Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN DAMIAN TRUSTED MOST HAD HER SIGNATURE ON THE DIRTY MONEY
By noon, Lucia Falcone arrived at the mansion.
She entered through the east gate after Victor personally searched her vehicle.
Martha watched from the study window.
“That’s your sister?”
“Yes.”
“She looks furious.”
“She usually does.”
Lucia was thirty-four, three years younger than Damian, and nothing about her resembled the public stereotype Martha expected from a mafia family.
Dark suit.
Hair pulled back.
No jewelry except a watch.
She carried two legal boxes.
When she entered the study and saw Martha, she stopped.
“Why is the maid here?”
Martha folded her arms.
“Apparently everybody asks that.”
Damian closed the door.
“She isn’t a maid.”
Lucia stared.
“Wonderful.”
“Martha Bellini.”
Lucia’s expression changed.
“Andrew’s sister?”
Martha went still.
“You knew him too.”
Lucia looked at Damian.
“You didn’t tell her?”
“I have had a busy morning.”
“That is not a defense.”
Martha looked between them.
“How did you know Andrew?”
Lucia placed the boxes down.
“He audited the Falcone Foundation.”
“You hired him?”
“Yes.”
Damian turned.
“You never told me that.”
Lucia looked at him.
“You told me to clean up the foundation accounts without dragging you into every detail.”
Martha almost laughed.
“Communication seems excellent in this family.”
Lucia ignored her.
“Andrew found irregular transfers.”
“North Crest?”
Lucia froze.
“Where did you get that?”
Damian placed Andrew’s memory card on the desk.
Lucia stared.
“He kept it.”
“You knew?”
“I knew he had copies.”
“Why?”
“Because I told him to make them.”
Martha stepped forward.
“My brother died three months ago.”
Lucia’s expression softened.
“I know.”
“You knew he was afraid?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Andrew asked me not to involve you.”
Martha laughed bitterly.
“That sentence is becoming very popular.”
Lucia looked at her.
“He thought whoever was watching him might use you.”
“They killed him anyway.”
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
No defense.
Martha’s anger shifted.
“Show me the foundation records.”
Lucia opened one of the boxes.
“I brought everything Andrew had flagged before his death.”
Damian frowned.
“You keep paper copies?”
“I learned not to trust internal servers.”
Victor’s warning again.
Martha glanced at Damian.
Lucia spread statements across the desk.
“Three years ago, the foundation began receiving anonymous donations routed through regional development companies.”
“Normal?”
“Mostly.”
“Then eighteen months ago, money started leaving through consulting contracts.”
“To North Crest?”
“Not directly.”
Lucia pointed to several names.
Different companies.
Same bank.
Same legal representative.
Enzo’s attorney.
Damian’s face hardened.
“How much?”
“Nearly four million.”
Martha stared.
“And nobody noticed?”
Lucia looked at her sharply.
“I noticed.”
“Eventually.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months before Andrew died.”
“Why didn’t you go to police?”
Lucia glanced at Damian.
Martha understood.
Family.
Again.
Damian’s voice cooled.
“Don’t look at me.”
“I’m looking because you know why.”
“Say it.”
Lucia’s jaw tightened.
“The foundation shares infrastructure with legitimate Falcone companies.”
“If I took partial records to law enforcement without understanding the whole structure, they could freeze everything.”
“That includes hospitals and housing projects.”
Martha stared.
“And illegal businesses?”
Lucia’s eyes moved to Damian.
He answered.
“Yes.”
“So Andrew died because everybody wanted to investigate safely.”
Lucia flinched.
“That’s not fair.”
“No?”
“No.”
Lucia stepped closer.
“I spent months trying to identify the leak without alerting the person inside.”
“And what did Andrew want?”
“To go outside the family.”
“Then he was right.”
Lucia’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Silence.
That admission changed the room.
No one could undo Andrew’s death.
But pretending caution had been wisdom would only repeat it.
Damian asked,
“Why did you come now?”
Lucia opened the second box.
“Because Victor sent me a message at 4:11.”
Martha stared.
“He said external communications were locked.”
Lucia nodded.
“Mine wasn’t from the mansion network.”
Damian looked at her.
“What did it say?”
Lucia removed her phone.
