Chapter 5 - He Bought the Building
Felix Dane did not look dangerous.
That disturbed Elena more than if he had.
He was in his late fifties, silver-haired, elegantly dressed, and carried himself like a man who had spent decades attending charity dinners where photographers knew his preferred angle.
When Elena and Luca entered the lobby, Felix smiled.
“Luca.”
Luca stopped ten feet away.
“Felix.”
“I heard there was some excitement.”
“From whom?”
Felix’s smile remained.
“You employ hundreds of people.”
“So do you.”
Elena stood beside Luca.
Felix looked at her.
“Ms. Renner.”
“You know me.”
“I knew your father.”
“Past tense?”
The smile thinned.
“I understand Marcus is difficult to locate.”
“You seem remarkably calm about that.”
“I don’t know him well enough to panic.”
Elena almost laughed.
Seventeen years.
Six hundred thousand dollars.
Her father had been paying a debt connected to this man for most of her life.
And Felix spoke as if Marcus were an old delivery driver.
Luca moved slightly in front of her.
Elena immediately stepped sideways.
He noticed.
So did Felix.
Interesting, Felix’s expression seemed to say.
“I came because my name was mentioned,” Felix said.
“By who?” Luca asked.
“Your attorney.”
Nadine, standing near the elevators, frowned.
“I didn’t contact you.”
Felix looked at her.
“Then perhaps your confidentiality has deteriorated.”
Luca’s gaze sharpened.
Felix smiled faintly.
“Exactly.”
He walked away twenty minutes later without admitting anything.
There was no legal basis to detain him.
No conclusive proof.
Only suspicion.
It made Elena furious.
Two hours later, Luca bought the building.
Not literally in two hours.
He purchased the controlling debt of the holding company that owned it, negotiated an emergency transfer with a lender Vescari Holdings already did business with, and obtained enough voting authority to replace the management company by evening.
Elena discovered this when she walked into the lobby and found twelve unfamiliar security officers.
She called Luca.
“You bought my building.”
“Yes.”
“You actually did it.”
“Yes.”
“Are you insane?”
“Debatable.”
“Where are you?”
“Penthouse.”
“Perfect.”
She hung up.
Three minutes later, the elevator doors opened upstairs.
Owen saw Elena approaching.
He immediately moved aside.
“Smart,” she said.
“I learn.”
Elena entered the penthouse.
Luca was on the phone.
She waited exactly four seconds.
“Hang up.”
He looked at her.
“Now.”
He told whoever was on the line he would call back.
Elena crossed her arms.
“You bought my building.”
“We established that.”
“You replaced the staff.”
“The previous management company was compromised.”
“You changed access systems.”
“Yes.”
“You put guards in the lobby.”
“Yes.”
“You added cameras.”
“In common areas.”
“Thank you for respecting the constitutional boundary of my shower.”
Luca sighed.
“Elena.”
“No. You don’t get to ‘Elena’ me.”
“I bought control of a property company. I didn’t buy you.”
“That sentence is not as reassuring as you think.”
“I found three maintenance employees who received unexplained cash deposits.”
“Then call the police.”
“We are.”
“You could have told me.”
“There wasn’t time.”
“There is always time to say, ‘Hey, I’m about to purchase the building you live in.’”
“If I had called, what would you have said?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
“That is not permission!”
“I didn’t need permission to buy it.”
She stared at him.
“That might be the worst thing you’ve said yet.”
Luca stood.
“What would you have preferred? That Felix kept access? That Mason walked through a maintenance corridor whenever he wanted? That someone entered Four-B again?”
“I would prefer being involved in decisions about my own life.”
“You are involved.”
“After you make them.”
His voice sharpened.
“Because while you debate autonomy, I’m trying to close doors before someone walks through them.”
“And if you close every door around me, what’s the difference between protection and a cage?”
Silence.
Luca looked away.
Elena knew she had hit the same wound as before.
This time she did not soften.
“You’re not the only person who has been scared,” she said.
His gaze returned.
“I lost my mother when I was four. My father was everything after that. Now I find out half my childhood was financed around some secret punishment he was paying. He’s missing. People are breaking into my apartment. I’m terrified.”
Luca’s expression changed.
“But I still get to choose.”
He lowered his voice.
“And if your choice gets you hurt?”
“Then help me make a better one. Don’t erase it.”
For a long moment he said nothing.
