Chapter 7 - The House Stella Hadn't Entered in Seven Years
Stella had not crossed the front gate of her mother's house since the funeral.
After Evelyn Marlowe died, the property had become tangled in probate.
Eventually Stella and Lily rented it to a retired couple who moved away the previous winter.
The house had remained vacant ever since.
Why Matteo Russo would choose it made no sense.
Unless he knew more about Stella than she understood.
“You aren't going,” Jonah said.
Stella looked at him.
“You heard the part where it says without you.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So the answer is still no.”
Her expression hardened.
“You said you don't decide for me.”
“Correct.”
“You just did.”
Jonah closed his eyes briefly.
“Fine.”
He corrected himself.
“I strongly believe going alone is dangerous.”
“Better.”
Lucas muttered, “This is going to be a long night.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Nobody goes alone. We surveil the house.”
“The message says—”
“The message doesn't outrank common sense,” Mara said.
Stella almost smiled.
Thirty minutes later, unmarked cars surrounded the neighborhood from a distance.
No visible police.
No Pierce security beside Stella.
She drove Elena's borrowed sedan herself.
A tiny microphone was hidden beneath her collar.
Mara listened from two blocks away.
Jonah sat beside her in the command vehicle.
“You hate this,” Mara said.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Jonah looked at her.
“Do you enjoy my discomfort?”
“Professionally.”
Stella parked.
Her childhood home looked smaller than she remembered.
White porch.
Green shutters.
Her mother had planted roses beside the steps.
They were overgrown now.
The front door stood slightly open.
Stella entered.
“Matteo?”
No answer.
She stepped into the living room.
Dust covered the furniture sheets.
Memories crowded every corner.
Christmas mornings.
Lily learning piano.
Her mother drinking tea by the window.
“Matteo?”
A sound upstairs.
Stella froze.
Then a weak voice.
“Kitchen.”
She followed it.
Matteo sat on the floor against the cabinets.
His face was bruised.
One eye swollen.
Blood stained the collar of his shirt, but he was conscious.
“You came.”
“You threatened my sister.”
“No.”
“You took her.”
“I moved her.”
“That is not better.”
He winced.
“I needed Pierce to find the warehouse.”
“Why?”
“Because Dean would've destroyed everything.”
Stella stared.
“You've been working with Dean.”
“Yes.”
“Against Jonah?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Matteo laughed weakly.
“That question takes longer.”
“Try.”
He gestured toward the chair.
Stella remained standing.
“Northline started as a laundering operation.”
“For Jonah?”
“No.”
“For you?”
“For people above Dean.”
“Who?”
“Councilmen. inspectors. developers.”
“Jonah's name is on the ledger.”
“One lie.”
Stella stopped breathing.
“Jonah?”
Matteo shook his head.
“Not Jonah.”
Her relief came too quickly.
She hated noticing it.
“Then who?”
Matteo looked directly at her.
“Harold Bennett.”
Mara heard every word through the microphone.
Her face went pale.
Jonah looked at her.
Matteo continued.
“Bennett wasn't corrupt.”
Stella asked, “Then why frame him?”
“To control Mara.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Stella asked the same.
“Dean has people inside the department,” Matteo said. “They needed Detective Bennett doubting herself. If she discovered Janus, she'd waste time investigating her father.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Jonah said nothing.
Stella leaned against the counter.
“Why is Jonah's payment real?”
Matteo nodded.
“Because he paid Northline.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
“You said he didn't know.”
“He didn't know what Northline was.”
Matteo coughed.
“Those were insurance premiums routed through a broker we compromised. Legitimate payments redirected into Northline.”
“So Jonah wasn't taking money.”
“No. He was losing it.”
Stella swallowed.
“Then Dean stole from him.”
“Dean stole from everyone.”
“Why help him?”
Matteo's face twisted.
“Because my son owed people money.”
Jonah became still in the surveillance van.
Matteo had a son.
Anthony.
Twenty-eight.
Gambling problems.
Jonah knew some of it.
Not all.
“Dean found out,” Matteo continued. “He paid the debt. Then he owned me.”
