Chapter 11 - THE DAUGHTER NO ONE KNEW EXISTED
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Her name was Eva.
She was eleven years old.
And Lorenzo had never known she existed.
Carlo sat inside the back seat of the Range Rover while rain streaked the windows.
Naomi sat beside him.
Lorenzo drove.
Nobody spoke for the first five minutes.
Then Naomi asked the only question that mattered.
“Where is she?”
Carlo stared through the glass.
“Boarding school outside Oxford.”
Lorenzo’s hands tightened on the wheel.
“You sent your daughter to a school and never told me.”
“She uses Mara’s surname.”
“Why?”
“To keep her away from this.”
Lorenzo looked at him in the mirror.
“And now Shaw knows.”
Carlo nodded.
Naomi studied him.
“Does Eva know who you are?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know what you do?”
“No.”
“What does she think?”
“That I work international security.”
Lorenzo muttered, “Technically true.”
Nobody laughed.
The location Stefan had sent led to a warehouse near Hackney Wick.
They arrived with six men.
Inside, they found blood.
A broken phone.
Two spent cartridges.
No body.
No Stefan.
Naomi crouched beside the phone.
“He got away?”
“Maybe,” Lorenzo said.
Carlo examined the blood.
“Not much.”
Then one of Lorenzo’s men called from the back room.
“Boss.”
They entered.
A chair stood beneath a hanging light.
On it sat a school photograph.
Eva.
Eleven.
Dark hair.
Serious eyes.
Mara’s face.
Carlo stopped breathing.
A note was taped beneath the photo.
TWELVE HOURS.
BRING THE LEDGER.
Lorenzo looked at Carlo.
“What ledger?”
Carlo did not answer.
Lorenzo grabbed his coat.
“What ledger?”
Naomi touched Lorenzo’s arm.
“Let him speak.”
Carlo looked at the photograph.
“Mara’s evidence.”
“You kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Safe deposit box.”
Naomi stared at him.
“You’ve had evidence against Shaw for six years.”
Carlo nodded.
“And never used it.”
“If I released it, everybody named in those files would come after Eva.”
Lorenzo’s anger became something colder.
“You let me fight Shaw blind for six years.”
“I protected my daughter.”
“You could have trusted me.”
Carlo finally snapped.
“With what?”
The words echoed.
Lorenzo stared.
Carlo’s voice cracked.
“With Mara? With Eva? With the fact that I killed a man for revenge? You think I watched what Mateo did and never wondered whether this life turns every person near you into a target?”
Naomi stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both men fell silent.
“Eva has twelve hours.”
That brought them back.
The ledger was stored in Zurich.
Physical copies.
Mara had refused digital storage.
Carlo could access the box only in person.
It would take too long.
Lorenzo looked at him.
“Copies?”
“One.”
“Where?”
Carlo hesitated.
Naomi almost laughed.
“Please tell me you didn’t hide another life-changing secret.”
Carlo looked at her.
“Sophia has it.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
“Of course she does.”
Sophia answered on video from Toronto.
Her shoulder was still recovering.
Carlo explained.
She listened silently.
Then she said, “You told me never to open that envelope.”
“I know.”
“I moved it.”
Carlo went pale.
“Where?”
“London.”
Lorenzo stared at the screen.
“What?”
“When I came for the board meeting, I brought it back. It’s at the Chelsea house.”
Everybody looked at Lorenzo.
His main house.
The one Shaw’s people had watched before.
The one Lorenzo rarely used now.
Naomi spoke first.
“He knows.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“That’s why he gave us twelve hours.”
Carlo understood.
“The ledger is bait.”
“And Eva is leverage.”
They returned to Chelsea after dark.
No lights.
No movement.
Carlo wanted to rush inside.
Lorenzo stopped him.
“Think.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“And if Shaw expects you to run through that door, you die before you reach the stairs.”
Carlo glared.
Naomi grabbed his hand.
“Eva needs you alive.”
That worked.
They entered through the rear service entrance.
Clear.
Kitchen.
Clear.
Hallway.
Clear.
Lorenzo led.
Naomi followed behind Carlo despite Lorenzo’s objections.
He had stopped trying to leave her behind.
Mostly.
The safe behind the library painting was open.
Empty.
Carlo swore.
Then a phone rang.
An old landline.
Nobody moved.
Lorenzo answered.
Shaw.
“You disappoint me.”
Lorenzo’s voice stayed calm.
“People say that.”
“You should have come alone.”
“You should have kidnapped someone less important.”
Shaw laughed.
“Everybody is important once you know the right pressure point.”
Carlo stepped closer.
“Where’s Eva?”
Shaw heard him.
“Carlo.”
His tone changed.
Almost warm.
“I wondered when you’d finally tell Lorenzo the truth.”
“You touch her—”
“Mara used to say the same thing.”
Carlo froze.
Naomi felt sick.
Shaw continued.
“She was brave.”
Carlo’s face turned white.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
Lorenzo stared.
Carlo gripped the phone cord.
“What?”
“I ordered her watched.”
Shaw spoke calmly.
“I wanted the ledger returned.”
“Liar.”
“The crash was not mine.”
Carlo’s breathing became ragged.
“Then whose?”
A pause.
Shaw answered.
“Mateo Russo.”
Silence.
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
Even dead, Mateo kept returning.
Shaw continued.
“Mateo worked for me longer than you realized. Mara discovered his name in the payment records. He panicked.”
Carlo looked at Lorenzo.
Everything rearranged itself.
Mateo had not started betraying Lorenzo two years ago.
It had begun much earlier.
Shaw’s voice sharpened.
“Now bring me the ledger.”
“It’s gone,” Lorenzo said.
“I know.”
“Then why take Eva?”
“Because Naomi has something else I want.”
Naomi stepped closer.
“What?”
Shaw went quiet.
Then said:
“Your grandfather’s account book.”
Naomi frowned.
“Antonio’s?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in custody.”
“Which means he cannot stop you from finding it.”
“I don’t know where it is.”
Shaw laughed.
“Your mother did.”
The line disconnected.
Lorenzo looked at Naomi.
She was already thinking about the blue box.
The letters.
The crucifix.
The cassette.
The family photographs.
One photograph had been different.
Her mother standing outside a small church.
Naples.
Behind her, written in pen:
WHERE EVERYTHING BEGAN.
May you like
Naomi looked at Lorenzo.
“I think I know where the book is.”
