Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
Luca did not react the way I expected.
No shouting.
No denial.
No dramatic Italian curse.
He stood beneath a streetlight outside my apartment building and looked at Detective Vega as though she had told him tomorrow’s weather.
“Show me.”
She did not.
“Police evidence.”
“It concerns my brother.”
“That doesn’t change what it is.”
For the first time, I saw Luca angry with her.
Not explosive.
Colder.
“Marisol.”
“Don’t.”
Interesting.
Not Detective Vega.
Marisol.
Ben noticed too.
“What exactly is your relationship?”
Vega looked at him.
“Complicated.”
“Everyone’s relationships are complicated tonight.”
She turned toward Luca.
“If Matteo is involved, you need to stay away from him.”
Luca almost laughed.
“He is my brother.”
“That is precisely why.”
“Do you think he’ll confess if I send him an email?”
“I think he may kill you if he believes you know.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
I realized something.
“That’s why Maya made the video.”
Everyone looked at me.
“She didn’t send the information directly because she didn’t know who to trust.”
Vega nodded.
“Possibly.”
“Maya knows Trent.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Then I remembered.
Six months earlier, Maya’s younger brother died.
Overdose, she said.
She missed two weeks of work.
When she returned, she stopped going out after dark.
“What was her brother’s name?”
Vega asked.
“Eric Chen.”
She typed.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“Eric Chen was arrested last year.”
“For what?”
“Illegal sports book.”
Luca closed his eyes.
He knew.
“You knew him.”
“He worked for Kessler.”
I stared.
“Did he overdose?”
Luca hesitated.
“I heard he did.”
Vega said—
“Autopsy called it fentanyl intoxication.”
“Was it?”
“We never proved otherwise.”
The story began changing shape.
Maya had lost her brother to the same network Trent had entered.
She may have approached Trent deliberately.
Maybe she was trying to expose them.
Maybe she used me.
Maybe both.
Then Vega’s phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Her face hardened.
“What?”
I asked.
She turned the screen away.
“Nothing.”
“Vega.”
“Maya Chen didn’t report to work today.”
My stomach dropped.
“Did anyone call her?”
“Phone off.”
“Apartment?”
“Units are going now.”
Luca was already texting.
Vega snapped—
“Do not send your people.”
“If Matteo has her—”
“You’ll destroy evidence.”
“If Matteo has her, evidence is not my first concern.”
That sentence revealed more than anything else.
Vega looked at him.
Then lowered her voice.
“That is exactly why I told you to stay out.”
Twenty minutes later, officers entered Maya’s apartment.
Empty.
No signs of struggle.
Her laptop missing.
Passport gone.
Could mean she ran.
Could mean someone wanted it to look like she did.
At midnight, Luca insisted I leave Ben’s apartment.
I refused.
Then a bullet came through Ben’s kitchen window.
Not close to either of us.
It struck the refrigerator.
The point was not to kill.
It was to communicate.
Ben shoved me to the floor.
His body over mine.
Vega’s surveillance officer downstairs saw a motorcycle accelerate away.
After that, I stopped arguing about leaving.
Mostly.
Luca offered a property outside Lake Forest.
I said no.
Vega offered a protected hotel.
Ben said yes.
Then Vega discovered someone in her department had searched my protection request before she finished filing it.
A leak.
We chose Luca’s house.
That sentence still sounds insane.
A mafia boss’s house became the safest option because someone inside the police department might be compromised.
But life had stopped asking my permission before becoming ridiculous.
The property sat near the lake behind iron gates and trees tall enough to hide the roof.
Not a mansion.
At least not in the cartoon sense.
Large.
Stone.
Old.
Quiet.
Luca drove separately.
Two security men checked the perimeter.
Ben came with me.
Nonnegotiable.
Luca did not argue.
Another point in his favor.
Inside, I expected guns on tables and men whispering into earpieces.
Instead, the house felt like a museum nobody visited.
