The Dead Security Guard

Chapter 06 - The Dead Security Guard

Daniel asked to speak privately.

Luca refused.

Olivia almost objected to being kept in the room.

Then Daniel looked at her and said:

“She has the right to hear this.”

That changed things.

They returned to the mansion after midnight.

Vanessa had gone to her father’s lake house.

Convenient.

Maybe intentional.

In the study, Daniel closed the door.

“I knew Graham Voss.”

Luca leaned against the desk.

“You said he worked for my father.”

“He did.”

“What didn’t you say?”

Daniel looked at Olivia.

“My father worked with him.”

Olivia waited.

“Security?”

“Yes.”

“For Moretti?”

“Bellini.”

The families had overlapped in more ways than anyone admitted.

Daniel continued.

“Voss was violent.”

“How violent?” Olivia asked.

“Collections. intimidation.”

“Did he kill people?”

Daniel looked down.

“I don’t know.”

She almost laughed.

He corrected himself.

“I never saw proof.”

Better.

“The warehouse fire?” Luca asked.

“My father believed Voss started it.”

“Why?”

“Paul Rizzi had begun copying payroll records.”

Olivia’s pulse quickened.

“Like my mother.”

“Yes.”

“So Voss burned the warehouse.”

“Probably.”

Olivia looked at Daniel.

He closed his eyes.

“Evidence suggests he did.”

“Thank you.”

Daniel nodded.

“My father confronted him that night.”

“What happened?”

“Voss disappeared.”

“And then was declared dead.”

“Yes.”

“Body?”

“Burned remains.”

“DNA?”

“Seventeen years ago, partial dental match.”

Luca’s face hardened.

“Faked.”

“Yes.”

Daniel looked toward Olivia.

“My father told Antonio Moretti that Voss survived.”

“What did my father do?” Luca asked.

“Nothing.”

There it was again.

Nothing.

Olivia could almost feel the word becoming a family crest.

“Why?”

“Carlo threatened to expose Antonio’s role in the foundation transfers.”

Luca stared.

“So my father let a killer disappear to protect himself.”

Daniel nodded.

“Yes.”

“Your father?”

“Quit.”

“And you joined us later.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Daniel looked at Luca.

“To make sure you were not Antonio.”

The honesty hurt.

Luca absorbed it.

“Have I passed?”

Daniel was quiet.

“Some days.”

Olivia looked away.

She respected him for that answer.

Luca did too.

Even if it cost him.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Voss?”

“I thought he was dead.”

“Mercer saw him.”

“Yes.”

“And you recognized the name instantly.”

“Yes.”

“Anything else?”

Daniel hesitated.

Luca’s eyes hardened.

“Daniel.”

“My father kept photographs.”

He pulled an old envelope from inside his coat.

He had gone home before returning to the mansion.

One image showed Graham Voss standing beside Carlo Bellini.

Another showed Antonio Moretti.

A third—

Olivia stopped breathing.

Diane Hayes.

Her mother.

Standing beside Daniel’s father near the burned warehouse.

Date stamped two days before the fire.

“You said my mother had already left.”

“She had.”

“Then why was she there?”

Daniel shook his head.

“My father never told me.”

Olivia stared at the photograph.

Diane looked frightened.

But not surprised.

“Did your father know her?”

“Yes.”

“How well?”

Daniel’s voice softened.

“They were working together.”

Silence.

“What does that mean?”

“Your mother did not stop investigating after Sofia protected her.”

Olivia closed her eyes.

Of course.

Diane had gone home every night and pretended to be a dental-office bookkeeper.

While still collecting evidence.

“Who else knew?”

“Paul Rizzi.”

“The accountant who died.”

“Yes.”

“And Sofia?”

“Yes.”

“Claire?”

“Later.”

Olivia looked at Luca.

“You really were the only person who didn’t know anything.”

His face tightened.

He did not defend himself.

Daniel continued.

“My father died six years ago.”

“Natural?” Olivia asked.

“Yes.”

She almost smiled at her own suspicion.

Daniel did not.

“Before he died, he gave me one name.”

“Voss?”

“No.”

“Who?”

“Carlo’s lawyer.”

Luca frowned.

“Which one?”

“Adrian.”

The room went still.

Again.

Daniel continued.

“My father believed Adrian helped Voss disappear.”

Luca stared.

“He told me he thought Voss died.”

“Yes.”

“Maybe he believed it later.”

“Or he lied.”

Olivia looked at the photographs.

Adrian had admitted signing dirty transfers.

Claimed ignorance.

Now he was linked to the man who had burned evidence.

The convenient young lawyer was becoming less convenient.

Luca reached for his phone.

Olivia stopped him.

“Do not call Adrian.”

He looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because Vanessa already knows you’re suspicious.”

“She knows?”

“I told her about the hallway video.”

His expression sharpened.

“Why?”

Olivia felt the mistake.

“Because I wanted to see if she knew about the photograph outside my apartment.”

“And?”

“She didn’t.”

“You believe her.”

“I believe her reaction.”

Luca was angry.

Not at Vanessa.

At Olivia.

“You changed the plan without telling me.”

There it was.

The boss.

She held his gaze.

“I am not on your security team.”

“You are in danger.”

“That does not make me your employee twice.”

“You are literally my employee.”

“Household staff.”

She pointed toward the door.

“Not a soldier.”

Luca’s jaw tightened.

Daniel stepped back very slightly.

Smart man.

Olivia continued.

“If you want me involved, ask. If you want me uninvolved, I can leave the room.”

Luca stared at her.

Then breathed once.

“You’re right.”

It came like a tooth being pulled.

Olivia almost smiled.

“Painful?”

“Extremely.”

“Good.”

He put down the phone.

“What do you suggest?”

“Watch Adrian.”

Daniel nodded.

“Already doing it.”

Luca looked at him.

“Without asking.”

Daniel almost smiled.

“Old habits.”

That night, Olivia slept in her apartment with Daniel’s car parked across the street.

At 2:16 a.m., her phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

One message.

YOUR MOTHER WAS NOT POOR BECAUSE OF CARLO.

Olivia sat up.

Another message.

SHE TOOK THE MONEY.

Her chest tightened.

Then a photograph.

Diane Hayes at a bank counter.

Holding a cashier’s check.

Amount:

$250,000.

Dated one week after the trust was supposedly blocked.

Olivia stared.

Her mother had received the money.

Every story about her poverty shifted.

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Then the final message arrived.

ASK CLAIRE WHERE IT WENT.