The Lawyer Who Knew Where Every Body Was Buried
Chapter 10 - The Lawyer Who Knew Where Every Body Was Buried
The Moretti board met at eight the next morning.
Seven directors.
Three family.
Four outside.
Adrian attended by video from an undisclosed location.
Cowardice had good internet.
Luca sat at the end of the long conference table.
Olivia was not there.
That mattered.
She had spent nine months serving coffee in rooms where men decided everything.
Today she stayed in the study with Vanessa, Claire and two federal forensic accountants.
Different work.
Different position.
Luca had asked if she wanted to attend.
She said no.
He accepted it.
Adrian began the board call.
“Luca Moretti has concealed unauthorized transfers totaling forty-three million dollars.”
Luca looked at the screen.
“Transfers bearing your signatures.”
“Digital approvals can be replicated.”
“Convenient.”
Adrian displayed internal logs.
Luca’s credentials appeared beside several transactions.
Not all.
Enough.
Board members shifted.
Adrian continued.
“The Bellini merger and engagement created concerns about undisclosed conflicts.”
Luca almost laughed.
“You drafted the prenup.”
“Yes.”
“Under instructions you now call suspicious.”
“Because new information emerged.”
Olivia watched the feed from the study.
Vanessa muttered:
“He is good.”
Claire answered:
“He has practiced being reasonable longer than you have practiced being honest.”
Vanessa accepted that.
The forensic accountant beside them examined the transaction logs.
“Credential cloning.”
Olivia looked over.
“You can prove?”
“Maybe.”
She frowned.
The accountant smiled.
“Fair correction. We can test.”
One set of transfers originated from Luca’s office terminal while Luca had been photographed at a charity dinner across town.
Another during a documented trip to New York.
Not proof of who used the terminal.
Proof Luca did not personally approve those entries.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“Adrian had access to his office.”
Olivia looked at her.
“How?”
“Legal files.”
Claire frowned.
“So did Daniel.”
Silence.
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
Daniel.
Head of security.
Man who had known Graham Voss.
Man whose father worked Bellini security.
Man with access to every room.
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“Where is he?”
Olivia called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Upstairs, the board vote began.
Four to suspend.
Three opposed.
Temporary removal passed.
Luca did not react.
Adrian did.
Barely.
A satisfied exhale.
Then Luca said:
“One more item.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“I resign.”
The board went silent.
Olivia stood.
Vanessa stared.
Claire smiled faintly.
Adrian looked confused.
“You what?”
“As chief executive.”
“You cannot—”
“I just did.”
Luca looked toward the outside directors.
“Interim management goes to the audit committee until federal review is complete.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“That is not necessary.”
“Then you should have no objection.”
The trap closed.
If Adrian wanted Luca gone because of governance, independent control should satisfy him.
Instead he looked furious.
Luca continued.
“All family voting rights are suspended voluntarily for thirty days.”
“You cannot suspend mine.”
“You can refuse.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“And explain why.”
Silence.
One outside director spoke.
“I support independent control.”
Another agreed.
Adrian’s board coup had removed Luca.
It had also removed Adrian from access to the money.
For the first time, Olivia understood why Luca could be dangerous without raising his voice.
He had let Adrian win the wrong thing.
After the meeting, Luca returned to the study.
“You resigned,” Olivia said.
“Yes.”
“Did you plan that?”
“Since four this morning.”
“And did not tell me.”
His expression changed.
Olivia raised one hand.
“This one was your decision.”
He almost smiled.
“Thank you.”
Vanessa stood.
“My father will panic.”
“Good,” Luca said.
“Do not enjoy it too much.”
He looked at her.
She added:
“You are less controlled when you enjoy an enemy’s fear.”
Claire almost smiled.
Luca did not.
But he listened.
The forensic accountants found eleven cloned credential sessions.
Seven from Luca’s office.
Four from Daniel’s security terminal.
Olivia felt cold.
“Daniel.”
No one said anything.
At noon, federal agents entered Daniel’s apartment.
Empty.
Closets open.
Passport gone.
Luca’s face hardened.
“He ran.”
Claire looked unconvinced.
“Or wants us to think he did.”
At 1:30, Mrs. Carter found an envelope under Olivia’s locker.
Her name on the front.
Inside:
One key.
One note in Daniel’s handwriting.
I AM SORRY FOR WHAT I LET THEM SEE.
DO NOT TRUST THE HOUSE CAMERAS.
Olivia stared.
Vanessa whispered:
“He was leaking footage.”
Luca closed his eyes.
How many people could one man trust before the answer became none?
Then Olivia noticed something else.
A number etched into the key.
S-14.
Mrs. Carter knew it.
“Staff storage.”
“Where?”
“Basement.”
Locker fourteen had been unused for years.
Daniel’s key opened it.
Inside were hard drives.
Printed security schedules.
Camera maps.
Photographs of Carlo.
Adrian.
Voss.
Vanessa.
Luca.
Olivia.
And one recorder.
Daniel’s voice.
“If Luca is hearing this, I left because Adrian knows I’ve been building a case.”
Luca stared.
Daniel continued.
“I leaked security feeds to Carlo for fourteen months.”
Olivia’s chest tightened.
There.
The betrayal.
“My mother’s cancer treatment was being paid through a Bellini trust. Carlo threatened to stop it.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Daniel’s voice continued.
“I told myself cameras were better than blood.”
Luca looked down.
“I was wrong.”
Olivia felt anger.
Also understanding.
Neither canceled the other.
“I gave them hallway schedules. Guest arrivals. Vehicle movements.”
A pause.
“I did not give them Olivia’s apartment.”
Luca looked at her.
“I did not know about Voss until Mercer was attacked.”
Daniel breathed.
“If they hurt anyone because of what I gave them, that belongs partly to me.”
No excuses.
Good.
Then:
“Adrian has been planning Luca’s removal for years.”
Papers rustled on the recording.
“The financial theft is only part.”
Olivia leaned closer.
“He also arranged the honeymoon itinerary.”
Vanessa went pale.
Lake Como.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“The private boat captain is Graham Voss’s cousin.”
Silence.
“If the wedding happened, Luca was never supposed to come home capable of running the company.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Luca looked at her.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
This time he believed her.
The recorder continued.
“They planned an accident on the water.”
Olivia felt sick.
Not murder phrased as murder.
An accident.
Enough injury to trigger the proxy.
Vanessa as legal bridge.
Carlo and Adrian as power behind it.
Daniel’s final words:
“I am going to meet Adrian tonight. If I do not come back, the address is under the batteries.”
The recorder clicked.
They opened the battery compartment.
A folded paper.
Old industrial site near the river.
Meeting time:
9:00 p.m.
Today.
Luca reached for his coat.
Olivia looked at him.
“Do not.”
He turned.
“Daniel is mine.”
“No person is yours.”
His jaw tightened.
She pointed toward the recorder.
“He built evidence. Use it.”
“You want me to call federal agents.”
“Yes.”
“He is my security chief.”
“Yes.”
“He betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“And you want law enforcement.”
Olivia looked at him.
“I want Daniel alive enough to answer for both the good and the bad.”
Luca stared.
May you like
Then slowly put the coat down.
And called Mara Ellis.
