Chapter 4 - Daniel Wasn't DeadThe SUV reversed violently.
Bullets shattered the windshield.
Victor accelerated through the barricade.
I pulled Emma to the floor.
Alessandro remained strangely calm.
“You know that man?” he asked.
I nodded.
“He was at Daniel's funeral.”
“What was his name?”
“I don't know.”
“That is a problem.”
“You could say that.”
The SUV turned into an abandoned warehouse district.
Victor checked the mirror.
“We lost them.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“Tell me everything about Daniel’s death.”
“I already told you.”
“No. Tell me what you remember.”
I swallowed.
“He left home at seven.”
“And?”
“He said he had to meet someone.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn't tell me.”
“Did he seem frightened?”
I hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did he leave anything behind?”
“His watch.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“The watch with the symbol.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to it?”
“I lost it.”
“Did you?”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Daniel wanted someone to find it.”
Emma sat up.
“Daddy hid things.”
I looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“He told me.”
My heart stopped.
“Emma, your father died before you were two.”
She shook her head.
“No. He talked to me.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“Where?”
“In the closet.”
I laughed nervously.
“She's three.”
“I know.”
Emma continued.
“He said, ‘Don't tell Mama.’”
My mouth went dry.
“What did he say?”
She frowned.
“I forgot.”
Alessandro looked away.
Then I saw something on his hand.
A ring.
Black metal.
The same symbol as the one on Daniel’s watch.
I grabbed his wrist.
“Where did you get that?”
He looked at me.
“Daniel.”
My entire body went numb.
“He gave this to me the night before he disappeared.”
“You said he died.”
“I said he was supposed to.”
The warehouse became silent.
“Daniel was working for me.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He wasn't a criminal.”
“Then what was he?”
“A whistleblower.”
Alessandro looked toward Victor.
“Years ago, my father built a private network called Black Meridian.”
The name sounded familiar.
Daniel had whispered it once.
I had thought it was nonsense.
“What did they do?”
“Money laundering. Political bribery. Blackmail. Insurance fraud. Corporate murders.”
I stared at him.
“And Daniel?”
“He found evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
Alessandro leaned forward.
“My father's biggest secret.”
He pulled out the folded paper from Mr. Rabbit.
“The Moretti family didn't build its empire.”
He looked directly at me.
“They stole it.”
Before I could answer, a light appeared at the warehouse entrance.
A woman walked in.
Long black coat.
Dark hair.
Scar over her eyebrow.
The same woman from the photograph.
My mouth fell open.
Alessandro stared at her.
Impossible.
Emma stood.
“Mama?”
The woman smiled.
May you like
And she said:
“Hello, Nora.”
