Chapter 3 - Archive B-17Ivy barely slept.
At seven in the morning, she found a black envelope beneath her door.
Inside was a single message.
COME TO THE LIBRARY. ALONE.
No signature.
She knew exactly who had written it.
Carmine.
The library was on the second floor, lined with old books and dark wooden cabinets.
Carmine stood beside the window, drinking coffee.
“You found the key.”
Ivy froze.
“How did you know?”
“I left it where you would see it.”
“Why?”
He turned.
“Because Rocco wasn’t the real problem.”
Ivy felt cold.
“He attacked me.”
“Yes.”
“He threatened me.”
“Yes.”
“He tried to break into the kitchen.”
“I know.”
“Then what else could there be?”
Carmine placed his coffee down.
“Rocco had access to a private archive.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because three months ago, money started disappearing.”
Ivy frowned.
“How much?”
“Twenty-three million dollars.”
She stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too.”
Carmine opened a drawer.
Inside were photographs.
Invoices.
Bank transfers.
Shipping manifests.
Names.
One name appeared again and again.
Rocco.
“But he’s not smart enough to do this alone,” Carmine said.
Ivy looked at the documents.
“Who helped him?”
Carmine’s face hardened.
“That is what I’m trying to find out.”
He handed her another photograph.
It showed a group of men standing outside a warehouse.
Ivy recognized one.
“Gideon.”
Carmine watched her.
“You know him?”
“He handles accounting.”
“Yes.”
“He’s always nice to me.”
“That makes him dangerous.”
Ivy looked confused.
Carmine continued.
“People who want power rarely scream for it. They smile. They wait. They become indispensable.”
Ivy lowered the photograph.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because you were in the kitchen last night.”
“So?”
“Rocco said something to one of his men before they came after you.”
Ivy remembered.
“He said the boss shouldn’t find out.”
“What else?”
She thought.
Then remembered his exact words.
“‘She saw the package.’”
Carmine went completely still.
“What package?”
“I don’t know.”
He stepped closer.
“Think.”
“I was taking trash out.”
“Where?”
“Behind the kitchen.”
“What did you see?”
Ivy closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A black SUV.
Two men unloading wooden crates.
Rocco shouting at them.
One crate had fallen open.
Inside were dozens of sealed envelopes.
And one red folder.
She had seen a name printed across it.
“I saw a red folder.”
“What name?”
“I don’t remember.”
Carmine’s voice became dangerously soft.
“You do.”
Ivy forced herself to think.
Then it came back.
A single word.
“DeLuca.”
Carmine’s jaw tightened.
“Where was the folder?”
“In the crate.”
“And who carried it?”
“Rocco.”
Carmine turned toward the fireplace.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
“They’re not stealing from me.”
Ivy stared at him.
“They’re stealing something else.”
He looked back.
“They’re trying to replace me.”
Suddenly the library door opened.
Gideon stood there.
His face was pale.
“Boss.”
Carmine turned.
“What?”
Gideon swallowed.
“There’s a body downstairs.”
Ivy’s blood turned cold.
“Whose?”
Gideon looked at her.
Then away.
“Rocco’s.”
Carmine didn’t move.
“What?”
Gideon whispered:
“That’s the problem.”
He handed Carmine his phone.
A photograph appeared.
Rocco’s body was lying in the basement.
But there was something written on the wall above him.
May you like
Three words.
YOU TRUSTED HER.
