Chapter 5 - The ShotAdrian moved before the second shot.
He reached the back room and found Emma frozen beside her bed.
“Come here.”
She ran into his arms.
Sophia followed.
“What's happening?”
“Get down.”
The diner windows shattered.
Glass exploded across the floor.
Adrian covered Emma with his body.
Lucas rushed through the front door with his weapon drawn.
“Boss!”
“Is Sophia hurt?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the broken window.
“Shooter?”
“Gone.”
He crouched.
A small metal fragment lay beside the booth.
Not a bullet.
A cartridge casing.
Lucas picked it up.
His face changed.
“What?”
“This isn't ours.”
“What is it?”
Lucas hesitated.
“Military issue.”
Adrian stared at him.
“Who has access?”
“Too many people.”
“Graham?”
“Possibly.”
Adrian stood.
Emma was crying.
He knelt.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Did you see anything?”
She wiped her cheeks.
“The man outside.”
“What man?”
“The silver ring.”
Adrian and Lucas exchanged looks.
“What did he do?”
“He looked at me.”
“Anything else?”
Emma nodded.
“He said, ‘Tell your mother she should have kept the money.’”
Sophia went pale.
Adrian rose.
“Lucas.”
“Yes?”
“Take them somewhere safe.”
Sophia immediately stepped forward.
“No.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You need protection.”
“No.”
“You just had a gun fired at your diner.”
“Because of you.”
The words stopped him.
Sophia's voice shook.
“Before you came here, nobody cared about us.”
Adrian looked at Emma.
She was clutching the blue notebook.
“Emma,” he said quietly, “why are you holding that?”
She looked down.
“I found it in my coloring box.”
“Did anyone put it there?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian crouched.
“Did your father give it to you?”
Emma hesitated.
“Yes.”
Sophia turned sharply.
“Emma!”
“He gave it to me before he disappeared.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
Emma whispered:
“He told me to give it to the man who came back.”
Adrian stared.
“What man?”
“The man who would return.”
“What did he look like?”
Emma thought.
“He was tall.”
“Like me?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She pointed toward the broken window.
“The man with the silver ring.”
Adrian's blood ran cold.
“He told me that if you found the notebook, you should ask him where your father was.”
Sophia rushed to Emma.
“Stop.”
But Adrian was already thinking.
Graham had arrived too quickly.
The shooting had happened too precisely.
Someone knew Adrian had found the ledger.
Someone knew Emma had it.
Someone knew Sophia had spoken.
And someone had given Emma instructions years ago.
This was bigger than stolen money.
Much bigger.
Lucas stepped closer.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We ran the shell accounts.”
“And?”
“They were all opened twenty-one years ago.”
Adrian stared.
“By whom?”
Lucas looked at him.
“Your father.”
Adrian felt the room tilt.
His father had been dead for two decades.
Yet every trail led back to him.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Adrian answered.
“Moretti.”
A distorted voice spoke.
“Your daughter did exactly what Daniel hoped she would.”
Adrian's hand tightened around the phone.
“Who are you?”
A soft laugh.
“Ask your father.”
“He's dead.”
“No.”
The voice paused.
“He was the first man betrayed.”
The call ended.
Adrian looked at Sophia.
She was crying.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
“You know that voice,” Adrian said.
May you like
Sophia nodded.
“I heard it the night Daniel disappeared.”
