Chapter 5 - Locker 214 Was Empty

The bus station had changed in six years.

New lights.

New cameras.

New signs.

The lockers had not.

214 still existed.

Emma approached alone.

At least that was what anyone watching would believe.

Luca was in a van across the street.

Marco covered the eastern entrance.

Two Moretti men watched the platforms.

Sofia remained at the estate with Nico.

Emma inserted the old key she had found taped inside the back of her mother’s recipe book.

It turned.

The locker opened.

Empty.

Emma stared.

Then she saw the scratch marks inside.

Fresh.

Someone had been there recently.

Her phone vibrated.

Luca.

“Don’t react.”

She kept her face still.

“Someone cleaned it out.”

“I know.”

“How?”

“Man in a gray coat. Platform three.”

Emma did not turn.

“Belini?”

“No.”

The man began walking.

Marco moved.

The stranger saw him.

Ran.

The chase ended behind a closed ticket office.

The man did not fight.

He raised both hands.

“Take me to Luca.”

Marco searched him.

No weapon.

One object.

A Moretti signet ring.

Luca arrived five minutes later.

The stranger was in his seventies.

Silver hair.

Tired eyes.

Scar beneath one ear.

Emma had never seen him.

Luca had.

Not in person.

In photographs.

“Vittorio.”

The old man looked at his son.

“You got taller.”

Luca hit him.

Once.

Vittorio accepted it.

Marco did not interfere.

Emma understood why.

Luca’s father had allowed his children to bury an empty coffin.

Allowed Sofia to disappear.

Allowed Luca to believe both of them dead.

Twelve years of grief deserved at least one honest reaction.

Luca flexed his hand.

“Where is the ledger?”

Vittorio wiped blood from his lip.

“With me.”

“Why?”

“Because Elena gave it to me.”

Emma stepped forward.

“My mother?”

Vittorio looked at her.

“You have her eyes.”

“Don’t.”

He nodded.

“Fair.”

Emma’s voice shook.

“Did you kill her?”

“No.”

“Did Belini?”

“No.”

“Then who?”

Vittorio looked at Luca.

“The same man who killed Alessandro.”

Silence.

“Name.”

Vittorio hesitated.

“Antonio Serra.”

Luca went still.

Antonio had been his father’s consigliere.

His teacher.

The man who taught Luca how to read contracts, threats, and silence.

He had attended Vittorio’s funeral.

He had comforted Sofia’s mother.

He had advised Alessandro.

He had signed the papers declaring Sofia dead.

Luca said nothing for a long time.

Then:

“Proof.”

Vittorio removed a small storage drive from inside his coat.

“Everything Elena died protecting.”

Emma’s breath caught.

“You said Belini didn’t kill her.”

“She didn’t pull the trigger.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

Vittorio looked away.

Emma understood.

“Belini told Antonio where she was.”

Vittorio did not deny it.

Luca took the drive.

“Why is Belini helping him?”

“She thinks she is using him.”

“And he thinks?”

“That he is using her.”

“Which one is right?”

Vittorio smiled without humor.

“Neither.”

Marco’s phone rang.

He answered.

His face changed.

“Boss.”

“What?”

“Antonio is at the estate.”

Luca stared at him.

“With Sofia.”

Emma’s stomach dropped.

Marco continued.

“He arrived ten minutes ago. Said you called him.”

Luca was already moving.

“I didn’t.”

They reached the car.

Vittorio stopped Emma before she entered.

“There’s something you need to know.”

She turned.

“About your mother.”

Emma’s eyes hardened.

“What?”

“Elena did not die at the clinic.”

Emma froze.

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Vittorio continued.

“She survived.”