged one."
Anna said nothing.
"Must be nice having a powerful friend."
She looked directly at him.
"I'd rather have the truth."
His smile disappeared.
Three hours later, Marco arrived with attorney Rebecca Hart.
Rebecca was a respected criminal defense lawyer with a reputation for refusing favors from powerful clients.
She had represented people Marco's organization had once regarded as enemies.
That was precisely why he hired her.
Anna needed someone who answered to her, not him.
Rebecca entered the interview room alone.
"Mr. Bellini is paying my fee, but I represent you," she explained. "If you want another attorney, I'll help arrange it."
Anna looked exhausted.
"Can they really send me to prison for this?"
"They can try. But the evidence has serious problems."
"What problems?"
"Elena Bellini's symptoms began before you were employed. The surveillance footage shows you questioning the medication. And the search of your room raises questions about who had access."
Anna swallowed.
"Then why am I still here?"
"Because somebody wants you here."
Rebecca opened her folder.
"And because Detective Sloan seems unusually interested in getting you to say Teresa Ricci sent you to poison Mrs. Bellini."
Anna looked up sharply.
"Teresa would never hurt her."
"I believe you."
"Then why are they asking?"
Rebecca paused.
"Because Teresa may know something the people behind this cannot afford to let her reveal."
Back at the estate, Elena Bellini refused to remain in bed.
Rosa, the longtime kitchen assistant, found her standing in the hallway.
"Mrs. Bellini, you need to rest."
"No."
"Your son said—"
"My son has spent twenty years telling people what to do."
Elena steadied herself against the wall.
"Today, he can listen to me."
She demanded that Dominic bring her to the police station.
When he resisted, she reached for her coat.
"Either you drive me, Dominic, or I call a taxi."
Dominic sighed.
"Your son is going to kill me."
Elena looked him in the eyes.
"Not before I finish with him."
Twenty minutes later, she walked into the station with Rosa at her side.
She was pale.
She was weak.
But her back was straight.
Detective Sloan greeted her.
"Mrs. Bellini, you shouldn't be here."
"Neither should Anna Brooks."
"We have evidence."
"Then show it to me."
Sloan hesitated.
"That's not how this works."
Elena placed her handbag on his desk.
"Young man, I've been married to a Bellini for forty-four years. I've heard a thousand excuses from men who believed their expensive suits made them important."
Several officers looked away.
Elena continued.
"That girl fed me when I was starving. She noticed something was wrong when everyone else told me I was grieving."
"Mrs. Bellini—"
"And if you want to arrest someone for what happened in my bedroom, start with the people who had keys before Anna was hired."
Sloan's face reddened.
Marco entered in time to hear the last sentence.
"Mother."
She turned.
"You let them arrest her."
"I didn't have the authority to stop it."
"Then use whatever authority you do have to tell the truth."
Marco approached her.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
Elena searched his face.
For a moment, mother and son looked equally tired.
Then she whispered, "Marco, I remember something."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"The night your father died."
They sat inside an empty conference room.
Elena held a glass of water but did not drink.
"The doctor said your father was already dead when I found him."
Marco nodded.
"That's what everyone was told."
"But he wasn't."
The words came slowly.
As though they hurt on the way out.
"I remember hearing him call for me."
Marco leaned forward.
"From his study?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Elena began crying.
"Because I couldn't remember clearly afterward. Every time I tried, Dr. Heller told me grief was confusing things."
She pressed her fingers against her temples.
"But I remember a voice."
"Whose?"
"Luca's."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"He was arguing with Vittorio. Something about a signature."
"What signature?"
"I don't know."
She looked ashamed.
"I went toward the study, but Marianne stopped me. She said your father was resting."
"And then?"
"Dr. Heller came out."
Elena paused.
"He told me Vittorio had suffered a heart attack."
Marco stared.
"Did you see Father before the ambulance arrived?"
She shook her head.
"They wouldn't let me."
Her voice broke.
"I heard my husband calling for help, Marco. And I believed the people who told me he was already gone."
Marco took his mother's hand.
