Chapter 3 - The Blood on the Emerald
The silence in the study was absolute, suffocating in its intensity.
I stared at Vanessa, the throbbing pain in my ankle completely forgotten. The digital access key.
Luca lowered his gun a fraction of an inch, his face a mask of terrifying disbelief. "What did you just say?"
Vanessa was trembling uncontrollably now, her pristine white trench coat pooling around her on the floor. "The emerald, Luca. The center emerald on your mother’s necklace. It isn't just a jewel. It’s a micro-engraved data drive. Arthur told me."
"That's impossible," Luca said, his voice raw. "My mother wore that necklace for twenty years."
"She wore a decoy," Vanessa cried, tears ruining her perfect makeup. "Your father had the real one made before he died. He hid the offshore account codes inside the stone. Two hundred million dollars, Luca. Untraceable. Arthur found out about it last week. That's why he needed me to swap it for a fake in the safe!"
Luca staggered back slightly, as if he had been physically struck.
His mother’s sacred heirloom. The symbol of the Moretti legacy. His father had turned it into a digital vault for dirty money.
"Two hundred million," Luca whispered. He looked at Vanessa, his dark eyes turning entirely black. "And you helped him steal it."
"He said he would give me a cut!" Vanessa pleaded, scrambling backward. "He said we could run! You were never going to marry me, Luca! You look at me like I'm a business transaction!"
"You are a business transaction," Luca snarled, raising the gun again. "And your contract is terminated."
"Luca, wait!" I shouted, standing up despite the agonizing pain in my foot.
Luca didn't pull the trigger, but he didn't look at me either. "Stay out of this, Hannah."
"If Arthur is leaving the country tonight, he’s taking Leo," I said rapidly, leaning heavily against the desk. "Leo is the only courier who drives the armored transport cars. They have GPS trackers, but Leo knows how to disable them."
Luca’s jaw clenched. "I know."
"But he doesn't know how to disable the secondary tracker," I blurted out.
Luca finally turned his head to look at me. "What secondary tracker?"
"I... I handle the maintenance logs for the estate fleet," I admitted, my voice shaking. "Two weeks ago, the primary GPS on the armored SUV glitched. I had the mechanic install a secondary, hidden tracker in the rear bumper. Leo wasn't here when it was installed. He doesn't know it exists."
Luca stared at me. The ruthless mafia boss looked at the twenty-eight-year-old maid with a newfound, profound respect.
"Can you access it?" Luca asked.
"I have the app on my phone," I nodded, pulling my cheap, cracked smartphone from my apron pocket.
I opened the fleet tracking app. My fingers trembled as I tapped the screen. A map of Chicago appeared, a single red dot blinking brightly.
"He’s not at the airport," I breathed, staring at the screen.
"Where is he?" Luca demanded, stepping beside me to look.
"He’s at the private airfield in Gary, Indiana," I said. "It’s a thirty-minute drive. He’s leaving right now."
Luca didn't waste another second. He grabbed his phone. "Daniel. Get the strike team. We’re going to Gary. Now."
He turned to the two security guards standing in the hallway outside the study. "Take Miss Bellini to the basement. Tie her to a chair. If I don't come back, shoot her."
Vanessa screamed, thrashing wildly as the guards dragged her away. "Luca! You can't do this! I'll tell them! I'll tell them everything!"
The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off her hysterical threats.
Luca holstered his weapon and turned to me. He looked at my wrapped ankle, then at my pale face.
"I need you to stay here, Hannah," Luca said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Lock the study door. Don't let anyone in except Daniel."
"Take my phone," I offered, holding it out. "You need to track him."
Luca took the phone, his large hand brushing against mine. "You did good tonight. You saved this family."
"I just wanted to do my job, sir," I whispered.
Luca offered a small, grim smile. "I think you're due for a promotion."
He turned and sprinted out of the study.
I locked the heavy mahogany doors behind him, collapsing back into the leather chair. The silence of the massive room was deafening. I was alone in a mafia boss's study, having just exposed a multi-million dollar coup.
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 11:45 PM.
Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen.
Suddenly, the secure landline on Luca's desk began to ring.
I jumped, staring at the flashing red light. I shouldn't answer it. It wasn't my place.
But it kept ringing. A sharp, urgent, terrifying sound.
I slowly stood up, ignoring the throbbing in my ankle, and reached across the desk. I picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"Luca?" a voice crackled through the speaker. It was a man, breathing heavily.
"Mr. Moretti isn't here," I said quickly. "Who is this?"
"Where is he?" the man demanded, coughing violently. "Is he on his way to Gary?"
My blood ran cold. "Who is this?" I demanded again.
"This is Arthur," the voice said.
I froze. Arthur Moretti. The man who had orchestrated the entire coup.
"Why are you calling here?" I asked, panic rising in my throat.
"Because I didn't take the necklace, you stupid girl," Arthur gasped, sounding like he was in immense pain. "Leo did."
I stared at the phone in horror. "What do you mean?"
"Leo betrayed me," Arthur coughed, a wet, sickening sound. "He shot me. He took the necklace and the drive. He’s going to sell the access codes to the Russians."
"But the tracker shows he's at the airfield," I argued, trying to make sense of the chaos.
"He is," Arthur wheezed. "But he's not flying out. The airfield is a trap. He called the Feds, girl. The FBI is waiting for Luca at the hangar."
The room spun.
Leo hadn't just stolen the money. He had set a trap to eliminate the entire Moretti leadership in one swoop. He was handing Luca over to the FBI, framing him for the stolen offshore accounts.
"I have to call him," I panicked, reaching for my pocket before remembering Luca had my phone.
"You can't call him," Arthur laughed weakly. "Leo jammed the cell signals around the airfield. Luca is driving into a federal ambush right now."
"Why are you telling me this?" I demanded, tears of frustration spilling down my cheeks.
"Because Leo left me to bleed out in a ditch," Arthur spat. "And because I know something he doesn't."
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"What?"
"The necklace Leo took is a fake," Arthur whispered. "The real one is still inside the mansion. And I know exactly who has it."
