What Luca Knew Before James Died
Chapter 05 - What Luca Knew Before James Died
Claire asked everyone to leave the federal interview room except Luca.
Mara Ellis looked at her.
“You sure?”
“No.”
That was the truth.
“But I want the answer from him.”
Mara nodded.
The door closed.
Luca sat across from Claire beneath fluorescent lights that made expensive men look ordinary.
He did not try to move closer.
Good.
“My mother said you knew Angelo threatened my father.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I heard them.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before James died.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“Where?”
“My father’s office.”
“How old were you?”
“Twenty-four.”
Not a child.
Not yet the man he became.
“What did Angelo say?”
Luca stared at the table.
“That James should take the money and leave Chicago.”
“What money?”
“The one hundred thousand Gabriel mentioned.”
“So my father returned it.”
“Yes.”
“And Angelo threatened him after.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
Luca breathed once.
“He said a man with a daughter should understand the cost of making enemies.”
Claire stopped.
Her hand, still splinted, curled against her lap.
“And you did nothing.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I believed my father was trying to scare him.”
“That is what a threat is.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell police after the accident?”
“No.”
“Did you think the crash might not be an accident?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
There.
Claire looked away because if she kept looking at him she might say something she could not take back.
“Then why?”
“Fear.”
She laughed softly.
He continued before she could stop him.
“Not fear for my life.”
Better.
“Fear of what would happen to the family if I accused him.”
Claire turned back.
“So the company.”
“Yes.”
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
“Your name.”
“Yes.”
“Your comfort.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
That was the word she needed.
Not family.
Not duty.
Comfort.
He had chosen his.
Her father lost everything.
“Did you ever investigate after Angelo died?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago, when I found the affidavit.”
“Privately.”
“Yes.”
“So even then, you kept it out of law enforcement.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I controlled companies named in the file.”
Claire nodded.
“There it is.”
Luca looked at her.
“I told myself I needed proof.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Enough to believe James.”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
Claire felt something colder than anger.
“You believed my father for seven years.”
“Yes.”
“And never cleared his name.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Luca did not answer.
She waited.
Finally:
“Because clearing his name would implicate mine.”
Claire stood.
The chair scraped the floor.
Luca did not stop her.
“Thank you.”
He looked up.
“For what?”
“For not calling it protection.”
She walked out.
Mara remained in the hallway.
“So?”
Claire looked at her.
“He knew enough.”
Mara nodded once.
Not judgment.
Receipt.
Luca came out later.
Mara asked him to remain for a formal statement.
He agreed.
That surprised Claire less than it would have two days ago.
Maybe consequences only looked noble from a distance.
Up close they were paperwork.
At the motel, Evelyn Carter waited with Vanessa.
Carlo had been detained for questioning in Wisconsin.
Not charged yet.
Vanessa sat on the edge of a bed wearing an oversized sweatshirt Evelyn had bought from the lobby shop.
Her red-dress confidence seemed to belong to another woman.
Claire entered.
Vanessa stood.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire dropped her bag onto a chair.
“For which part?”
Vanessa flinched.
“Fair.”
“Did you know Angelo threatened my father?”
“No.”
“Did Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“His father told him.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“So Gabriel knew Luca had the Dawson affidavit.”
“Yes.”
“And he knew I was James Dawson’s daughter.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Yes.”
“Before the dinner.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“About three months.”
Claire laughed once.
Nobody in the room liked the sound.
“Three months.”
Vanessa looked ashamed.
“Gabriel found your employment file.”
“Why?”
“He was looking for anyone connected to James.”
“To frame me.”
“I don’t know.”
Claire stared.
Vanessa corrected herself.
“He told me he wanted to protect the evidence before the merger.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“The transfer draft.”
Claire became still.
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“On his laptop?”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“On my father’s.”
That changed the shape of the room.
Claire sat.
“Carlo had the fake transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did it show Gabriel’s credentials?”
“My father said Gabriel created it.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Because I was already engaged to Luca.”
Claire waited.
“If Gabriel was the traitor, then my father was still only difficult.”
There.
Not innocent.
Difficult.
The lie children told themselves about powerful parents.
Claire understood more than she wanted.
“What were you and Gabriel doing in Luca’s study?”
“Copying the affidavit.”
“For who?”
“Outside counsel.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Claire blinked.
“Why?”
“I wanted proof my father lied.”
“So Gabriel was helping you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why the note?”
Vanessa rubbed her hands together.
“DO IT BEFORE HE SAYS I DO meant copy everything before the wedding.”
“Why before?”
“Because once I married Luca, Carlo would control my access.”
Claire stared.
“Control you how?”
“Money. security. the merger board.”
“You are thirty-two.”
“I know.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“I let dependence become easier than defiance.”
Another clean sentence.
Claire respected it despite herself.
“Why lock me in the linen room?”
“Because you found the memory card.”
“Yes.”
“I panicked.”
“You grabbed me.”
“Yes.”
“I hurt my hand.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me lie at dinner.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Cowardice.”
Claire nodded.
At least they were finally using the right words.
“Where is Gabriel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you trust him?”
Vanessa’s answer came slowly.
“No.”
“Do you think he created the fake transfer?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Vanessa looked toward the motel window.
“My father had a man in Luca’s house.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“I never learned the name.”
“Staff?”
“I think so.”
“Security?”
“Maybe.”
Claire almost corrected the word.
Then stopped.
Vanessa genuinely did not know.
A knock sounded.
Evelyn opened the door.
Nico stood there holding a small padded envelope.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“This came to the mansion.”
“No return address.”
Inside was one old key.
And a note.
The handwriting was Claire’s mother’s.
She recognized the long tail on the y.
CLAIRE—
IF THEY EVER MAKE JAMES LOOK LIKE THE THIEF AGAIN, OPEN BOX 403.
Claire stopped breathing.
Her mother had been dead three years.
The envelope had been mailed yesterday.
May you like
Someone alive had possessed Marianne Dawson’s final instructions.
And they knew exactly when Claire would need them.
