Chapter 5 - The Deal Vincent Wanted

Lucian put the call on speaker.

Vincent did not know.

“I want the red ledger.”

Lucian looked at Walter.

Walter shook his head once.

Lucian said:

“You already have Claire’s notebook.”

“I have paper written by a dead woman.”

“You sound nervous for a man holding worthless paper.”

Vincent laughed softly.

“You sound like your grandfather.”

Lucian’s hand tightened around the phone.

“What do you want?”

“The ledger.”

“And?”

“The memory card.”

“And?”

A pause.

“Marianne leaves Europe tonight.”

Lucian looked at his mother.

“No.”

“Then you will lose more than a mother.”

Serena whispered:

“Dad, stop.”

Silence.

Vincent had heard her.

“You’re there.”

“Yes.”

“I told you to come home.”

“I’m not coming.”

His voice changed.

Not louder.

Colder.

“Do you understand what you are doing?”

“For the first time.”

Vincent hung up.

Serena looked like someone had cut a rope holding her upright.

She sat down.

Lucian did not comfort her.

Marianne did.

That surprised all of us.

“You warned me,” Marianne said quietly.

Serena looked at her.

“I also tried to buy Walter’s ledger.”

“Yes.”

“I thought if I destroyed it, my father would stop looking for you.”

Marianne shook her head.

“Men like Vincent do not stop when evidence disappears.”

“They become less afraid.”

Walter opened the ledger to the final pages.

“I never told Vincent everything in this book.”

Lucian looked at him.

“What else is there?”

“A list of accounts.”

“We saw those.”

“Not the important part.”

Walter ran his finger along the page numbers.

“Your grandfather used duplicate numbering.”

He held two pages together against the lamp.

A watermark appeared.

Numbers overlapped.

Then letters.

A name formed.

RONALD PIKE.

Beside it was an address in northern Italy.

I looked at Walter.

“The mechanic.”

“If he’s alive.”

Lucian already had his phone out.

This time Walter allowed the call.

Not to police.

To a private investigator who had worked for the Vescari family for years.

Her name was Elena March.

Forty-three.

Former financial crimes investigator.

Lucian explained only enough.

She called back twenty minutes later.

Ronald Pike was alive.

He lived under another surname.

And he had recently tried to sell an old storage unit.

Lucian asked:

“What’s in it?”

Elena replied:

“A damaged car part.”

Walter’s eyes narrowed.

“What kind?”

“Brake assembly.”

No one spoke.

Elena continued.

“And a sealed envelope addressed to Lorenzo Vescari.”

Lucian looked at the red ledger.

“My grandfather never received it.”

“No.”

“Can you get Pike somewhere safe?”

“I can try.”

“Try fast.”

After he hung up, Marianne looked at Lucian.

“You cannot spend your life becoming your grandfather.”

He frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“He protected us with secrets.”

“He kept you alive.”

“Yes.”

“And he kept you away from your son.”

Lucian looked at her.

Marianne’s eyes filled.

“Protection can become another kind of prison.”

Walter quietly closed the ledger.

Then my phone rang.

It was the estate gatehouse.

One of the guards sounded confused.

“Claire, there’s an older man here asking for you.”

“For me?”

“He says his name is Daniel Pike.”

Walter stood.

Lucian looked at him.

“Ronald’s son.”

The guard continued:

“He says his father sent him with something before disappearing tonight.”

“What something?”

There was a pause.

“A metal case.”

“And a message.”

I swallowed.

“What message?”

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

The guard lowered his voice.

“He said to tell you Sarah Hayes was right.”