Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Never DrownedFlames consumed Bellavita before noon.
Those forty minutes felt longer than the entire night.
Marco arrived with two security specialists and Detective Ramirez not far behind him.
Ruth refused to leave the apartment.
“This is my home,” she said.
Ramirez looked at the overturned furniture.
“Tonight might be a good night to reconsider.”
Ruth folded her arms.
“I survived thirty-four years married to Adeline’s father. Whoever broke that lamp doesn’t scare me.”
Adeline almost smiled.
Almost.
Eventually, they compromised.
Ruth would stay with Adeline’s brother, Noah, for several days.
Security would accompany them.
The phone would go directly to police.
Except Enzo made one request.
“I want copies of everything.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this is evidence.”
“It involves my father’s company.”
“That is precisely why.”
Enzo’s eyes narrowed.
“You think I’ll destroy it?”
“I think I don’t know what you’ll do.”
Adeline stepped between them emotionally, if not physically.
“She’s right.”
Enzo looked at her.
That surprised him.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I barely know you.”
“You saved my life.”
“That doesn’t mean I know you.”
A strange quiet settled over the room.
Then Enzo nodded.
“Fair.”
Ramirez seemed equally surprised.
They transferred the phone into an evidence bag and left just after sunrise.
By eight o’clock, Adeline was sitting inside Noah’s apartment with a mug of coffee she had forgotten to drink.
Noah paced.
He was twenty-four, tall, thin, and permanently angry whenever anyone he loved was threatened.
“I told you that restaurant was wrong.”
“I know.”
“No, you told me to let it go.”
“You were nineteen and recovering.”
“They almost killed me.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Noah stopped pacing.
“And now someone poisoned Marchetti because of it?”
“We don’t know.”
“His father owned the place.”
“Yes.”
“And now Enzo is suddenly helping you.”
“Yes.”
Noah laughed without humor.
“That’s convenient.”
Adeline had wondered the same thing.
She also remembered Enzo’s face when he learned who owned Bellavita.
He had looked shocked.
But wealthy families trained their children to hide things.
She did not know whether his shock meant innocence.
At nine thirty, her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
DO NOT TRUST MARCHETTI.
Adeline stared at the message.
Another appeared.
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BROTHER.
Her fingers went numb.
Noah saw her face.
“What?”
She showed him.
“Who is his brother?”
“I didn’t know he had one.”
Noah searched online.
Thirty seconds later, he turned the screen toward her.
A photograph appeared.
Enzo at twenty-five.
Beside him stood a younger man with similar dark hair and a wider smile.
Luca Marchetti.
The article headline read:
MARCHETTI HEIR DIES IN BOATING ACCIDENT AT 22.
Adeline read quickly.
Lake Michigan.
Nighttime collision.
Alcohol suspected.
No criminal charges.
Twelve years earlier.
“What does that have to do with Bellavita?” Noah asked.
“I don’t know.”
Another message arrived.
LUCA FOUND OUT FIRST.
Then nothing.
Adeline called the number.
Disconnected.
At eleven, Enzo arrived.
Noah immediately stepped in front of the door.
“You can stay in the hallway.”
Enzo looked at him.
“You’re Noah.”
“And you’re not coming inside.”
Adeline sighed.
“Noah.”
“He owns the company that poisoned me.”
“His father did.”
“Same family.”
Enzo did not argue.
That surprised Noah enough to make him hesitate.
Finally Adeline stepped into the hall.
“What do you want?”
Enzo handed her a folder.
“What is this?”
“Bellavita corporate records.”
She stared at him.
“You had these?”
“I had my attorneys pull everything from archived company databases.”
“Why?”
“Because if my father covered up what happened to your brother, I want to know.”
Adeline studied him.
“Did you know about any of it?”
“No.”
“What about Luca?”
Enzo froze.
That answered enough.
“Who told you about Luca?”
“Someone texted me.”
“What did they say?”
“That he found out first.”
Enzo’s face lost color.
Adeline waited.
“Found out what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
“You knew something.”
Enzo looked down the hallway.
“My brother died twelve years ago.”
“I read that.”
“He wasn’t drunk.”
“The article said—”
“The article lied.”
Adeline said nothing.
Enzo continued.
“Luca was afraid of water.”
“What?”
“He hated boats. Our father forced us onto them for business events when we were kids, and Luca nearly drowned once.”
“Then why was he on Lake Michigan at midnight?”
“That’s the question I’ve been asking for twelve years.”
Adeline stared at him.
“You think someone killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I used to think my father knew.”
The elevator opened.
Marco stepped out.
His expression told them something had happened.
Enzo turned.
“What?”
“Ramirez found a video on the phone.”
Adeline’s heart began pounding.
“What video?”
Marco looked at her.
“You recorded it at Bellavita.”
She remembered dozens.
Most were photographs.
One—
Her breath caught.
“The storage room.”
Marco nodded.
“What’s on it?” Enzo asked.
“Not what.”
Marco paused.
“Who.”
They went downstairs to a waiting car.
Detective Ramirez had arranged to meet them at the station.
The recovered video lasted fifty-seven seconds.
Adeline had filmed through a partially open storage-room door.
At first, the footage showed only metal containers.
Then voices.
A manager named Dennis Cole.
Another man.
Older.
Heavyset.
Silver hair.
Enzo recognized him instantly.
“Victor Ashford.”
Camilla’s father.
Adeline turned.
“Her father?”
Ramirez nodded.
The video continued.
Victor was furious.
“These shipments stop tonight.”
Dennis answered, “Mr. Marchetti approved them.”
Victor laughed.
“Old man Marchetti approves anything if the number has enough zeros.”
Enzo stared at the screen.
Then a third voice entered.
Young.
Male.
“You’re going to kill somebody.”
The camera shifted.
Adeline had forgotten this moment.
A young man stepped into frame.
Luca Marchetti.
Alive.
Twenty-two years old.
Angry.
Victor Ashford turned toward him.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Luca held papers in one hand.
“You’re storing industrial cyanide derivatives beside food distribution chemicals.”
“It’s temporary.”
“Four employees are already sick.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Your father knows.”
Luca shook his head.
“My brother will know tomorrow.”
Enzo stopped breathing.
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
For twelve years, Enzo had believed his brother died after discovering some hidden corruption in their father’s business.
Now he knew what.
And Victor Ashford had been there.
Camilla’s father.
The man who had spent the previous eighteen months arranging a marriage between their families.
Ramirez leaned back.
“Now we have motive.”
“To kill Luca?” Adeline asked.
“Possibly.”
Enzo’s voice was flat.
“And to kill me?”
Ramirez nodded.
“If you discovered the connection, yes.”
Adeline thought of Camilla.
The engagement.
The merger of two family empires.
“What if the marriage wasn’t about love?”
Enzo looked at her.
“It wasn’t.”
“No. I mean what if it wasn’t even about business?”
Silence.
“What if Camilla was supposed to get close enough to make sure you never investigated your brother?”
Enzo’s face hardened.
The door opened.
A uniformed officer entered quickly.
“Detective?”
Ramirez stood.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What happened?”
“The Ashford residence is empty.”
Enzo stood.
“Camilla?”
“Gone.”
“Victor?”
“Gone.”
“Since when?”
“Security footage was wiped.”
Ramirez swore.
The officer continued.
“And there’s something else.”
He looked at Enzo.
“Someone just set fire to the old Bellavita building.”
Adeline felt sick.
The past was not merely being hidden.
May you like
Someone was erasing it.
And they were doing it faster than the police could uncover it.
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