"You didn't know."
"But I should have."
He swallowed.
"So should I."
For the first time in months, Elena allowed her son to hold her while she cried.
By late afternoon, Rebecca obtained Anna's release pending further proceedings.
The prosecution's initial case had weakened after Rebecca presented the employment records and surveillance evidence.
But Detective Sloan refused to withdraw the allegations.
He claimed the investigation remained open.
When Anna stepped outside, Marco was waiting beside a black sedan.
She stopped.
"Did your mother go home?"
"Yes."
"Is she all right?"
"She will be."
Anna nodded.
Marco opened the passenger door.
She hesitated.
"I don't know if I should go back."
His expression changed.
"Why?"
"Someone put medication in my bedroom. Someone lied to the police. And every time I try to help your family, somebody else gets hurt."
Marco closed the door gently.
"You're right."
Anna looked surprised.
"About what?"
"All of it."
He stood in front of her.
"I brought you into a house where people I trusted were hurting my mother. I questioned you when you tried to help. And I failed to protect you."
"Marco—"
"You don't owe me anything."
She studied him.
"You really mean that?"
"Yes."
"Then stop talking to me like I'm another person you can assign orders to."
For a moment, his mouth moved toward a smile.
"Fair enough."
Anna took a breath.
"I want to see Teresa."
"I'll take you to her."
"And I want to know what happened to my mother."
Marco's face grew serious.
"So do I."
Teresa had been moved to a private medical clinic under guard.
She was bruised and exhausted, but the doctors expected her to recover.
Anna held her hand for nearly twenty minutes before asking the question that had haunted her since the bakery.
"Why didn't you tell me my mother worked for the Bellinis?"
Teresa's expression crumpled.
"Because your mother made me promise."
"Why?"
"She found evidence that Luca's father was stealing from the freight company. Vittorio believed her, but he couldn't prove everything."
"And Luca?"
"He was young then. But he learned his father's business. And he never forgot the people who knew."
Anna stared at the older woman.
"Did my mother know she was dying?"
"Yes."
"Then why spend her last years worrying about those men?"
Teresa squeezed her hand.
"Because she knew you would grow up. And she wanted you to have a life they couldn't touch."
Anna began to cry.
All those years, she had believed her mother simply worked too hard.
Now she understood there had been fear behind those exhausted smiles.
Teresa reached toward the bedside drawer.
"There's something I saved."
She handed Anna a small envelope.
Inside was an old photograph of Anna at twelve, standing outside the bakery beside her mother.
On the back, her mother had written:
One day, she'll be brave enough to ask questions. Please make sure she knows she was loved.
Anna pressed the photograph against her heart.
At the same moment, Dominic entered Marco's study carrying a flash drive.
"We recovered a damaged audio recording from your father's files."
Marco inserted it into his computer.
Static filled the speakers.
Then Vittorio's voice emerged.
"If Marco ever hears this, tell him I'm sorry."
Marco froze.
His father continued.
"I made choices when he was young that I thought would protect this family. Instead, I left him an empire with blood in its foundations."
There was a pause.
"Now Luca knows I've been working with Agent Shaw. He knows about the shipping records."
A scraping sound interrupted the recording.
Then Vittorio spoke again, barely above a whisper.
"The worst part is that Marco signed the authorization without knowing what it meant."
Marco's stomach tightened.
"What authorization?" he whispered.
The recording continued.
"I should have told my son the truth before asking him to sign."
Another pause.
"God forgive me. They used his name."
Suddenly, another voice entered the recording.
Luca.
"Uncle Vittorio, put the phone down."
The audio crackled.
Vittorio said, "You won't hurt Elena."
Luca laughed.
"That depends on how cooperative you become."
A chair scraped.
Then Vittorio shouted one final sentence.
"Marco never knew!"
The recording ended.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Marco sat motionless.
Somewhere in his father's records was a document bearing his signature.
A document Luca had used to hide criminal activity.
May you like
And now Marco realized something worse than being betrayed.
He might have unknowingly helped build the operation that killed his father.
