Chapter 8 - The Second Vivian and the Name Daniel Was Never Supposed to Find

Viviana Moretti had been erased so completely that Claire initially wondered whether Caterina was inventing her.

No family portrait carried her face.

No public foundation records listed her after 2006.

No recent news article mentioned her.

But Caterina had documents.

Viviana was the daughter of Alessandro’s great-uncle. She had trained as an accountant, managed customs paperwork for the family foundation, and vanished after an internal dispute.

“She did not vanish by choice,” Caterina said. “She was paid to leave Italy.”

“By Cesare?” Claire asked.

“Partly.”

Alessandro leaned forward.

“And partly by my father?”

Caterina nodded.

“Your father discovered she had created false charity manifests. He wanted the scandal contained. Cesare wanted the network preserved. They made a bargain.”

Claire felt disgust settle in her stomach.

“So everyone protected the family name, and the crime survived.”

Caterina did not deny it.

“Daniel found Viviana living under another surname near Marseille.”

“How?”

“Banking records. She had been receiving monthly payments from a Swiss trust.”

Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.

“Which trust?”

Caterina slid a document across the table.

The trustee was a company controlled by Don Ricci.

Claire stared at the name.

“No.”

Alessandro was already reaching for his phone.

Caterina stopped him.

“Think before you call.”

“Ricci has stood beside us since the rabbit opened.”

“Yes.”

“And he never mentioned this.”

“Yes.”

“Why should I not assume betrayal?”

“Because Ricci paid Viviana to keep her alive.”

Claire looked at Caterina.

“You are asking us to trust a man who hid the person Daniel was investigating.”

“I am asking you to understand motive before you confuse secrecy with murder.”

Alessandro laughed without humor.

“That sounds like our family motto.”

Caterina produced a second document.

A handwritten letter from Daniel.

Claire recognized his slanted capitals.

Caterina,

If I fail to return, tell Claire I did not leave her willingly. Do not tell her where Viviana is unless the child is threatened. Vieri watches family, not evidence. That is his weakness.

D.B.

Claire read it three times.

The room blurred.

“You saw him.”

Caterina nodded.

“When?”

“Eight days before the crash.”

“Why didn’t you contact me after he disappeared?”

“Because he told me not to unless Emma was threatened.”

“He was declared dead.”

“I know.”

“You attended no funeral. You sent no message. You let me believe it.”

Caterina’s eyes lowered.

“I believed the lie was protecting you.”

Claire stood so quickly her chair struck the floor.

“Every person in this story says that before explaining why they stole a year of my life.”

Alessandro rose too, but did not touch her.

Caterina’s face tightened with regret.

“You are right.”

Claire hated how often truth arrived too late to be useful.

She walked to the window, breathing until anger stopped shaking her hands.

Then she turned.

“Where is Viviana now?”

Caterina did not answer immediately.

Claire understood.

“You still know.”

“Yes.”

“Alive?”

“Yes.”

“Then we go to her.”

Caterina looked at Alessandro.

“Not before you understand what Daniel found.”

She opened a laptop and displayed a scanned ledger.

Rows of container numbers filled the screen. Beside each one appeared two approval codes.

One belonged to Luca Vieri.

The other used the initials V.M.

“Viviana Moretti?” Alessandro asked.

“At first. Later someone copied her credentials after she disappeared.”

“Who?”

“Daniel traced the login locations. Most came from Romano Foundation offices.”

Claire’s stomach tightened.

“Vivian Romano.”

Caterina nodded.

“Her father gave her inherited credentials years later. She may not have known their origin, but she approved manifests using them.”

That explained Vivian’s fear at the engagement dinner.

Not necessarily murder.

But complicity.

Claire thought of the photograph in room 312.

“Daniel met Vivian after the crash because she was part of the shipping chain.”

“Yes.”

“Did he accuse her?”

“Most likely.”

Alessandro’s phone rang.

Paolo.

He answered on speaker.

“We found something at San Luca,” Paolo said. “A hidden compartment behind the chapel altar.”

“What?”

“Audio recorder. Damaged but usable.”

Claire moved closer.

“Daniel?”

“Yes.”

Paolo’s voice changed.

“There are three recordings.”

“Play them.”

Static filled the line.

Then Daniel’s voice.

Weak. Breathless. Alive.

“If Claire ever hears this, I am sorry.”

Claire covered her mouth.

The recording continued.

“Vieri says Cesare ordered the crash. I believe him. But Cesare does not know Vieri kept me alive.”

Alessandro looked at Caterina.

Daniel coughed.

“Vieri wants the location of Viviana Moretti. He thinks she kept the original manifests.”

Claire’s heart hammered.

A second male voice sounded in the background.

Luca Vieri.

“You have one more day.”

Daniel answered, surprisingly calm.

“You already killed Matteo for the wrong ledger.”

Silence followed.

Then Vieri said something that changed every face in the room.

“I did not kill Matteo.”

The recording ended.

Paolo spoke through the phone.

“There is more.”

The second recording began.

Daniel’s breathing was worse.

“If Vieri is telling the truth, Matteo’s killer is still inside the family.”

A door creaked in the recording.

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Daniel whispered one final sentence.

“And Alessandro trusts him.”