Chapter 10 - The Secret Beneath Valente Transportation
I slapped Mateo.
Harder than I had slapped my mother.
Nobody moved.
His security men suddenly found the walls fascinating.
Mateo touched his cheek.
“You knew my father called.”
“Yes.”
“And you ignored him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was twenty-nine. Angry. Stupid.”
“That’s not enough.”
“He’d accused Dominic without proof before.”
“So you decided he was lying?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
Mateo looked exhausted.
“I decided I had more important problems.”
My voice broke.
“My father died twelve hours later.”
“I know.”
The guilt on Mateo’s face was real.
It didn’t make my anger disappear.
“I’ve replayed that night thousands of times.”
“Good.”
He accepted it.
No defense.
No excuses.
That hurt more.
I left the apartment and walked until I reached the sidewalk.
Mateo followed but stayed several feet away.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“Then why follow me?”
“Because whoever photographed you sleeping is still out there.”
I turned.
“You don’t get to protect me from one danger while admitting you ignored another.”
His eyes dropped.
“No.”
For once, Mateo Valente had nothing to say.
The next morning, federal agents raided Valente Transportation.
News helicopters circled the headquarters.
Mateo watched from a safe location.
Television reporters discussed alleged money laundering and organized crime connections.
The accusations sounded devastating.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“My board removes me.”
“Can they?”
“If enough directors panic.”
“Dominic?”
“He owns twelve percent.”
Luca entered.
“Meeting moved up.”
Mateo reached for his jacket.
Isabella had said not to attend.
I blocked him.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“Someone warned you not to.”
“Someone I don’t trust.”
“You trust Dominic?”
“No.”
“Then why walk into his plan?”
Mateo looked at me.
“Because sometimes the only way to identify a trap is to let it close.”
“That is possibly the dumbest intelligent thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I get that often.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“You have people who need you.”
He looked down at my hand.
“Do I?”
The question was so unexpectedly vulnerable I released him.
“Yes.”
He held my gaze.
Then left.
Hours later, he returned.
Still CEO.
Dominic had voted against removing him.
That made no sense.
“If Dominic wants you destroyed, why save you?”
Mateo poured whiskey.
“That is the question.”
I remembered something.
“My father’s files.”
“What?”
“If Dominic is framing you now, maybe he wasn’t paying Grant to kill you.”
Mateo stared.
“What else would he want?”
“Us together.”
Silence.
“Think about it. Grant specifically chose me. Changed your room number. Put Robert Jenkins’s daughter beside you.”
Luca understood first.
“He wanted Harper to reconnect you to Robert’s investigation.”
Mateo’s face darkened.
“Why?”
“Because Dominic wants something found.”
I whispered, “Something my father hid.”
We went to Valente Transportation after midnight.
My father’s former office no longer existed.
But old building plans showed a records basement underneath the original warehouse.
A sealed room had been covered during renovation.
We opened it.
Inside were dusty shelves.
Old ledgers.
Shipping manifests.
And a metal locker.
My father’s employee number opened the combination.
Inside was one envelope.
Addressed to Mateo.
He stared at it.
“You never got this?”
“No.”
I opened it.
Inside:
Mateo—if you’re reading this, Dominic knows I found the second ledger. Do not trust anyone who tells you Anthony Caruso acted alone. Your mother left evidence beneath the place where you first learned to drive.
Mateo frowned.
“I learned to drive here.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward the old loading dock.
We searched until sunrise.
Under a loose concrete panel was a waterproof case.
Inside:
A black ledger.
And a photograph.
Elena Valente.
Robert Jenkins.
Anthony Caruso.
And Dominic Valente.
All four standing together.
Smiling.
On the back:
1998 — BEFORE EVERYTHING WENT WRONG.
I stared.
“They were friends.”
Mateo looked devastated.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“Yes.”
We turned.
Dominic Valente stood at the top of the stairs.
Alone.
Older than Mateo.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
His eyes landed on the ledger.
And he smiled.
May you like
“Finally.”
---
Related Stories
