Chapter 5 - The Dead Woman Wearing Her Necklace
Roman saw Matteo’s smile.
It lasted less than a second.
A small upward movement at the corner of his mouth.
Gone almost immediately.
But Roman saw it.
Grief disappeared beneath something colder.
He lowered the phone.
“Get out.”
Matteo frowned.
“What?”
“Leave my house.”
“Roman, I—”
Roman crossed the room so quickly Matteo stopped speaking.
“If you are still standing here when Stefano arrives, I will forget we share blood.”
Matteo’s face hardened.
“You’re emotional.”
“My wife may be dead.”
“That’s why I’m saying—”
“Get out.”
Matteo left.
Roman watched from the window as his cousin entered a car.
Then he called Stefano again.
“Do not tell anyone else what you found.”
“Too late. Police already have the scene.”
“I mean inside our organization.”
“Why?”
“Matteo smiled.”
Silence.
Stefano understood.
“Where is he?”
“Leaving the house.”
“I’ll have him followed.”
“No arrests. No confrontation.”
“Why?”
“If Amelia is alive, he may lead us to whoever has her.”
Stefano paused.
“You think the body is staged.”
Roman looked at Amelia’s wedding ring on his desk.
“I have to.”
At the medical examiner’s facility, Roman refused to look at the body until identification work was complete.
It took four hours.
Four hours during which he paced a private hallway like a caged animal.
At last the examiner emerged.
“It isn’t your wife.”
Roman stopped.
“What?”
“Dental records were modified, but not well enough. Different surgical history. DNA comparison will confirm, but I’m confident.”
Roman’s knees nearly weakened.
He turned away so no one saw.
Alive.
Amelia could still be alive.
Then fury arrived.
“Who is she?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Roman looked through the observation window at the covered body.
Someone else’s daughter.
Someone else’s sister.
Killed and dressed as Amelia.
His relief became shame.
Stefano entered.
“Matteo’s moving.”
Roman turned.
“Where?”
“East.”
“Follow.”
Meanwhile Amelia watched the same news story from a motel room.
She thought about the dead woman.
A stranger had been murdered to become a message.
Because of Roman.
Because of Gabriel.
Because of a war Amelia never chose.
She called Roman.
The phone rang once.
He answered.
No greeting.
“Amelia?”
Hearing her name in his voice nearly destroyed her resolve.
She closed her eyes.
“I’m alive.”
A sound came through the line.
Not quite a breath.
Not quite a sob.
Roman Duca did neither.
But he came close.
“Where are you?”
“I’m safe.”
“Tell me where.”
“No.”
“Amelia—”
“The body isn’t me.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Medical examiner.”
She swallowed.
“There’s a flash drive. Gabriel Serrano is involved.”
Roman went silent.
“You know Gabriel?”
“Claire Serrano found me.”
“Where?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Roman.”
He stopped.
Her tone was different.
Not pleading.
Not angry.
Finished.
“You don’t get to order me anymore.”
His eyes closed.
“All right.”
The immediate surrender surprised her.
She continued.
“Matteo is working with Gabriel.”
Roman looked toward Stefano.
“Evidence?”
“Financial transfers. Photos from inside our house.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“He was already under surveillance.”
“Then listen carefully. Someone is trying to make you think I’m dead because they want you unstable.”
“They succeeded.”
The honesty caught her off guard.
Roman continued.
“For four hours I thought you were dead.”
Amelia looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Don’t apologize to me.”
Silence stretched.
He whispered, “Please tell me where you are.”
Her eyes filled.
“No.”
“Amelia, Gabriel will keep looking.”
“I know.”
“I can protect you.”
The words almost made her laugh.
“You had that chance.”
Roman went silent.
The pain in that silence was real.
Amelia hated that she still cared.
“I’m not saying you wanted this to happen,” she said. “But I can’t go back to a life where my safety depends on whether your old debts become more important than me.”
“I know.”
“No, Roman. I don’t think you do.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked at Daniel, who had discreetly walked into the adjoining room.
“I spent years thinking if I was patient enough, eventually I’d become your first priority.”
“You are.”
“You chose someone else.”
“I made the wrong choice.”
“Because I was kidnapped?”
“Because I built my life around debts I was too afraid to question.”
Amelia closed her eyes.
He was saying the right things.
Too late.
Maybe that was the tragedy.
“Matteo may be taking you somewhere,” she said.
Roman glanced toward the tracking screen Stefano held.
“He is.”
“Don’t underestimate him.”
“I won’t.”
“And Roman?”
“Yes?”
“Find out who the dead woman is.”
He frowned.
“The body.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because somebody needs to know her name.”
Roman looked through the examiner’s glass.
“I will.”
Amelia disconnected.
Roman held the phone against his forehead.
Stefano watched quietly.
“She’s alive.”
Roman nodded.
“Good.”
“She won’t come home.”
Stefano did not answer.
Roman looked at him.
“She shouldn’t.”
That was the moment Stefano knew Roman had changed.
Not enough.
Not yet.
But something had cracked.
Matteo’s vehicle stopped at a waterfront warehouse at sunset.
Roman’s men photographed everyone entering.
One face matched old intelligence photographs.
Gabriel Serrano.
Older.
Heavier.
But unmistakable.
Roman stared at the image.
“Found you.”
Stefano asked, “We hit the place?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel wants me angry.”
“You are angry.”
Roman’s expression became cold.
“Not the way he expects.”
Instead of storming the building, Roman called federal contacts Daniel Hartwell did not know he had.
He released financial information.
Weapons routes.
Bribery records.
Properties.
In three hours, enforcement teams raided two Gabriel businesses without any visible connection to Roman.
Gabriel’s organization began bleeding.
Quietly.
Matteo received calls.
Panic spread.
Roman watched from a distance.
He would not give Gabriel the war he expected.
He would dismantle him piece by piece.
At the motel, Amelia opened another file from Claire’s drive.
One transaction caught her attention.
A monthly payment going back four years.
Recipient:
V. Marino.
Valyria.
Amelia stared at the screen.
“No.”
Daniel looked over.
“What?”
“Valyria was getting money from Gabriel.”
“How much?”
“Ten thousand dollars every month.”
“For what?”
Amelia felt cold.
She called Claire using a number hidden in the encrypted files.
Claire answered.
“You found the payments.”
“Yes.”
“Did Valyria know where they came from?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“How?”
“Ask her.”
Amelia almost laughed.
“I’m hiding from Roman. Calling Valyria seems unwise.”
“You already called Roman.”
Amelia froze.
“How do you know?”
Claire’s silence answered.
“Are you tracking me?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“Gabriel monitors Roman’s communications.”
Amelia’s stomach dropped.
“You mean my call was intercepted.”
“Most likely.”
Daniel was already packing.
Claire said urgently, “Move. Now.”
Amelia grabbed her bag.
“How long do we have?”
“I don’t know.”
The motel lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Daniel drew his weapon.
Outside, tires rolled over gravel.
More than one vehicle.
Amelia whispered, “Daniel…”
“I know.”
Headlights appeared beneath the curtains.
Car doors opened.
Men’s voices.
Daniel pointed toward the bathroom window.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll follow.”
A knock sounded at the motel door.
Three slow taps.
Then a familiar female voice spoke from outside.
“Amelia?”
Amelia froze.
She knew that voice.
Valyria.
“Open the door.”
Daniel looked at Amelia.
Neither moved.
Valyria spoke again.
“I know you think I betrayed you.”
A pause.
May you like
“But if you don’t come with me right now, Gabriel is going to kill all three of us.”
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