Books.
Dark wood.
Old photographs.
Piano.
A kitchen that looked barely used.
On a shelf near the stairs was a photograph of a young woman.
Dark hair.
Same eyes as Luca.
Elena.
I knew without asking.
He caught me looking.
“My sister.”
“She was beautiful.”
“Yes.”
He walked away.
I did not follow.
The first night, I could not sleep.
Pain.
Fear.
Every noise turned into Trent.
At 2:40 a.m., I went downstairs.
Luca sat at the kitchen table.
Sleeves rolled up.
A file open in front of him.
He looked up.
“Ribs?”
“Among other things.”
“There are pills in the cabinet.”
“I know.”
“Take them.”
I stared.
He caught himself.
“Or don’t.”
I almost smiled.
“Good correction.”
“I’m learning.”
I sat across from him.
“What is that?”
“Matteo.”
“You have a file on your brother?”
“I have files on everyone.”
“That seems healthy.”
“It isn’t.”
He closed it.
For a moment, we sat in silence.
Then I asked—
“Did you kill the man who hurt Elena?”
His eyes lifted.
Direct.
Ben would have hated the question.
Maybe I hated it too.
“I told you that you didn’t need the answer.”
“I’m deciding what I need now.”
Something almost like approval crossed his face.
“No.”
I was surprised.
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“I went to his apartment.”
My stomach tightened.
“With a gun.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Elena was still alive then.”
I stared.
“I thought—”
“She died in the hospital two days after the message.”
“Oh.”
Luca looked toward the dark window.
“I found him.”
“He cried.”
“Begged.”
“I wanted to kill him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Elena woke up once.”
His voice changed.
“She made me promise.”
“What?”
“That I wouldn’t become worse because of what happened to her.”
The silence between us felt different.
“What happened to him?”
“Prison.”
“How?”
“Evidence.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“You cooperated?”
“I gave them what they needed.”
I thought of Vega.
“That’s how you know Marisol.”
“Yes.”
“How long ago?”
“Twelve years.”
“So you’ve been helping her that long?”
“No.”
He almost smiled.
“She spent nine of those years trying to arrest me.”
“Did she?”
“Twice.”
I blinked.
“You say that casually.”
“The charges didn’t stick.”
“That is not comforting.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
I studied him.
“Are you actually a mafia boss?”
He leaned back.
“What answer makes you sleep better?”
“The true one.”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
I appreciated that more than I should have.
“What does that mean?”
“It means my family has controlled businesses that are legal and others that are not.”
“Drugs?”
“No.”
“Guns?”
“Not by my order.”
“Extortion?”
His silence answered.
“Gambling?”
“Yes.”
“Money laundering?”
“Yes.”
“Violence?”
Another silence.
I looked away.
“Okay.”
“I’m not asking you to think I’m good.”
I looked back.
“Then why are you helping police?”
“Because organizations rot.”
“That sounds philosophical.”
“It’s practical.”
He opened the file again.
“My father believed fear created loyalty.”
“Matteo believes the same.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“What do you believe?”
He looked at me.
“That people eventually betray cages.”
My breath caught.
Maybe because he was speaking about organized crime.
Maybe because I was thinking about Trent.
He continued.
“Years ago, I started moving our legitimate businesses away from everything else.”
“Matteo thought I was weakening the family.”
“So he went to D’Angelo.”
“Apparently.”
“And Trent worked for him.”
“Yes.”
“What does Maya know?”
“Enough to be in danger.”
I looked toward Elena’s photograph.
“You came because of your sister.”
“Yes.”
“Not because Trent stole from you.”
“Yes.”
“Why stay involved now?”
Luca’s eyes returned to me.
“Because the message reached me.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
My chest tightened for reasons unrelated to broken ribs.
I stood carefully.
“I should sleep.”
“Yes.”
At the doorway, he said—
“Clara.”
I turned.
