Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Z
Carlo did not believe them.
“No.”
His voice came through the encrypted call from London.
Naomi sat in the jet beside Lorenzo with the ledger on the table.
“She was a protected witness.”
“No.”
“Carlo—”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“She worked compliance.”
Lorenzo looked at the photograph again.
“Maybe both.”
Carlo went silent.
Lorenzo continued.
“She could have been placed inside Shaw’s company.”
Carlo breathed heavily.
“Who told you this?”
“Harcourt.”
Carlo laughed bitterly.
“And we trust him now?”
“No.”
Naomi answered.
“But the photograph is real.”
She had verified the police evidence number through one of the foundation’s legal contacts.
Mara had existed under a sealed witness file.
That was all they knew.
Carlo whispered, “Why wouldn’t she tell me?”
Naomi understood the question beneath the question.
Did Mara ever trust him?
“We don’t know.”
Lorenzo closed the ledger.
“We find out.”
By the time they landed, Carlo had disappeared.
Naomi stared at the empty apartment.
“He went after Shaw.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Of course he did.”
“Can we stop producing men who solve feelings with firearms?”
“No.”
“At least you’re honest.”
They traced Carlo’s vehicle toward Essex.
His phone had been switched off.
At seven thirty in the evening, Shaw contacted Lorenzo.
A video call.
Declan Shaw sat beside a fireplace.
Carlo stood behind him.
Alive.
Not restrained.
Naomi stared.
Lorenzo’s expression darkened.
“What is this?”
Carlo stepped forward.
“I went to him.”
“You what?”
“I needed answers.”
Shaw lifted a glass.
“He asked nicely.”
Lorenzo looked ready to break the screen.
Naomi touched his wrist.
“Carlo, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“That is not a location.”
Carlo ignored it.
“Shaw has Mara’s original file.”
Lorenzo stared at Declan.
“Why?”
Shaw answered.
“Because Mara came to me before she died.”
Carlo’s eyes were red.
Naomi whispered, “She was investigating you.”
“Initially.”
Shaw leaned back.
“She thought I controlled the corruption network.”
“You didn’t?”
“Not all of it.”
He looked at Lorenzo.
“Your father did.”
Silence.
Lorenzo’s face changed.
Naomi turned toward him.
Shaw continued.
“Giovanni built the original intelligence exchange decades ago. Names, police files, witness locations, customs schedules.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“No.”
“You know what your father was.”
“Not that.”
“Are you sure?”
The question hurt because Lorenzo was not.
His father had been brutal.
Secretive.
Powerful enough that politicians returned his calls.
Lorenzo had spent years avoiding the full truth about where that influence came from.
Naomi asked, “What does this have to do with Mateo?”
Shaw set down the glass.
“Mateo found the old network.”
“When?”
“About eight years ago.”
Before Mara died.
Before Naomi ever met him.
“Mateo rebuilt it,” Shaw continued. “Started selling information again.”
Carlo looked at Lorenzo through the screen.
“Mara found him.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
Everything fit.
Mara had uncovered Mateo’s operation.
Mateo killed her.
Then spent years expanding the network.
The missing guns.
The stolen routes.
The Canadian contacts.
Naomi’s identity.
All pieces of something larger.
Shaw continued.
“When Mara came to me, she offered evidence in exchange for protection.”
“You failed,” Carlo said.
Shaw’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
The admission silenced everyone.
Carlo looked away.
Shaw continued.
“I moved her twice. Mateo found her anyway.”
Naomi asked, “Why save Amaya?”
“Because Mateo wanted her dead.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew she would eventually lead Lorenzo to you.”
Naomi felt sick.
“So you were protecting me?”
“No.”
Shaw’s honesty was almost refreshing.
“I was protecting the ledger.”
Lorenzo laughed once.
“There he is.”
Shaw ignored him.
“The ledger connects the old network to people still in power.”
“Harcourt?”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Shaw looked toward Carlo.
“People who would rather burn London than let those names become public.”
Naomi opened Antonio’s book.
“So what do we do?”
Shaw’s answer came quickly.
“Destroy it.”
Lorenzo stared.
“You want us to destroy the only evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if you expose it, the network panics.”
“And?”
“Hundreds of people disappear.”
Naomi frowned.
“What people?”
“Witnesses. informants. families.”
Shaw leaned toward the camera.
“People whose names are connected to the records.”
Naomi looked down.
The book was not just evidence.
It was a map to vulnerable people.
Carlo asked, “Then how do we stop them?”
Shaw looked at Lorenzo.
“You don’t.”
Lorenzo smiled without humor.
“Wrong answer.”
Shaw sighed.
“This is why your father never trusted you with the network.”
Lorenzo froze.
Naomi looked at him.
Shaw realized what he had said.
Too late.
Lorenzo’s voice dropped.
“You knew my father.”
Shaw said nothing.
“How well?”
Another silence.
Then Shaw stood.
“Carlo can leave whenever he wants.”
The call ended.
Lorenzo stared at the dark screen.
Naomi knew that expression.
Another secret.
Another door.
Another piece of his father’s life.
She sat beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
He looked at her.
A faint smile.
Then the front door opened.
Carlo entered.
Alone.
He looked exhausted.
He placed a folder on the table.
“Mara’s file.”
Naomi stood.
Carlo opened it.
Inside was a handwritten statement.
The first page began:
MY NAME IS MARA COSTA.
IF THIS IS BEING READ, I AM PROBABLY DEAD.
Carlo sat down.
His hands shook.
Lorenzo began reading.
Halfway down page three, he stopped.
Naomi leaned closer.
A name had been underlined twice.
GIOVANNI DELUCA.
Beneath it:
DECLAN SHAW - BIOLOGICAL SON.
Nobody spoke.
Carlo looked at Lorenzo.
Naomi covered her mouth.
Because if Mara’s file was true—
May you like
Declan Shaw was not merely Lorenzo’s enemy.
He was his brother.
