Chương 7
“Your banks received copies of a power-of-attorney document at midnight.”
“I never signed one.”
“I know. It carries my notarization.”
Daniel’s gaze sharpened.
Maya continued. “The signature is convincing. The notarization is not. I am looking at the original stamp in my hand.”
“Can you block it?” Adrian asked.
“I can challenge it. That is not the same thing. Salvatore has already removed two board members and frozen access to the holding company’s internal system.”
“How many people are with you?”
“One investigator and my paralegal.”
“Leave your office.”
“We did.”
“Go to the federal building.”
“No.”
Adrian’s fingers tightened around the receiver. “Maya.”
“You hired me to stop you from making impulsive decisions while angry. You are currently injured, under attack, and asking me to carry evidence into a federal building without knowing who it implicates.”
“It implicates Salvatore.”
“It implicates you.”
“I know.”
Melissa looked at him.
Maya’s voice lowered. “Say that again.”
“The red file implicates me.”
“Then tell me what has changed.”
Adrian’s eyes moved to the crowned-wolf photograph on Daniel’s wall.
“Gabriel Romano survived Pier Four.”
The line went quiet.
When Maya spoke again, her tone had changed. “That is not possible.”
“It is.”
“How do you know?”
“His daughter is standing beside me.”
Melissa closed her eyes.
Maya did not ask the obvious question. She had met Melissa at their wedding. She had brought a small wooden train to the hospital after Leo’s birth. She was one of the few people who had called Melissa Hart by name in both places.
“Is the child safe?” Maya asked.
“For the moment,” Melissa said.
“Then listen carefully. Do not return to the mansion. Do not contact police through emergency dispatch unless there is an immediate medical need. I have reason to believe someone with county access has been feeding vehicle locations to Salvatore’s people.”
Daniel mouthed, She’s right.
“What do you need?” Adrian asked.
“Proof that the power of attorney is fraudulent. Proof of the attack. Proof connecting Salvatore to either one. Your records establish motive and pattern, not tonight’s crimes.”
“The mansion cameras.”
“Offline and likely overwritten.”
“Off-site backup.”
“Your security chief disabled it three days ago for maintenance.”
Adrian’s head lifted. “Dario.”
“He signed the request.”
Melissa remembered Dario Bellini standing outside the nursery that morning, apologizing for the temporary camera outage. He had brought a stuffed bear from his wife. He had kissed Leo’s forehead.
“Where is he?” Adrian asked.
“No one has reached him since the attack.”
Daniel crossed his arms. “There’s your traitor.”
“No,” Adrian said.
“You still trust him?”
“I trust evidence.”
“Men like you always say that until the evidence is family.”
Adrian ignored him. “Maya, activate the second protocol.”
“You told me never to activate that without verbal confirmation from two directors.”
“The directors have been removed.”
“One of them is missing.”
“Who?”
“Thomas Greco.”
Adrian looked at Melissa. Thomas had attended dinner at the mansion the previous Sunday. He had complained about the risotto and asked to hold the baby twice.
“What does the second protocol do?” Melissa asked.
Maya answered. “It releases encrypted copies of Adrian’s records to three separate legal custodians. They remain sealed unless he is killed, detained without counsel, or fails to check in within twenty-four hours.”
“It also cuts Salvatore off from the legitimate companies,” Adrian said.
“For approximately six hours,” Maya added. “After that, courts and banks decide what happens.”
“Do it.”
“Adrian, once I do, you cannot put this back.”
“That is the point.”
Melissa watched him as Maya entered a series of codes. He did not look heroic. He looked tired, wet, and furious at being forced to destroy a structure he had spent fifteen years controlling.
A faint chime sounded over the line.
“It’s active,” Maya said. “Now tell me where you are.”
“No.”
“Then tell me where you can meet.”
Daniel shook his head.
Melissa asked, “Where is the nearest hospital with a protected maternity entrance?”
Adrian turned.
Maya named one in Clifton.
“No hospitals,” Daniel said. “They’ll monitor admissions.”
Melissa shifted the baby higher. “I’m bleeding.”
Adrian’s chair moved before the sentence ended.
“How much?”
“Not enough to panic.”
“That is not a measurement.”
“It’s heavier than it was.”
His face tightened. “We’re going to the hospital.”
Daniel blocked the office door. “You drive into an emergency department with him, every cop and camera in the county knows within minutes.”
“I’m not asking permission,” Adrian said.
“The men hunting you know your wife gave birth three weeks ago. Hospitals are the first place they’ll watch.”
Melissa leaned against the desk as another cramp moved through her abdomen. It was not unbearable. That frightened her more. She had spent years training herself to endure things quietly.
The baby slept beneath her chin.
“Daniel,” she said, “is there a doctor you trust?”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
“My sister is a midwife. Retired. She lives above the bakery.”
Adrian stared at him. “You were going to mention that when?”
“When your family stopped bringing rifles to my garage.”
Daniel called upstairs.
His sister arrived twelve minutes later in slippers, navy scrubs, and a raincoat buttoned wrong. Her name was Teresa Ruiz. She had delivered babies for thirty-four years and greeted Adrian by telling him to move his chair out of her light.
She examined Melissa in the office while Daniel and Adrian waited in the garage.
The bleeding had slowed. Teresa checked Melissa’s pulse, blood pressure, abdomen, and temperature, then asked questions in a voice that made dishonesty seem childish.
“You lifted something.”
“A wheelchair.”
From the garage, Adrian said, “She did not.”
Teresa raised her voice. “Were you in the room?”
“No.”
“Then enjoy not knowing.”
May you like
Melissa almost laughed. The sound came out as a breath.
Teresa continued the examination. “You need rest, fluids, and an actual physician as soon as it is safe. If the bleeding increases, if you pass a clot larger than your fist, if you become dizzy, short of breath, feverish, or confused, you go to the hospital. I do not care who is waiting outside.”
