Chapter 6 - Isabella’s Father Took the Key for a Reason

Gabriel drove.

Maria beside him.

Daniel in the back seat.

Mateo followed in another car with Isabella.

The tracking signal on Mr. Crane’s phone moved toward the airport.

Gabriel gripped the wheel.

Maria looked at him.

“Slow down.”

“No.”

“You will not help anyone if you crash.”

Gabriel said nothing.

Daniel checked the map.

“His phone stopped.”

Gabriel looked.

The signal froze near an abandoned warehouse district.

Then disappeared.

Isabella called.

“He would not betray me.”

Gabriel answered:

“He lied to me for years.”

“He lied to protect Maria.”

“Protection is becoming a very expensive word tonight.”

Silence.

They reached the warehouse.

One car outside.

Mr. Crane’s.

Driver door open.

No blood.

No body.

Inside the warehouse, one chair.

One phone.

One note.

Gabriel picked it up.

BRING MARIA TO FLORENCE.

Maria went pale.

Isabella entered behind them.

“Dad?”

No answer.

Daniel checked the room.

“He was taken.”

Gabriel looked at Maria.

“Silvio wants you.”

Maria stared at the note.

“No.”

“He asked for you.”

“He wants what I know.”

Gabriel waited.

Maria looked at him.

“There is something I never told Jonathan.”

Daniel turned.

Gabriel’s expression hardened.

“What?”

Maria closed her eyes.

“The Florence vault was not Luca’s.”

Gabriel frowned.

“Then whose?”

“Mine.”

Silence.

She continued.

“Your father opened it in my name under an emergency identity.”

“But the card says Luca.”

“That card is the outer access record.”

She looked at Gabriel.

“The actual vault is registered to Maria Bellini.”

Gabriel stared.

“My maiden name.”

She nodded.

“What is inside?”

Maria swallowed.

“Your grandfather’s original ledger.”

Daniel stopped moving.

Gabriel looked at him.

“You know about it.”

Daniel nodded slowly.

“Jonathan searched for that ledger for twenty years.”

Maria whispered:

“Luca gave it to me the night I left.”

Gabriel stepped back.

“You had the evidence all along.”

“Yes.”

“Evidence that could have ended Silvio.”

“No.”

Maria looked at him.

“Evidence that could have ended everyone.”

Gabriel stared.

She continued.

“The ledger does not only name Silvio.”

“Who else?”

“Judges.”

“Police.”

“Politicians.”

“Business families.”

She looked toward Isabella.

“Her grandfather.”

Isabella went pale.

“My grandfather?”

Maria nodded.

“Your father helped me disappear because his own father was named in that book.”

Isabella stared.

“He never told me.”

“He was ashamed.”

Gabriel understood.

“That is why Crane kept this quiet.”

Maria nodded.

“He wanted Jonathan to build a case that separated the guilty from their children.”

Gabriel looked at Isabella.

For the first time that night, his anger shifted.

Not gone.

But changed.

She whispered:

“My father was trying to keep his family from being destroyed by something his father did.”

Gabriel said:

“He still had no right to keep my mother from me.”

“No.”

Isabella wiped her eyes.

“He didn’t.”

Daniel looked at Maria.

“Why did you come back now?”

Maria answered:

“Because Jonathan died.”

“That was a year ago.”

“Yes.”

“Why wait?”

Maria looked at Gabriel.

“Because Silvio contacted me three months ago.”

Gabriel’s face changed.

“What did he say?”

“He knew where the ledger was.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

Daniel whispered:

“Someone from Jonathan’s case.”

Maria nodded.

“He said if I did not return the ledger, he would ruin Gabriel.”

Gabriel almost smiled.

“He underestimated how much work that would take.”

Maria looked at him.

“I contacted Isabella because I believed her father was still trustworthy.”

Gabriel turned to Isabella.

“You knew Silvio contacted her?”

Isabella shook her head.

“No.”

Maria said:

“I did not tell her.”

Gabriel looked back at his mother.

“So everyone still had one more secret.”

Maria accepted the accusation.

“Yes.”

Daniel’s phone buzzed.

An airport camera.

Silvio.

Mr. Crane.

Private terminal.

Gabriel looked closer.

Crane was walking freely.

No restraints.

Isabella stared.

“No.”

Gabriel’s face hardened.

“Your father is with him.”

Maria shook her head.

“Look at his left hand.”

Gabriel zoomed in.

Mr. Crane held the brass key.

But his right hand was inside his jacket.

Daniel frowned.

“He is recording.”

Isabella understood.

“He took the key on purpose.”

Gabriel looked at her.

“To get close to Silvio.”

Her eyes filled.

“He is trying to make Silvio confess.”

Daniel said:

“The jet filed for Florence.”

Gabriel looked at Maria.

“Then we go to Florence.”

Maria shook her head.

“Silvio will open the vault before we arrive.”

Gabriel smiled faintly.

“No.”

He held up the bank card.

“Not without the second credential.”

Maria stared.

“What second credential?”

Gabriel turned the card over.

A narrow strip of metal was embedded beneath the plastic.

Daniel examined it.

Maria went still.

Gabriel said:

“Jonathan hid more than a key.”

Daniel pulled out a scanner.

The strip contained encrypted biometric authorization.

Name:

GABRIEL LUCA MORETTI.

Gabriel stared.

Maria covered her mouth.

Daniel looked at him.

“The vault cannot open without you.”

Gabriel slipped the card into his pocket.

Then said:

“Good.”

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He looked toward the airport lights.

“Let Silvio fly.”