Chapter 5 - The Driver Who Remembered the Rain

Salvatore Greco was seventy-eight.

Luca remembered him as a man who never arrived late, never spoke during business calls, and kept lemon candies in the glove compartment.

The man they found in Suite 1106 looked twenty years older.

He sat in a chair by the window, coat still on, wrists free, door locked from the outside.

No blood.

No visible injury.

Only exhaustion.

When Luca entered, Salvatore looked up.

“Little Luca.”

Nobody had called him that in twenty years.

Luca stopped.

“Why are you here?”

Salvatore glanced at Marco.

“Because I waited too long to become brave.”

They moved him to a secure apartment.

Isabella sat beside him.

Emma brought coffee.

Belini remained under guard in another room.

Salvatore wrapped both hands around the cup.

“The night Antonio died, it rained.”

Luca’s expression did not change.

“I remember.”

“He called me at ten thirty. Told me to bring the old Lincoln.”

“Where?”

“Pier 17.”

Emma looked at Luca.

The ledger.

The photograph.

The tape.

Everything returned there.

Salvatore continued.

“Your father was angry. Not frightened. That worried me more.”

“Who was waiting?”

“Domenico.”

Luca already knew.

“Anyone else?”

Salvatore looked toward the door.

“Detective Paul Mercer.”

Marco swore.

Luca’s eyes narrowed.

“The detective who investigated the murder.”

“Yes.”

Isabella whispered, “The watch.”

Salvatore nodded.

“Domenico gave him more than a watch.”

“What happened?”

“Antonio showed them documents. He said he had copied everything. Mercer told him to calm down.”

Luca’s voice dropped.

“And Domenico?”

“Asked where the copies were.”

Salvatore stared at his coffee.

“Antonio lied.”

“How?”

“He said there were no copies.”

Emma understood.

“He was protecting the box.”

Salvatore nodded.

“Then Antonio told me to leave.”

“You left him there?”

Pain crossed the old man’s face.

“I drove one block. Then I stopped.”

Luca said nothing.

“I went back on foot.”

Salvatore’s voice shook.

“I heard one shot.”

Isabella closed her eyes.

“Who fired?”

“I didn’t see the weapon.”

Luca leaned forward.

“But?”

“I saw Domenico leave the warehouse.”

Silence.

“Mercer came out three minutes later.”

“Where was my father?”

“Inside.”

Luca’s face became completely still.

Salvatore continued.

“Mercer found me before sunrise. He told me if I spoke, your mother would be next.”

Isabella looked at him.

Salvatore could not meet her eyes.

“I believed him.”

“You should have told me,” Luca said.

“Yes.”

No excuse.

No defense.

Only yes.

That made Luca’s anger harder to hold.

Emma spoke quietly.

“Why did Domenico take you now?”

Salvatore looked at her.

“Because yesterday I called Isabella.”

Everyone turned.

Isabella frowned.

“You called me?”

“From a pay phone. You didn’t answer.”

“I was on the bus.”

“I left no message.”

Luca understood.

“Domenico monitors her phone.”

Salvatore nodded.

“I had decided I would tell her everything.”

“Why now?”

“Because I saw your engagement announcement.”

He looked at Luca.

“And I saw Belini.”

The room changed.

“What about her?” Luca asked.

Salvatore hesitated.

“Five years ago I drove Domenico to a restaurant.”

Belini stood in the doorway.

Marco had brought her without anyone noticing.

“Don’t,” she said.

Luca looked at her.

Salvatore did too.

“You were there,” the old driver said.

Belini’s face lost color.

Luca stood.

“What happened at the restaurant?”

Salvatore answered.

“Domenico introduced Belini to Detective Mercer.”

Emma looked at her.

Belini closed her eyes.

Luca’s voice became quiet.

“Why?”

Belini opened them.

“Because Mercer had photographs.”

“Of what?”

“My brother.”

“What had he done?”

“Nothing.”

Belini’s voice broke.

“That was the point.”

She stepped into the room.

“They framed him for a warehouse theft. Domenico said the charges disappeared if I cooperated.”

“Cooperated how?”

“By getting close to you.”

Luca stared at her.

She continued because stopping was worse.

“I was supposed to learn whether your father left evidence. Whether Isabella knew anything. Whether you had ever found the ledger.”

Luca laughed once.

“So our entire relationship was an assignment.”

“At first.”

“That phrase again.”

“Because it matters.”

“No.”

He stepped closer.

“It matters to you.”

Belini’s eyes filled.

“I fell in love with you.”

Luca’s expression did not soften.

“You hid my mother in a service corridor.”

Belini looked down.

“You protected the man who murdered my father.”

“I protected my brother.”

“For five years?”

Silence.

Emma knew the answer.

Not all five years.

Some choices lasted longer than the reason they began.

Luca turned away.

“Where is Mercer now?”

Salvatore answered.

“Retired. Naples, Florida.”

Marco was already checking.

Belini spoke.

“He came back to Chicago yesterday.”

Luca turned.

“How do you know?”

“Domenico called him.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know.”

Then Emma noticed Salvatore staring at the engagement photograph on the table.

“What?”

The old driver pointed.

Domenico stood behind Luca.

On his lapel was a small silver pin.

Salvatore’s hand began shaking.

“He wore that the night Antonio died.”

Luca looked closer.

A falcon.

Domenico Falcone’s family crest.

Salvatore whispered, “Antonio ripped one just like it from his coat before he died.”

“Where is it?”

“I hid it.”

Luca stared.

“Where?”

Salvatore looked at Isabella.

“In the one place Domenico never respected enough to search.”

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Isabella understood.

“My kitchen.”