Stella's eyes softened despite herself.
“For how long?”
“Eighteen months.”
“Why not tell Jonah?”
“You don't tell Jonah Pierce you betrayed him and hope for forgiveness.”
Stella thought about the man who had stopped himself from touching her arm because she flinched.
“You might be surprised.”
Matteo looked at her.
“So was I.”
“What?”
“He could've killed me last night.”
“He wasn't there when you were hurt.”
“I know.”
“Dean did that?”
Matteo nodded.
“Dean thinks I gave you the flash drive.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted out.”
Stella crossed her arms.
“You burned my apartment?”
“No.”
“Dean?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“He called me while it burned.”
Rage moved through her.
Not fear.
Rage.
A new emotion.
“What does Dean want now?”
“Everything erased.”
“He can't erase federal copies.”
“No.”
Matteo looked at the window.
“So now he wants leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“You.”
Stella laughed bitterly.
“He already had me.”
“Not anymore.”
The words struck her.
Matteo continued.
“And that makes you dangerous.”
“To Dean?”
“To everyone connected to Northline.”
Stella heard a car outside.
Matteo's eyes widened.
“Did you bring Pierce?”
“No.”
“Police?”
She didn't answer.
“Damn it.”
The porch boards creaked.
Stella stepped backward.
Mara spoke into the radio.
“Teams hold.”
Jonah looked at her.
“Why?”
“We don't know who entered.”
The kitchen doorway darkened.
A man appeared.
Not Dean.
Not Jonah.
Stella recognized him from television.
Councilman Peter Vale.
Chairman of the city's transportation committee.
He smiled.
“Ms. Marlowe.”
Matteo whispered, “Run.”
Vale pulled a handgun.
In the surveillance van, Jonah stood.
Mara grabbed his coat.
“Stay.”
“He has a gun.”
“So do my officers.”
Inside, Stella froze.
Vale pointed the weapon toward Matteo.
“You should've stayed loyal.”
Matteo laughed despite his injuries.
“To which criminal?”
Vale's smile disappeared.
Stella slowly stepped sideways.
Vale noticed.
“Don't.”
She stopped.
“You're going to shoot us?”
“No.”
Vale sounded almost offended.
“That would be messy.”
He removed a small bottle from his coat.
“House fire.”
Stella's face drained.
“Again?”
“You were supposed to be inside the first one.”
That sentence changed everything.
Stella's fear evaporated beneath something hotter.
“You tried to kill me.”
Vale's expression remained indifferent.
“You became inconvenient.”
Matteo whispered, “Stella…”
She looked toward him.
Then threw the nearest object.
A ceramic bowl.
It struck Vale's wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Police exploded through two doors.
“DROP THE WEAPON!”
Vale turned.
Too late.
He was forced to the floor.
Stella stumbled backward into the counter.
Outside, Jonah ignored Mara and ran toward the house.
By the time he entered, Vale was handcuffed.
Matteo was being treated.
Stella stood shaking in the kitchen.
Jonah stopped several feet away.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
Then shook her head.
Then, without thinking, crossed the distance and wrapped her arms around him.
Jonah froze.
Not because he didn't want to hold her.
Because he wanted her to choose it.
When Stella didn't let go, he carefully put one arm around her shoulders.
Her face pressed against his chest.
“I hate this,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“I hate being scared.”
“I know.”
“I want it over.”
Jonah looked over her head at Vale being taken outside.
“It just moved much closer.”
But Matteo heard them.
He grabbed Lucas's sleeve.
“No.”
Lucas bent down.
“What?”
Matteo's voice became urgent.
“Vale isn't Janus.”
“Then who is?”
Matteo stared toward Stella.
“Janus is the person Dean is protecting.”
“Name.”
Matteo shook his head.
“I don't know the real name.”
“Then what do you know?”
Matteo's next words silenced the room.
“Janus has been inside Pierce's organization for fifteen years.”
Jonah slowly turned.
Matteo looked directly at him.
“Someone closer to you than I ever was.”
May you like
And suddenly the betrayal went deeper than Dean, deeper than Northline, and deeper than any of them had imagined.
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