Chapter 4 - The Shooting Antonio Never Reported

Luca stood completely still.

"My father shot David."

Maria nodded.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He came to the house."

"When?"

"Three years ago."

"The night Dad died?"

"Two days before."

Luca stared.

Maria continued:

"David was drunk."

"Was he armed?"

"Yes."

"What did he want?"

"Me."

Luca's jaw tightened.

Maria said:

"He said our first marriage had never ended."

June whispered:

"Legally, he was right."

Maria looked at her.

"He used that like ownership."

Luca asked:

"What happened?"

"Antonio told him to leave."

"Then?"

"David pulled a gun."

Luca's eyes narrowed.

"At Dad?"

"At me."

Silence.

Maria continued:

"Antonio fired first."

"Where did he hit him?"

"Shoulder."

"Why not call police?"

Maria laughed once.

"Because David had been legally dead twice."

June closed her eyes.

"And Antonio had helped create one of those deaths."

Maria nodded.

Luca understood.

Calling police meant exposing everything.

The fake death.

The payments.

The years of hiding.

The illegal first marriage.

The fraud.

Maria continued:

"Antonio panicked."

"So he took David to the hospital."

"Yes."

"Using David's name."

"Yes."

Luca frowned.

"Why was Dad wearing David's bracelet?"

Maria looked away.

"He switched them."

"Why?"

"Because David threatened to tell the hospital Antonio shot him."

Luca stared.

"So Dad pretended to be the patient?"

"For several hours."

"Where was David?"

"In a private room under Antonio's alias."

June whispered:

"That is insane."

Maria nodded.

"It was."

Luca looked at the passport.

Antonio's photograph.

David Hale's name.

Luca laughed bitterly.

"My father carried his identity."

Maria said:

"For less than a day."

"Still."

Then he asked:

"How did Antonio die?"

Maria's voice lowered.

"He was exposed to a resistant infection in the hospital."

Luca stared.

"Because he was admitted under David's name."

"Because he stayed overnight when he never should have."

"And David?"

"Recovered."

Silence.

Luca turned away.

His father had survived decades of threats.

Then died because he tried to hide one more secret.

Maria whispered:

"He died six weeks later."

Luca looked back.

"You said he died three years ago."

"Yes."

"Did David know?"

"He came to the funeral."

Luca's face changed.

"What?"

"From across the street."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

June asked:

"Where did he go after?"

Maria looked at the legal envelope.

"Richard took him."

Luca's expression hardened.

"Again."

"Yes."

"What proof?"

Maria handed him a document.

Private transportation agreement.

Passenger:

DAVID HALE.

Destination:

Jacksonville marina.

Authorized by:

RICHARD HALE.

Date:

The day after Antonio's funeral.

Luca stared.

"Richard moved him again."

Maria nodded.

"To a boat."

"Where?"

"Bahamas first."

"Then?"

"I don't know."

June said:

"Richard does."

Luca looked at Maria.

"Why does Richard want this document?"

"Because it proves he was still helping David."

"After David threatened you."

"Yes."

"After David caused Dad's death."

Maria nodded.

Luca was silent.

Then he picked up the cassette.

"What's this?"

Maria's face changed.

"Antonio's last recording."

Luca stared.

"You never gave it to me."

"No."

"Why?"

Maria looked ashamed.

"Because he asked me not to."

Luca laughed quietly.

"Everyone's favorite sentence."

Maria lowered her eyes.

He put the cassette on the table.

"No."

She looked up.

"We listen now."

Maria brought an old player.

The tape began.

Static.

Then Antonio's voice.

Older.

Weak.

"Maria says I should tell Luca everything."

Luca closed his eyes.

Antonio continued:

"She is right."

A breath.

"But I am tired of making my son carry the consequences of my fear."

Luca opened his eyes.

"I helped David Hale disappear because I believed paying a violent man was safer than confronting him."

Maria cried quietly.

"I was wrong."

Another breath.

"I helped Richard hide that choice."

Luca looked toward the window.

"And Richard helped me hide mine."

The recording paused.

"If Luca hears this, tell him one thing."

Luca leaned closer.

"I never stopped loving his mother."

Maria covered her mouth.

"I only stopped believing I knew how to save her."

Then Antonio coughed.

The tape continued.

"David has one thing Richard wants."

Luca frowned.

"A ledger."

June looked at Maria.

"What ledger?"

Maria whispered:

"I don't know."

Antonio continued:

"Payments."

"Judges."

"Doctors."

"Travel."

"Every time Richard solved a family problem with money, David kept proof."

Luca's face changed.

The denied restraining order.

The fake death.

The disappearances.

The hospital identities.

All connected.

Antonio finished:

"If David comes back, he won't come for Maria."

A pause.

"He'll come for Vanessa."

Luca froze.

The tape clicked off.

June whispered:

"Why Vanessa?"

Maria looked at him.

Then at the hallway.

"Because David is her father."

Silence.

Luca stared.

"What?"

Maria's face broke.

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...

"Not her uncle."

"Her father."