Chapter 7 - The Secretary Who Lied
I showed Enzo the message.
He immediately said, “No.”
Vittorio said the same thing.
For once, father and son were united.
I looked at both of them.
“You realize saying no only makes me more determined.”
Enzo stared at me.
“That isn’t charming right now.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
Elena had included an address.
An abandoned records warehouse owned by one of the Relli companies.
Thirty minutes away.
Enzo tried to get out of bed.
He nearly collapsed.
I pushed him back.
“You were shot.”
“Grazed.”
“You passed out.”
“Briefly.”
“You’re impossible.”
“So are you.”
Vittorio watched us.
“I’m beginning to understand the problem.”
“There is no problem,” we said together.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Luca arrived ten minutes later.
We made a plan.
I would go.
Not alone.
Elena simply wouldn’t know that.
A microphone was hidden beneath my sweater.
Police were informed.
Luca would be nearby.
Enzo hated every second of it.
Before I left, he caught my wrist.
“Sofia.”
I turned.
“If anything feels wrong, leave.”
“Everything has felt wrong since the hotel.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
His eyes held mine.
“Come back.”
Two words.
No command.
No threat.
A request.
“I will.”
The warehouse was dark.
Elena waited beside a metal desk.
She looked terrified.
Not dangerous.
“Sofia.”
“Why did you run?”
“Because Matteo will kill me.”
“You worked for him.”
“I worked for him because he threatened my brother.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
At least that was honest.
She placed a ledger on the desk.
“This belonged to Enzo’s mother.”
I stared at it.
“Where did you get it?”
“Matteo kept it.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s a page missing.”
I opened the ledger.
Numbers.
Dates.
Transfers.
Then a torn section.
“What was on it?”
“The name of the person who helped him.”
“You?”
“I was fourteen.”
Fair point.
“Who?”
Elena began crying.
“My father.”
I froze.
Her father had been Vittorio’s driver.
He died twelve years ago.
“He helped Matteo get into room 307,” she said. “But he didn’t know Matteo planned to kill her. Afterward, he kept evidence.”
“Where?”
Elena looked toward the door.
“He gave it to me before he died.”
“Why didn’t you tell Enzo?”
“Because Matteo found me first.”
A sound came from the shadows.
Applause.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Matteo stepped forward.
“You always did talk too much, Elena.”
She went white.
I backed away.
Matteo held a gun.
“Your microphone won’t help.”
My stomach dropped.
He pointed toward the ceiling.
A signal jammer.
“You expected me.”
“I expected Enzo.”
“He’s in the hospital.”
“I know.”
His smile frightened me.
“I also know he won’t stay there once he discovers you’re missing.”
“You wanted me to come.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Enzo has finally become exactly like his father.”
I said nothing.
“He loves someone.”
My heart stopped.
Matteo smiled.
“And men like Enzo become stupid when they love.”
The warehouse door exploded inward.
Enzo entered.
Hospital clothes beneath a dark coat.
Gun in hand.
I had never been so angry and relieved at the same time.
“You idiot,” I whispered.
His eyes found mine.
Alive.
Unhurt.
Then Matteo aimed at him.
“Drop it.”
Enzo did.
Immediately.
Matteo laughed.
“There. Proof.”
Enzo ignored him.
“Sofia, are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then everything else is manageable.”
Matteo’s smile faded.
“You sound like your father.”
“No.”
Enzo looked at me.
“I’m trying very hard not to.”
Police sirens approached.
The jammer had failed.
Or Luca had found another way.
Matteo grabbed Elena.
She screamed.
He dragged her toward a side exit.
Enzo moved.
A gunshot exploded.
Matteo fell.
The weapon skidded across the concrete.
Luca stood in the doorway.
Police flooded the warehouse.
Elena collapsed, sobbing.
Matteo was alive.
Wounded.
Finished.
At least I thought he was.
Then an officer opened the ledger Elena had brought.
Something slipped from inside the back cover.
A sealed envelope.
Written across the front were four words.
FOR ENZO, FROM YOUR MOTHER.
May you like
Enzo stared at it.
His hands began to shake.
