Chapter 9 - The Boardroom TrapThe boardroom occupied the forty-eighth floor of a Manhattan tower.
That was what Adeline remembered later.
Not the gun.
Not Marco slowly moving his hand away from his jacket.
Not Camilla’s sharp intake of breath.
The smile.
Warm.
Almost paternal.
As if he had walked downstairs to greet family at Thanksgiving.
“Put the recorder on the table.”
Enzo stood between Dominic and the others.
“You killed Luca.”
Dominic sighed.
“Your brother always had terrible timing.”
“You shot him.”
“Yes.”
Camilla flinched.
Enzo did not.
“Say it again.”
Dominic laughed.
“You’re recording me?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I want to hear whether twelve years gave you enough time to feel anything.”
Dominic’s smile vanished.
“Feelings are why your father lost control of this family.”
“My father helped you hide Luca’s murder.”
“Exactly.”
Enzo’s hands curled into fists.
“You think that makes him strong?”
“I think it made him practical.”
Adeline saw movement through the front window.
Police.
Ramirez had insisted units follow at a distance.
Dominic must not know.
Enzo had seen them too.
He needed time.
Adeline stepped forward.
Dominic pointed the gun at her.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“You’re the maid.”
“My name is Adeline.”
“I know your name.”
“Then use it.”
Dominic laughed.
“Now I understand why Enzo likes you.”
Enzo’s expression changed.
“Leave her out of this.”
“Oh, she’s been in this for three years.”
Dominic looked at Adeline.
“You should have taken the money Dennis offered.”
“I never got money.”
“Exactly. Emilia interfered.”
“Your mother.”
“My mother was sentimental.”
“She stopped you from hurting my family.”
“She delayed it.”
Adeline’s blood ran cold.
Dominic continued.
“When she became inconvenient, Victor solved the problem.”
Enzo stared.
“My grandmother’s stroke.”
Dominic said nothing.
He did not need to.
Enzo’s voice dropped.
“What did he give her?”
“Enzo.”
“What did Victor give her?”
Dominic smiled again.
“Something that looked natural in an old woman.”
Camilla whispered, “My God.”
Dominic turned the gun toward her.
“And you.”
Camilla went pale.
“You disappointed your father.”
“He’s not my father anymore.”
“Dramatic.”
“You poisoned Enzo.”
“Peter did.”
“You ordered it.”
Dominic tilted his head.
“Technically Victor ordered it.”
Enzo stepped forward.
Dominic raised the gun.
“One more step.”
Enzo stopped.
“You want the records.”
“Yes.”
“They’re copies.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“You’re lying.”
Enzo glanced at the open safe.
“Maybe.”
Dominic looked toward Marco.
“You’ve always been loyal.”
Marco said nothing.
“Loyalty to this family used to mean something.”
Marco’s voice was quiet.
“I was loyal to Salvatore.”
“A coward.”
“I was loyal to Luca.”
“A fool.”
“I’m loyal to Enzo.”
Dominic smiled.
“And he will destroy everything his grandfather built.”
Enzo answered, “Then maybe it should be destroyed.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
For the first time, genuine anger.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“You would hand everything to police?”
“Yes.”
“Federal investigators?”
“Yes.”
“Tax authorities?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how many companies collapse?”
“If they were built on poison, let them.”
“How many employees lose jobs?”
“We protect the legitimate companies.”
“You think the government will care?”
“I’ll care.”
Dominic laughed.
“You sound like Luca.”
Enzo’s voice broke slightly.
“Good.”
Something flashed in Dominic’s eyes.
His gun moved.
Adeline saw it before anyone else.
Not toward Enzo.
Toward Camilla.
Adeline shoved Camilla sideways.
A gunshot exploded.
Glass shattered behind them.
Marco lunged.
Enzo tackled Dominic.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Police stormed through both doors.
“DOWN!”
“EVERYBODY DOWN!”
Dominic struck Enzo once before three officers dragged him away.
Ramirez kicked the gun aside.
Camilla sat on the floor staring at the bullet hole in the wall.
Adeline’s hands shook violently.
Enzo turned.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Camilla?”
“No.”
Marco checked both.
Ramirez pulled Dominic upright.
He was still smiling.
“You think this ends it?” he asked.
Enzo wiped blood from his mouth.
“Yes.”
“No.”
Dominic looked toward Camilla.
“Victor has the girl.”
Camilla went rigid.
“My sister?”
Dominic’s smile widened.
“Your little Isabelle should have stayed in Switzerland.”
