Chapter 6 - The Second Lie at the Train Station

Carlo entered the retreat center alone.

No gun visible.

No men.

Nico did not trust that.

Neither did Anna.

She kept the bank key in her hand.

Carlo looked at Eleanor.

“You called.”

Eleanor nodded.

“I made a mistake.”

Carlo almost smiled.

“That has become a family tradition.”

Nico stepped forward.

“Did you tell my father Isabella had another life?”

Carlo looked at him.

“No.”

Everyone turned toward Eleanor.

She sat down.

Victoria whispered:

“Grandma.”

Eleanor looked at Nico.

“The first lie was at the train station.”

Nico’s jaw tightened.

“And the second?”

“Six years ago.”

Anna closed her eyes.

She knew.

Eleanor continued.

“Your father found Anna.”

“Yes.”

“He asked where Isabella was.”

Nico stared.

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

“Why lie again?”

Eleanor looked at Victoria.

“For her.”

Victoria shook her head.

“No.”

“Carlo had reopened the old Hale debt.”

Carlo laughed.

“I had not.”

Eleanor looked at him.

“You sent the letter.”

“No.”

Silence.

Anna looked at Eleanor.

“What letter?”

Eleanor removed an old folded page from her bag.

A threat.

IF RICARDO ROMANO REACHES ISABELLA, VICTORIA PAYS FOR HENRY’S DEBT.

Nico stared.

The signature:

C.R.

Carlo Romano.

Carlo looked at the paper.

“That is not mine.”

Nico stepped closer.

“Convenient.”

Carlo took it.

Then pointed at the date.

“Look.”

Anna did.

Her face changed.

Nico frowned.

“What?”

Anna said:

“Carlo was in federal custody that week.”

Everyone looked at him.

Carlo nodded.

“Tax investigation. Four days.”

Eleanor stared.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Then who sent it?”

Anna looked at the handwriting.

Then at her grandmother.

“Henry.”

Victoria whispered:

“Grandpa?”

Eleanor closed her eyes.

Nico understood.

Victoria’s grandfather.

Still alive then.

Still manipulating both families.

Eleanor whispered:

“He signed Carlo’s initials.”

Carlo looked almost offended.

“He did that often.”

Samuel said:

“So Ricardo believed Isabella rejected him because Henry threatened Victoria.”

Eleanor nodded.

“I told him Isabella had remarried.”

Nico stared.

“She never did.”

“No.”

“You stole their last chance.”

Eleanor cried.

“Yes.”

No one defended her.

Anna said:

“Ricardo died eight months later.”

Nico looked at her.

“How?”

“Cancer.”

“Did he know the truth before?”

“No.”

Nico turned away.

Two parents.

Two lies.

Twenty-five years apart.

Samuel asked Carlo:

“Why are you here?”

Carlo looked at Anna.

“The bank box.”

“No.”

“It contains documents that destroy more than me.”

Anna smiled faintly.

“That is the point.”

Carlo looked at Nico.

“Your father’s case includes names you do not understand.”

“Try me.”

“Judges. Police. Contractors. Politicians.”

“So?”

“So some are still alive.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed.

“And dangerous.”

“Yes.”

“Are you warning me?”

Carlo looked tired.

“For once.”

Anna laughed.

“Do not pretend you became noble.”

“I did not.”

Carlo looked at Nico.

“I want the ledger because it implicates me.”

“Honest.”

“Yes.”

“And you want the rest destroyed too.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because exposing dead men is easy. Exposing living men gets people killed.”

Nico replied:

“Hiding them got my parents separated.”

Carlo did not answer.

A car approached.

Not black.

White SUV.

Anna’s face changed.

“Federal.”

Carlo looked toward the window.

“You called them?”

Nico shook his head.

Anna did.

Agents entered.

Carlo did not resist.

Before they took him, he looked at Nico.

“Ask Samuel why he disappeared eleven months ago.”

Everyone turned.

Samuel frowned.

“You followed me.”

Carlo nodded.

“But I did not make you disappear.”

Nico looked at Samuel.

“What happened?”

Samuel’s face changed.

“I found something.”

“What?”

“Your father’s grave.”

Nico stared.

“We know where he was buried.”

Samuel shook his head.

“No.”

“You know where a man named Ricardo Greene was buried.”

Silence.

Anna looked shocked.

Samuel continued.

“Your father used my surname.”

Nico frowned.

“Why?”

“To hide while he searched.”

Samuel looked at Anna.

“I found the cemetery records.”

Nico asked:

“And?”

Samuel swallowed.

“The coffin was empty.”

Silence.

Carlo stopped walking.

Even he looked surprised.

Nico stared.

“My father died six years ago.”

Samuel nodded.

“That is what everyone believed.”

“Then where is his body?”

Samuel whispered:

“I don’t know.”

Nico’s expression changed.

“Was he actually dead?”

Samuel looked at him.

“I don’t know that either.”

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