Chapter 5 - The Truth About the Bridge
Tessa sat across from me.
Her hands trembled.
I had never seen them tremble before.
“I was nineteen,” she said.
“My father picked me up from work. He said we were leaving Boston.”
“Why?”
“He knew Victor had discovered what he'd done.”
She swallowed.
“We reached the bridge. A car started following us.”
“Victor?”
“I never saw the driver.”
“What happened?”
“My father told me to get down.”
She stared at the floor.
“The car hit us.”
Once.
Twice.
Then Samuel lost control.
“Our car went through the barrier.”
My jaw tightened.
“You were inside when it went into the river?”
“Yes.”
“How did nobody know?”
“I got out before it sank.”
She touched her ribs unconsciously.
“My father didn't.”
I looked away.
“Tessa…”
“A fisherman found me downstream. I was terrified. My father had told me that if anything happened, I couldn't trust anyone until I knew who had betrayed him.”
“So you disappeared.”
“I used my mother's maiden name for a while. Eventually, Arthur told me Victor had vanished.”
“And you came to me.”
She nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know if you were involved.”
The answer hurt.
But it was fair.
“When did you decide I wasn't?”
Tessa almost smiled.
“My second week.”
“That quickly?”
“You fired a contractor for cheating one of the gardeners out of eighty dollars.”
I frowned.
“I remember him.”
“You threatened to destroy his company.”
“He was annoying.”
“You gave the gardener eight hundred dollars afterward.”
“He had eight children.”
“Six.”
“Still too many.”
Tessa smiled.
Then it vanished.
“I realized my father had been right about you.”
Brendan entered.
“We found Victor.”
“Where?”
“He owns an abandoned waterfront warehouse through a shell company.”
I stood.
Tessa did too.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“No?”
“You're going there.”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“No.”
“Those documents are mine.”
“And the armed men are his.”
“I spent six years hiding.”
Her voice sharpened.
“I am finished hiding.”
“Tessa—”
“My father died because Victor believed fear would keep people silent.”
She stepped closer.
“If I hide again, he was right.”
I stared at her.
Four years ago, she couldn't look me in the eye.
Now she stood inches from me and refused to blink.
“Stay behind Brendan.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“I'll stay behind you.”
I sighed.
“That's somehow worse.”
We didn't go to the warehouse blindly.
I sent the documents to my attorney with instructions to deliver copies to federal investigators if I didn't call within an hour.
Then we went.
Victor stood inside the warehouse beneath a single hanging light.
Older.
Thinner.
Still smiling.
“Luca.”
“Victor.”
His eyes moved to Tessa.
“Samuel's little girl.”
Tessa didn't move.
“You remember me?”
Victor smiled.
“I remember the bridge.”
My hands curled.
Tessa touched my arm.
A tiny warning.
Don't.
She stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Victor shrugged.
“Your father made a choice.”
“To expose you.”
“To betray his employer.”
I spoke.
“I was his employer.”
Victor looked at me.
“That was always your problem. You thought the family belonged to you.”
“No.”
I rolled my sleeve slightly, exposing the black ink running across my forearm—the marks of a past Victor knew very well.
“I thought family meant you didn't murder it.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Give me the documents.”
“They're already gone.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Copies were sent out before we arrived.”
For the first time, Victor looked frightened.
“You're bluffing.”
Tessa spoke.
“My father taught me never to keep only one copy.”
Victor stared at her.
Then he reached inside his coat.
Brendan moved faster.
“Don't.”
Victor froze.
Red laser dots appeared across his chest from my men positioned above.
I walked toward him.
“You wanted me here.”
Victor's hand slowly came away from his coat.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His smile returned.
“Because Samuel didn't have everything.”
“What was missing?”
“The name of the person who ordered his death.”
Tessa went pale.
“You hit the car.”
“Yes.”
“But someone else told you to.”
Victor nodded.
I felt the trap before he spoke.
Then he said the name.
“Your father, Luca.”
Silence.
Tessa stared at me.
I stared at Victor.
Then I laughed.
Victor frowned.
“What's funny?”
“You've always been a bad liar.”
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
I reached into my jacket.
“But Samuel did.”
I pressed play on the recorder.
Samuel's voice filled the warehouse.
Carlo knows what Victor has done. He instructed me to prepare the records and promised protection for Tessa.
Victor's face collapsed.
I stopped the recording.
“My father knew.”
Victor said nothing.
“He was helping Samuel.”
I stepped closer.
“Which means you weren't only stealing from my father.”
Victor backed away.
“You were preparing to destroy him.”
Police sirens approached outside.
Victor stared at me.
“You called the police?”
“Federal agents.”
His expression was almost comical.
“You've become respectable.”
“Don't insult me.”
Tessa laughed unexpectedly.
Victor looked at her.
“You think this is over?”
Tessa met his eyes.
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“But my part is.”
Agents flooded the warehouse.
For the first time in six years, Tessa watched Victor Moretti leave in handcuffs.
May you like
And for the first time since I had known her, she didn't look afraid.
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