One message.
If Damian calls, do not go to the house. Enzo believes Andrew left evidence.
Damian stared.
“Victor sent that?”
“No.”
“What?”
Lucia tapped the sender.
Victor’s number.
“But I called Victor from the car.”
“He never sent it.”
Martha’s stomach tightened.
Someone had spoofed Victor again.
Lucia continued.
“I came because whoever sent that message wanted me away.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know.”
She reached into the box.
“Then I found this.”
A transfer authorization.
Martha looked at the signature.
Lucia Falcone.
“Yours?”
“It looks like mine.”
“Is it?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Lucia glared.
“I am an attorney.”
“I know what I sign.”
Martha shrugged.
“You’d be surprised what people forget.”
Lucia almost responded.
Damian interrupted.
“Amount?”
“Eight hundred thousand.”
“Destination?”
Lucia pointed.
North Crest Holdings.
Martha felt the trail tighten.
“Who can replicate your signature?”
Lucia answered immediately.
“Anyone with access to foundation archives.”
“Who has access?”
“My staff.”
“Damian.”
“Victor for emergencies.”
“And?”
Lucia hesitated.
“Enzo.”
Martha looked at Damian.
“Again.”
Lucia turned toward her brother.
“Why is Enzo coming up?”
Damian told her.
The phone call.
Crest Security.
The car at the bridge.
The sniper.
Doctor Vale.
Lucia listened without interrupting.
When Damian finished, she sat.
“My God.”
Martha watched her.
“You’re surprised.”
“Yes.”
“Andrew suspected family.”
“I thought he meant someone using family connections.”
“Not Enzo.”
“No.”
Damian asked,
“Did Enzo know Andrew was auditing?”
Lucia thought.
“I never told him.”
“Could he have known?”
“He attended two foundation board meetings while Andrew was present.”
Martha asked,
“Did Andrew speak?”
“No.”
“He stayed in the back.”
“Would Enzo recognize him?”
“Probably not.”
Damian’s expression changed.
“Unless someone told him.”
Victor appeared on the secure monitor.
“Damian.”
Lucia looked at the screen.
Victor noticed her.
“You came anyway.”
“I did.”
“Good.”
Martha raised an eyebrow.
“You really weren’t expecting that?”
Victor ignored her.
“I found Vale.”
The room went still.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Old wine cellar.”
Lucia frowned.
“Why?”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Someone locked him inside.”
Martha stared.
“Convenient.”
Victor continued.
“He has a head injury.”
“Can he talk?”
“Barely.”
“Did he handle the canister?”
“No idea.”
“Bring him?”
Victor hesitated.
“Andrew said not to call him.”
Damian responded,
“That doesn’t mean Vale is guilty.”
Victor almost smiled.
“You’re committed to precision.”
Martha muttered,
“Unfortunately.”
Lucia looked between them.
“What happened while I was gone?”
“Nothing.”
Both said it simultaneously.
Lucia raised an eyebrow.
Victor continued.
“Vale keeps saying one word.”
“What?”
“Renzi.”
Martha’s gaze snapped toward Victor.
Victor’s face remained hard.
Damian asked,
“My security chief’s name?”
“Yes.”
Victor looked directly into the camera.
“And before anyone asks, no, I don’t know why.”
Lucia whispered,
“So either Vale is warning us about Victor—”
Martha finished.
“Or somebody wants us to think he is.”
The room fell silent.
Then Lucia turned one of the transfer pages over.
A handwritten note appeared on the back.
Andrew’s handwriting.
Martha recognized it instantly.
Three words.
Watch the doctor.
Below that:
Not because he’s guilty. Because he’s afraid.
Martha closed her eyes.
Andrew had anticipated that too.
Damian looked toward Victor’s image.
“Keep Vale alive.”
Victor nodded.
“No house medications.”
“I know.”
“Use the outside trauma kit.”
“Already did.”
Martha studied Victor.
Every new clue pointed toward him.
Then away.
Someone had access to his credentials.
His phone identity.
His security network.
Now Vale was saying his name.
Either Victor Renzi was the most obvious traitor in Boston—
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or somebody had spent months building a trail designed to make Damian shoot the wrong man.
And Andrew Bellini had died trying to keep that from happening.
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