Chapter 13 - Clarissa’s Brother
Clarissa sat down because her knees stopped working.
“My father told me I was his only child.”
Teresa gave a sad smile. “Rafael tells the truth only when it costs him nothing.”
Emilio watched Clarissa carefully.
“How long did my mother know about Adrian?”
“Two months.”
“And you?”
“Three weeks.”
Giovanni turned on Teresa. “You kept this from me.”
“Helena ordered me to.”
“My wife did not order you.”
Teresa’s eyes hardened. “Your wife absolutely ordered me. You just weren’t used to hearing about the parts of her life she controlled without you.”
Nobody spoke.
Giovanni looked offended.
Lucia almost smiled despite herself.
That sounded like Helena too.
Sloan took control. “Adrian was a financial operator for Black Rose before his supposed death. If he’s alive and leading it, Vincent and Rafael may both be working for him.”
Clarissa looked up. “My father would never work for his son.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know.”
The thought unsettled everyone.
Emilio held up the memory card. “What’s on this?”
Clarissa shook her head. “I stole it from Rafael’s hotel safe. I never opened it.”
Sloan said, “We do now.”
The card contained folders labeled by city.
Miami.
Boston.
Montreal.
New York.
London.
Inside were banking ledgers, photographs, payoff schedules, blackmail files, and lists of public officials and business executives.
No one in the room needed a degree in law to understand what they were seeing.
This was leverage.
Years of it.
Then Lucia found a folder labeled H.V.
Helena Vescari.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
There were surveillance photographs of Helena driving, shopping, entering church, visiting the hospital.
One image showed Helena meeting Agent Sloan in a diner.
Another showed Teresa leaving the bank.
The final document was a schedule.
HELENA VESCARI — PRESSURE SEQUENCE.
Step 1: Freeze Foundation.
Step 2: Leak Fraud Evidence.
Step 3: Isolate From Giovanni.
Step 4: Force Public Cooperation.
Step 5: If noncompliant, proceed to LUCIA.
Lucia stopped reading.
Giovanni’s voice changed. “Proceed how?”
Sloan scrolled.
The next page contained Lucia’s home address, gym schedule, favorite coffee shop, and photographs taken through her apartment windows.
Emilio whispered, “Jesus.”
Lucia backed away from the screen.
Helena had not been protecting her own reputation.
She had been protecting her daughter.
Clarissa looked sick. “That’s why she moved so fast.”
Giovanni’s phone buzzed.
A text from Rafael’s number.
CHANGE OF PLAN.
Then a photograph arrived.
Rafael Sanz sat tied to a chair.
Blood ran from his temple.
Behind him stood Adrian.
The scar across his cheek matched the reflection in the St. Maarten photograph.
A second message appeared.
DAD HAS BECOME UNRELIABLE.
Clarissa stared at the screen.
Her voice became very small.
“He took my father.”
Giovanni looked at her. “You still want to save him?”
Clarissa’s eyes filled.
“He’s a monster.”
“That was not my question.”
She looked at the photograph again.
“Yes.”
Emilio closed his eyes.
Then he took the memory card from Sloan.
“Six o’clock. Old cannery.”
Giovanni snapped, “No.”
Emilio faced him.
“You said my whole life has been irresponsibility.”
“It has.”
“Then let me be responsible now.”
“You walking into Adrian Sanz’s trap is not responsibility.”
“Mom spent her last days proving I wasn’t a thief. Clarissa risked her life getting that card. Lucia was targeted because of us.”
He looked at his sister.
“I can’t undo what I did to Mom.”
Lucia’s eyes filled.
“But I can decide what I do next.”
Giovanni stared at his son.
Then the security alarm screamed.
A guard shouted from downstairs.
“Fire at the east gate!”
Marco ran to the window.
Two vehicles were burning near the entrance.
A third vehicle had crashed through the service gate.
Lucia looked toward the hall.
“Where’s Teresa?”
Nobody answered.
They ran to the pantry.
Teresa was gone.
On the floor lay Helena’s wedding ring.
Beside it was a black rose.
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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