Chương 14
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I didn’t say it was smart.”
“No.”
Roman folded the index again and slipped it inside his jacket.
Daniel took one step forward.
Luis immediately blocked him.
“Don’t.”
Daniel stopped.
Roman looked toward the exterior camera feed.
Vincent was no longer beside his sedan.
Roman’s pulse changed.
“Where is Vincent?”
Luis turned toward the monitor.
The silver sedan remained.
The black SUV remained.
Vincent was gone.
Luis grabbed his radio.
“Gate team, status on Hale.”
Static.
Then a voice.
“Last seen walking toward the south perimeter.”
Roman moved.
“Lock the interior doors.”
Luis was already speaking into the radio.
Roman pulled out his phone and called Paul in security.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Luis swore.
“Camera three just went down.”
Roman looked at the display.
The south perimeter feed had gone black.
Then camera four.
Then five.
One by one, sections of the estate disappeared.
Daniel’s face drained of color.
“He’s coming inside.”
Roman looked at him.
“You seem sure.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Because this is what Anthony used to do.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Kill visibility first.”
Luis said, “We need to move.”
Roman called Paul again.
This time someone answered.
Not Paul.
Vincent.
“Roman.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Where is Paul?”
“He’s fine.”
“Put him on.”
“No.”
Daniel whispered, “Don’t tell him I’m here.”
Roman ignored him.
“What do you want?”
Vincent’s voice sounded tired.
Not frantic.
That frightened Roman more.
“I want the index.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
“You knew it existed.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where it was.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you take it?”
“Because Anthony told me the book was wired.”
Roman stared at the leather volume on the desk.
Luis mouthed, Wired?
Vincent continued.
“I never knew whether he meant literally.”
Roman almost laughed.
“That sounds like him.”
“I wasn’t willing to find out.”
“So you sent Daniel.”
“No.”
Daniel’s head snapped up.
Vincent said, “Daniel came because Sabrina told him Elena found the ledger pages.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
Daniel whispered, “He’s lying.”
Roman covered the phone.
“Everyone is.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
Roman uncovered it.
“Where is Sabrina?”
Vincent went silent.
Roman felt cold spread across his shoulders.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You met her at the diner.”
Daniel stared at Roman.
Vincent’s silence lasted too long.
“You were followed.”
“Yes.”
Roman continued.
“She used the rear exit.”
Nothing.
“She met you.”
“Yes.”
“What did she give you?”
Vincent exhaled.
“A key.”
“To what?”
“A safe-deposit box.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
Daniel’s face changed.
“She wouldn’t.”
Vincent heard him.
“Daniel’s there.”
Roman said nothing.
Vincent laughed softly.
“That answers a lot.”
Daniel stepped closer to the phone.
“What box?”
Roman held up a hand.
Vincent said, “Ask your sister.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Daniel looked genuinely frightened now.
“What was in the box?”
Vincent paused.
“Copies.”
“Of what?”
“Elena’s ledger pages.”
Roman’s breath slowed.
Elena had not hidden a single set of evidence.
She had created separation.
Contracts in one place.
Ledger pages somewhere else.
Possibly copies with Sabrina.
Instructions with Natalie.
No one person could destroy everything.
Roman felt something almost like pride, followed immediately by shame that she had needed such precautions.
Vincent continued.
“She gave me the copies because she wanted me to verify them.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“You mean destroy them.”
“No.”
“Your name is on the index.”
“Because I made payments.”
“To witnesses.”
“Yes.”
“To inspectors.”
“Yes.”
“For my father.”
“Yes.”
“You expect that defense to help?”
“No.”
That answer stopped Roman.
Vincent continued.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“What are you asking?”
“To understand that Anthony made everyone choose what they were willing to become.”
Roman looked toward Daniel.
“He made you disappear.”
Then toward the dead camera feeds.
“He made Sabrina lie.”
Then toward the book.
“And he made you pay people.”
“Yes.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“He made Gabriel what?”
Vincent said nothing.
Roman’s voice changed.
“What did Gabriel find?”
A long silence.
Then Vincent said, “Proof that the warehouse fire was ordered.”
Roman felt the words physically.
“By Anthony?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“One of the men working nights had discovered containers that weren’t on the manifest.”
“What containers?”
“Cash.”
Roman frowned.
“Whose?”
“Not Anthony’s.”
Daniel whispered, “Oh, God.”
Roman looked at him.
Daniel’s face had gone pale.
“What?”
Daniel shook his head.
“The payments weren’t bribes.”
Roman’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Some were.”
Daniel pointed toward Roman’s jacket where the index rested.
“But the large transfers.”
He swallowed.
“Those were distributions.”
“To who?”
Daniel looked at him.
“People who owned part of the network.”
Vincent said through the phone, “He finally gets it.”
Roman’s voice went quiet.
“My father wasn’t the top.”
“No.”
The answer came from both men.
Roman stood completely still.
For most of his life, Anthony Marino had been the largest object in every room.
Feared.
Obeyed.
Hated.
Even dead, he had remained the explanation for everything rotten that survived him.
Roman had spent years believing he inherited the empire at its center.
Now the truth was worse.
Anthony had been part of something older and broader.
A manager, perhaps.
A partner.
Maybe only a useful criminal with access to ports and men willing to stay silent.
“Who were the others?”
Roman asked.
Vincent’s breathing came through the phone.
“The aliases are on the index.”
“Names.”
“You need the contract appendix.”
“Elena moved it.”
“I know.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
“And you don’t know where.”
“No.”
Vincent’s voice lowered.
“But I think Sabrina does.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“She doesn’t.”
Vincent laughed.
“She met Elena before Elena left.”
Roman went cold.
“When?”
“The morning of the prenatal appointment.”
Roman’s mind snapped backward.
Elena leaving the house.
Sabrina arriving later.
The robe.
The bedroom.
The suitcase.
He had assumed the confrontation began when Elena returned.
“What happened?”
Vincent said, “Ask Sabrina.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“I am asking you.”
“I only know what she told me.”
“Which was?”
“That Elena offered her a deal.”
Daniel said, “That doesn’t make sense.”
May you like
Vincent continued.
“Elena would give Sabrina one page from the contracts.”
