Chapter 7 - The Name Beneath the NameVincent could barely process the sight of his brother.
His entire life had been arranged around a dead man.
Now that dead man was sitting in front of him, holding Lily as if he were afraid she might disappear.
Vincent stepped closer.
“You let me mourn you.”
Daniel looked down.
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“Yes.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“And every choice got somebody killed.”
That silenced Vincent.
Daniel led them into a small underground room hidden behind the furnace.
There was a desk.
Two chairs.
A wall covered with photographs.
Names.
Dates.
Bank transfers.
Judicial records.
Newspaper clippings.
Vincent recognized several faces.
A judge.
A police commissioner.
Two senators.
A famous real estate developer.
A television anchor.
A federal prosecutor.
And his own father.
At the center of the wall was Carlo.
Below his photograph were three words.
THE SECOND KING.
Vincent pointed.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel opened a drawer.
He pulled out a key.
“Carlo was never supposed to inherit.”
“From Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Then who was?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You.”
Vincent laughed.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to Carlo.”
Daniel placed the key on the desk.
“You were your father's favorite.”
Vincent stared.
“My father barely spoke to me.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel's expression was bitter.
“He didn't trust anyone he loved.”
Vincent looked at the wall.
“What did you find in the ledger?”
“Names.”
“You said ownership.”
Daniel nodded.
“My father wasn't merely collecting debts. He was buying people.”
“With money?”
“With secrets.”
Daniel pointed toward the photographs.
“When a politician had an affair, my father paid for the silence.”
When a judge took a bribe, he kept the evidence.
When a businessman committed murder, he made the witness disappear.
When a cop stole evidence, he bought the report.
“Why?”
“Power.”
Daniel turned toward Vincent.
“Your father believed money could purchase influence.”
“And Carlo?”
“Carlo discovered something bigger.”
“What?”
Daniel's face changed.
“He discovered that the family didn't own the secrets.”
Vincent frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Someone was using the Romano organization to control the Romano organization.”
Silence.
“Who?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
“I never found out.”
Vincent looked at the wall.
“Then why is everyone after Elena?”
“Because she has the missing piece.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“A recording.”
Vincent remembered the cassette in the metal box.
He pulled it from his coat.
“This?”
Daniel's face went pale.
“Where did you get that?”
“At the house.”
Daniel stood.
“You cannot play that here.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever made that recording was not working for Carlo.”
“Who was it?”
Daniel whispered:
“Your father.”
Vincent stared at the cassette.
Daniel moved toward him.
“There are only three copies.”
“Where are the others?”
“One was destroyed.”
“One?”
“The second is with Elena.”
“And the third?”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“She took it.”
Vincent turned.
Lily looked confused.
“What?”
Daniel knelt.
“Lily.”
She looked at him.
“Do you remember the jar?”
She nodded.
“Someone put something inside it.”
Vincent's eyes widened.
“The jar.”
Daniel nodded.
“What was inside?”
“Not coins.”
Lily thought carefully.
“A little silver thing.”
“What silver thing?”
“It looked like a key.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Vincent's pulse raced.
“Where is it now?”
Lily shrugged.
“I gave it to Mom.”
Vincent turned toward Daniel.
“Where is Elena?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he said the words Vincent feared most.
“She was taken by Carlo.”
A phone rang upstairs.
Everyone froze.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Daniel looked at Vincent.
“That isn't a phone call.”
“What is it?”
May you like
Daniel whispered:
“A countdown.”
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