Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Beside Him
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Rosie stared at Tomas.
Tomas looked at the paper in Dante's hand.
Then he sighed.
“That's unfortunate.”
Dante's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Tell me it's false.”
“I wish I could.”
Rosie tightened her grip on the crutch.
“You followed my father.”
Tomas looked at her.
“No.”
“The gray coat.”
“Wasn't me.”
“Your name is here.”
“My name is supposed to be there.”
Dante frowned.
Tomas slowly placed the metal case on the floor.
“If I wanted you dead, Rosie, I had dozens of opportunities.”
“That isn't comforting.”
“It isn't meant to be.”
Dante stepped between them.
“Explain.”
Tomas reached inside his coat.
Dante tensed.
Tomas withdrew an envelope.
He tossed it onto a table.
“Open it.”
Inside were photographs.
Vincent.
Meeting men near Warehouse Twelve.
Vincent exchanging documents with security officers.
Vincent wearing the Valerio ring.
Dante looked up.
“Then why does Samuel name you?”
“Because Samuel discovered me helping Vincent.”
Rosie stared.
“You helped him?”
“For eleven months.”
Dante's face hardened.
Tomas continued before he could speak.
“Your father ordered me to infiltrate Vincent's operation.”
Dante froze.
“My father knew?”
“He suspected Vincent but couldn't prove it. I became Vincent's driver on certain nights. I moved documents. I attended meetings. Samuel saw me.”
“So Samuel thought you were involved.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell him?”
“Because Vincent was already watching him.”
Rosie's voice shook.
“My father died believing you were responsible.”
Tomas lowered his head.
“That is something I have lived with every day.”
Dante's anger did not disappear.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Your father ordered me not to until I had evidence that would survive court.”
“He's been dead four years.”
“And Vincent has spent those four years controlling half your financial systems.”
Dante slammed the folder onto the table.
“You stood beside me every day.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me hunt a ghost.”
“I watched Vincent become careless.”
Rosie looked between them.
“Enough.”
Both men fell silent.
“My father is dead. Dante's father is dead. I lost four years of my life.”
Her voice cracked.
“I don't care which of you had the better secret plan.”
Neither answered.
Rosie pointed at the folder.
“What proves who killed my father?”
Tomas looked at her.
“Nothing yet.”
“Then find it.”
They returned to the estate.
This time Dante refused to rely on anyone's loyalty.
Every document was copied.
One set went to an attorney.
Another went into a secure cloud archive.
A third was prepared for federal investigators.
Dante then called Vincent.
“Christmas dinner tomorrow.”
Vincent laughed.
“You hate family dinners.”
“Maybe I'm changing.”
“Who's attending?”
“Just family.”
Dante looked at Rosie.
Vincent agreed.
The trap was simple.
They would make Vincent believe Samuel's original ledger had been found.
If he reacted, they would know.
Rosie wanted to leave.
Instead, she surprised herself.
“I'll stay.”
Dante frowned.
“No.”
She almost laughed.
“You don't decide for me.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he nodded.
“No. I don't.”
Christmas evening arrived beneath a clear sky.
The Valerio dining room glowed with candles.
Vincent entered wearing an expensive navy suit and the relaxed smile of a man accustomed to being welcomed.
Then he saw Rosie.
His smile stopped.
Only for half a second.
But Dante saw it.
“Vincent,” Dante said, “Rosalie Bellwood.”
Vincent recovered.
“Bellwood?”
“My father was Samuel.”
Recognition appeared.
Too quickly.
“I remember the accident.”
Rosie watched his right hand.
No ring.
Dinner began.
Nobody ate much.
Finally Dante placed the blue folder on the table.
Vincent's fork stopped.
“What's that?”
“Old company records.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Very.”
Dante opened it.
“Samuel Bellwood kept excellent notes.”
Vincent leaned back.
“You think Samuel was investigating us?”
“Not us.”
Dante's eyes locked on his cousin.
“One of us.”
Silence.
Vincent smiled.
“You've always enjoyed drama.”
“Did you deny Rosie's rehabilitation claim?”
“No.”
“Your office processed it.”
“Hundreds of documents went through my office.”
“Someone forged my signature.”
Vincent's smile disappeared.
Rosie spoke.
“My father recorded everything.”
That was a bluff.
Partly.
Vincent looked at her.
“What exactly did he record?”
There.
Dante saw it.
Fear.
Rosie saw it too.
“Enough.”
Vincent stood.
“I think I'll leave.”
Dante did not stop him.
That surprised everyone.
Vincent walked out.
Tomas waited thirty seconds.
Then followed.
Rosie looked at Dante.
“You're letting him go?”
“He'll take us to what he's afraid we'll find.”
They tracked Vincent's car to Warehouse Twelve.
He entered alone.
Dante and Tomas followed.
Rosie remained in the car as agreed.
For approximately three minutes.
Then she saw another vehicle approaching.
The man who stepped out wore a gray coat.
Rosie's breath stopped.
It wasn't Vincent.
It wasn't Tomas.
She recognized his walk.
Not from the crash.
From childhood.
A man who had visited their home.
A man her father once called his closest friend.
Rosie grabbed her crutch and got out.
Inside the warehouse, Dante confronted Vincent.
“Where is it?”
Vincent laughed.
“You still think this was me?”
Dante stopped.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Rosie entered through the side doorway.
She saw the gray-coated man.
And whispered his name.
“Uncle Peter?”
Peter Bellwood smiled sadly.
Samuel Bellwood's younger brother.
The uncle Rosie had been told disappeared from Pittsburgh years ago.
He looked at her prosthetic leg.
Then at Dante.
“You people were never supposed to find the ledger.”
Rosie's world tilted.
“Why?”
Peter reached into his coat.
Not for a weapon.
For an old photograph.
He placed it on a crate.
Samuel.
Peter.
Vincent.
All three standing together.
Rosie stared at it.
Peter's next words destroyed everything she thought she understood.
“Because your father wasn't investigating the operation, Rosie.”
May you like
He looked directly into her eyes.
“He started it.”
