Chapter 9: The Second Recording
Dante stared at Samuel.
“You helped my father kill Antonio?””
Samuel looked twenty years older than he had five minutes earlier.
“Yes.””
Dante crossed the storage unit so fast that Samuel backed into a stack of boxes.
I stepped between them.
“No.””
“Move, Emma.””
“No.””
His voice dropped.
“He just admitted—”
“I heard him.””
My heart was hammering, but I held my ground.
“We have spent all day listening to people confess half a truth and hide the other half. Nobody touches anybody until we hear the whole thing.””
Dante’s jaw flexed.
For a second, I thought he might ignore me.
Then he stepped back.
“Talk.””
Samuel looked at the cassette.
“Play it.””
Marco found an old cassette player in another box.
The tape clicked.
Static.
Then a young man’s voice filled the storage unit.
Antonio.
“You followed me?””
Samuel’s younger voice answered.
“Your father knows.””
A door slammed on the recording.
Then Conrad Moretti spoke.
“You were told to end this.””
Antonio laughed bitterly.
“Rebecca is pregnant.””
Dante closed his eyes.
“She’s carrying my son,” Antonio continued.
“I’m not abandoning them.””
Conrad’s voice became cold.
“You are seventeen years old.””
“I love her.””
“You don’t know what love is.””
“I know what you are.””
Silence.
Then Antonio said, “I found the Belladonna accounts.””
Dante looked at me.
The recording continued.
“You’re stealing Isabella’s trust.””
Conrad answered, “You understand nothing.””
“I understand enough.””
A struggle erupted.
Samuel shouted, “Stop!””
Something crashed.
Antonio yelled.
Then came the sound of a gunshot.
Dante flinched.
The tape kept running.
Conrad’s breathing was heavy.
Samuel whispered, “What did you do?””
Conrad answered, “What was necessary.””
The recording ended.
Dante stood perfectly still.
Samuel wiped both hands over his face.
“I didn’t kill Antonio.””
“You helped Conrad find him,” Dante said.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“He told me Antonio was stealing money and planning to disappear with Rebecca. I believed him.””
Dante’s voice cracked with anger.
“And afterward?””
“I panicked.””
“So you helped cover it up.””
Samuel nodded.
“I moved Antonio’s car.””
My stomach tightened.
“The accident.””
“We staged it.””
Dante turned away.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then I asked the question Samuel clearly didn’t want.
“What happened to Rebecca?””
“She gave birth to Nathan months later.””
“And Conrad took him?””
“Yes.””
“Why give him to the Whitmores?””
“Because Conrad couldn’t let the Moretti world know Antonio had left an heir.””
Dante turned back.
“So he gave my nephew to Conrad Whitmore.””
Samuel nodded.
“The two families already shared financial secrets. Nathan became another one.””
I looked at the boxes surrounding us.
“And my father?””
Samuel’s shoulders sagged.
“Michael found the recording.””
The pieces clicked together.
“He was going to expose Conrad.””
“And Conrad Whitmore,” Samuel said.
“Michael discovered they were both using Isabella’s trust.””
“Then who killed him?””
Samuel looked at me.
“Margaret pulled the trigger.””
I remembered the first cassette.
Her voice.
The gunshot.
“But Conrad Moretti ordered the cover-up,” Samuel continued.
“Charles helped remove Michael’s body.””
My throat tightened.
“Where is my father?””
Samuel looked toward the floor.
“I don’t know.””
That answer hurt differently.
Not because I expected a grave.
Because after twenty-seven years, even that had been stolen from me.
My phone was still connected to Nathan.
“Nathan?””
No answer.
“Nathan?””
Dante looked at me.
The call had ended.
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
Marco was already moving.
“I’ll contact the house.””
His phone rang before he reached the door.
He answered.
His expression sharpened.
“When?””
He listened.
Then looked at Dante.
“Margaret left the townhouse twelve minutes ago.””
“With Nathan?””
“They don’t know.””
I felt panic rise.
Dante took control instantly.
“Check traffic cameras. Airports. Her accounts.””
Marco left.
I called Nathan again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
From Nathan.
TETERBORO. HANGAR 6.
Dante saw it.
“She’s taking him with her.””
“Why?””
Samuel answered.
“Because Nathan is proof.””
We were in the car within two minutes.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Dante sat beside me, silent.
Finally I asked, “What happens when we find her?””
“She answers for what she did.””
“That isn’t what I asked.””
He looked at me.
“I’m not asking you to forgive Samuel. Or your father. Or anyone.””
I held his gaze.
“But I will not let today end with another Moretti deciding justice means violence.””
Something flickered in his eyes.
“My sister would have liked you.””
“You don’t know that.””
A faint sadness touched his face.
“I know she would have argued with you.””
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
Then Marco shouted from the front.
“Hangar Six.””
A private jet sat beyond the rain.
Margaret stood near the stairs.
Nathan was beside her.
Two men waited near a black SUV.
Dante’s car stopped.
I opened the door before anyone could stop me.
“Emma!””
I ran through the rain.
My ruined dress dragged beneath Dante’s coat.
Nathan saw me.
“Emma?””
Margaret turned.
Her expression changed.
“Get on the plane,” she ordered him.
“No.””
“Nathan.””
“No!””
Dante and Marco approached behind me.
Margaret looked at Dante.
“You found the tape.””
“Yes.””
“Then you know what your father was.””
“I know what many people were.””
Her eyes moved to Samuel.
“You.””
Samuel stopped.
“You should have disappeared permanently.””
Nathan stepped away from her.
“You killed Emma’s father.””
Margaret’s face remained calm.
“He was going to destroy everything.””
“You murdered him.””
“I protected our family.””
I laughed.
She looked at me.
“What?””
“That’s what all of you say.””
Rain streamed down my face.
“Protected the family. Protected the company. Protected me. Every lie today came wrapped in that excuse.””
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“You have no idea what power costs.””
“No. But I know what your power cost my mother.””
I pulled out my phone.
“And my father.””
Margaret looked at the phone.
“What are you doing?””
“Recording you.””
For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.
“You think that matters?””
“No.””
I looked past her.
Red and blue lights appeared beyond the hangars.
“But the evidence does.””
Margaret turned.
Police vehicles entered the airfield.
Marco had already delivered copies of both recordings, the ledger, the trust certificate, and the storage records to investigators.
Margaret looked at Nathan.
“Come with me.””
He stepped toward me instead.
Her face broke.
“Nathan.””
“You’re not my mother.””
Pain flashed across her features.
“I raised you.””
“And you used me.””
The police approached.
Margaret suddenly laughed.
“You think this ends with me?””
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?””
She looked directly at me.
“Ask Charles why your father’s body was never found.””
My pulse jumped.
“Where is he?””
Margaret smiled.
“Your father left Room 417 alive.””
Samuel stared at her.
“That’s impossible.””
“No,” Margaret said.
“It’s the one thing none of you ever understood.””
An officer reached for her arm.
Before he led her away, Margaret looked back at me.
“Michael Walker survived that night.””
My breath stopped.
May you like
Then she delivered her final blow.
“And Charles has known where he is for twenty-seven years.””