Camilla screamed and charged him.
Two officers caught her.
“Where is she?”
Dominic laughed.
“Ask your father.”
Ramirez grabbed his collar.
“Where is Victor?”
“I want a lawyer.”
Camilla fought against the officers.
“WHERE IS MY SISTER?”
Dominic said nothing.
Enzo moved close.
“You hurt that girl and there is nowhere Victor can hide.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“This stopped being about hiding years ago.”
He nodded toward the records.
“It’s about ownership.”
Then Ramirez dragged him outside.
Within minutes, police confirmed the worst.
Isabelle Ashford had disappeared during a transfer between private school housing and an airport in Zurich two days earlier.
Her security detail had been replaced using forged family authorization.
Victor had planned everything before the engagement party.
Maybe before the poisoning.
Camilla sat on the front steps of the old house.
Adeline joined her.
For several minutes, they watched police lights flicker against neighboring buildings.
“I hit you,” Camilla said.
Adeline looked at her.
“I remember.”
“And you just pushed me away from a bullet.”
“I didn’t think.”
“Why?”
“Because getting shot seemed excessive punishment for being terrible.”
Camilla laughed.
Then cried.
Adeline let her.
After a while Enzo stepped outside.
“Ramirez found a message on Dominic’s phone.”
Camilla stood.
“What?”
“A photograph.”
He showed them.
Isabelle.
Sixteen years old.
Alive.
Sitting in front of a wall painted deep green.
A newspaper rested beside her, proving the picture had been taken that morning.
Camilla covered her mouth.
“Where?”
“They’re analyzing it.”
Adeline stared at the image.
Something behind Isabelle looked familiar.
A brass emblem on the wall.
A ship.
She had seen it before.
“Enzo.”
“What?”
“That logo.”
He zoomed in.
His face hardened.
“Marchetti Shipping.”
Marco joined them.
“Which facility?”
Enzo examined the emblem.
“Old version.”
“How old?”
“Fifteen years.”
Only a handful of buildings still displayed it.
Marco searched company property maps.
Three warehouses.
One unused terminal.
One private marina.
And one abandoned freight station near the Indiana border.
Camilla pointed.
“That.”
“How do you know?” Ramirez asked.
“My father used to take me there.”
“When?”
“When I was a child.”
“Why?”
“He said it was where important things disappeared.”
Silence.
Ramirez was already moving.
“Get tactical teams.”
Enzo grabbed his coat.
“No.”
Ramirez turned.
“You are not coming.”
“That’s my property.”
“It’s an active hostage situation.”
“Then I’ll stay outside.”
“You’ll stay here.”
Camilla stepped forward.
“My sister is there.”
“And that is exactly why you’re not coming.”
Camilla looked ready to fight.
Adeline touched her arm.
“Let them do their job.”
Camilla stared at her.
“You’d stay?”
“If it were Noah?”
Adeline did not answer.
Camilla understood.
Two hours later they waited in a secure command area several miles from the freight station.
The tactical team moved before dawn.
At 5:12 a.m., Ramirez’s radio crackled.
“Hostage located.”
Camilla stopped breathing.
“Alive.”
She collapsed into a chair.
Adeline grabbed her hand.
Then another message.
“Suspect not present.”
Enzo frowned.
“Victor?”
Ramirez listened.
“No sign.”
A third transmission came.
“Detective, we found documents.”
“What kind?”
“Passports. Cash. Travel plans.”
“Destination?”
Static.
Then:
“Argentina.”
Enzo looked at the clock.
O’Hare had flights leaving within hours.
But another officer approached Ramirez.
“Ma’am.”
He held up a tablet.
“Facial recognition flagged Victor twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“Private aviation terminal.”
Camilla jumped up.
“He’s leaving.”
The officer shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“He boarded a plane last night.”
“Where?”
The officer looked toward Enzo.
“New York.”
Enzo frowned.
“Why New York?”
Adeline suddenly remembered a conversation from the engagement party.
Camilla had been discussing the following week’s plans.
A financial summit.
Major family holdings.
Banks.
Trustees.
“Enzo.”
He turned.
“The emergency succession meeting.”
His expression changed.
If Enzo died, Dominic would control the Marchetti trust.
Dominic had been arrested.
But if Victor could trigger a financial crisis before the conspiracy became public, he might still gain access to millions through the contracts already signed.
Enzo took out his phone.
“Call the board.”
Marco shook his head.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“The meeting started ten minutes ago.”
May you like
In Manhattan.
And Victor Ashford was already inside the building.