“You don’t owe me anything.”
I stared.
“For saving you.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
“Why say it?”
“Because men like Trent make every kindness into debt.”
I could not speak for a second.
Then I nodded.
“Goodnight, Luca.”
“Goodnight.”
At 6:15 the next morning, shouting woke me.
Ben opened my bedroom door.
“Stay here.”
Naturally, I followed him.
Downstairs, one of Luca’s security men stood near the entrance holding a young woman by the arm.
Maya.
Her clothes were dirty.
Lip split.
Eyes terrified.
“Let go of her!”
I shouted.
Luca appeared from the study.
“Release her.”
The guard obeyed.
Maya saw me.
Her face collapsed.
“Clara.”
I moved toward her.
Ben caught my elbow gently.
“Careful.”
Maya started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where were you?”
“I ran.”
“From who?”
She looked toward Luca.
“Matteo.”
Luca’s expression became stone.
Maya continued.
“He knows about the ledger.”
“Where is it?”
Vega’s voice came from behind us.
She had arrived through the side entrance.
Maya looked at all of us.
Then at me.
“Trent gave it to Clara.”
I stared.
“No.”
“He did.”
“I never saw it.”
“You did.”
Maya started shaking.
“He hid it somewhere he knew you would never look.”
I thought of the cameras.
The search.
The coat.
The book.
“What?”
Maya whispered—
“Your medical file.”
My stomach dropped.
“What medical file?”
“The hospital envelope from last year.”
I remembered.
After a car accident the previous winter, I had kept discharge records in an envelope inside my desk.
Trent hated paperwork.
I never touched it again.
Except the apartment had been searched.
“They’ve already been inside.”
Maya shook her head.
“Not that apartment.”
“What?”
She looked at Ben.
“Clara, where did you live before Trent moved in?”
My old studio.
I had left boxes there when the building went into renovation.
The landlord stored them in a locked basement cage.
Trent hated that place.
Called it a dump.
He never helped me clear everything.
My heart pounded.
“The old apartment.”
Maya nodded.
“Trent moved the envelope there three weeks ago.”
“How do you know?”
“I helped him.”
I stared.
She cried harder.
“I was trying to get the ledger before Matteo did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought the less you knew, the safer you were.”
I almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps deciding that for me.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“You’re right.”
Vega asked—
“Where exactly?”
Maya gave the address.
Luca immediately reached for his coat.
Vega blocked him.
“No.”
“My brother will already be moving.”
“So are we.”
Luca stared at her.
Then Maya whispered—
“You don’t understand.”
Everyone turned.
“Matteo already has someone there.”
“Who?” I asked.
Maya looked at me.
“Trent.”
The room went silent.
My heart stopped.
“He’s in jail.”
Vega went pale.
She pulled out her phone.
Twenty seconds later, we had the answer.
Trent had been released four hours earlier.
A judge reduced bond after his attorney presented “new evidence” challenging the weapons charge.
Nobody had notified me yet.
I stared at Vega.
“He’s free.”
She nodded.
My hands began shaking.
Then Luca’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Matteo.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
A man’s voice came through.
Even from several feet away, I could hear the smile.
“Morning, brother.”
Luca’s face became empty.
Matteo continued.
“I have Trent.”
A pause.
“And the ledger.”
Then—
“But apparently Clara’s old landlord also has security cameras.”
My stomach dropped.
“So now I have a different problem.”
Luca’s voice went cold.
“What do you want?”
Matteo laughed.
“The girl.”
Ben stepped forward.
“Absolutely not.”
Matteo heard him.
“Ah. Brother Ben.”
My skin crawled.
Luca said—
“You’re not getting Clara.”
“Then by noon, every name in this ledger goes to D’Angelo.”
“And?”
“And D’Angelo starts killing everyone who can testify.”
Maya went white.
Matteo continued.
“Starting with her.”
May you like
The call ended.
Noon was four hours away.