Then Luca nodded.
A single movement.
Small.
But real.
“All right.”
Elena blinked.
“What?”
“You’re right.”
She stared suspiciously.
“That was disturbingly easy.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Should I ask whether admitting it hurt?”
“Yes.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
Luca walked to the table.
“From now on, you’re included.”
“In everything concerning me?”
“Yes.”
“Before decisions?”
His expression tightened.
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t enjoy this.”
“I’m going to treasure it.”
He showed her the building security records.
The changes revealed something important almost immediately.
The master key used to enter Elena’s apartment had been signed out by assistant superintendent Neal Price.
Neal claimed Mason Hart asked for it.
Mason remained missing.
But the camera failure originated from an administrator account belonging to Felix Dane’s consulting company.
Now they had a line.
Not proof of the original theft.
But evidence of recent interference.
Then Elena remembered Marcus’s key.
Locker 317.
It belonged to a storage facility near the river.
This time Luca asked.
“Do you want to go?”
Elena noticed the effort.
“Yes.”
“Do you want security?”
“Yes.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I’m capable of learning too.”
Locker 317 contained no money.
No weapons.
No dramatic stack of criminal documents.
It contained boxes.
Photographs.
Tax records.
Old Christmas decorations.
Three of Elena’s childhood paintings.
And one locked metal case.
The key from the broom opened it.
Inside were copies of every payment Marcus had made for seventeen years.
Also a voice recorder.
Elena pressed play.
Her father’s voice filled the storage unit.
“Ellie, if you’re hearing this, I failed to finish this without involving you.”
She sat down on a cardboard box.
Luca remained near the door.
Marcus continued.
“I need you to understand something before you decide whether to forgive me. I did sign the original agreement. I knew the money wasn’t mine to repay.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I signed because Lucia believed we needed time. She thought we could expose the transfers quietly. Then she died. Afterward, the papers changed. The amount changed. Felix came to me.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“He told me if I challenged the debt, he would produce documents making it look as if I had stolen everything. I had you. You were seven. I had already lost your mother. I couldn’t risk prison. I couldn’t risk leaving you alone.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“So I paid.”
Marcus’s recorded voice broke slightly.
“I told myself I would stop when you were older. Then you were twelve. Then eighteen. Then starting your career. There was always another reason not to tell you.”
Elena whispered, “Dad.”
“Three weeks ago, Felix contacted me again. He said the remaining balance was due Friday.”
Luca and Elena exchanged a look.
“But the money isn’t the real payment.”
Marcus paused.
“Friday at five, Felix intends to take possession of the Saint in Blue before its scheduled return to the museum. He knows Lucia hid proof somewhere inside it.”
Elena felt cold.
“His plan is simple. If I deliver the evidence, he destroys it. If I don’t, he submits the forged audit and confession publicly and claims I manipulated the Harbor Arts Trust. He’ll also claim Elena participated in hiding stolen property through her conservation work.”
Elena stood.
“He’s going to frame me too.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Marcus continued.
“I disappeared because I needed one thing Felix doesn’t know exists. The second authorization.”
Nadine leaned forward.
“The missing transfer authorization.”
“Yes,” Luca said.
Marcus’s voice continued.
“I found it years ago but never had the courage to use it. Lucia separated the papers deliberately. One set proves money was moved. The second proves who ordered it.”
“Where?” Elena whispered.
The recording crackled.
“If you’re hearing this before Friday, I’m probably trying to retrieve it.”
Then Marcus said a name.
“Thomas Bell.”
Elena froze.
Bell & Rowe Conservation.
The false stamp on the painting.
Marcus continued.
“Thomas Bell kept the second authorization.”
Nadine took out her phone immediately.
Elena looked at Luca.
“Find him.”
Nadine searched.
Then stopped.
“Thomas Bell died six years ago.”
The room went silent.
Owen said, “Family?”
Nadine searched again.
“One daughter.”
“Where?”
“Portland.”
Luca said, “Call her.”
Nadine did.
No answer.
Then Owen’s phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Luca asked.
“We found Mason.”
“Where?”
“Airport hotel.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring him in.”
Owen shook his head.
“He’s already talking to police.”
Elena frowned.
“Why?”
“He says Felix ordered him to monitor us.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s convenient.”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
Owen looked at Elena.
“Mason says Felix told him Friday isn’t about getting the painting.”
Marcus’s recording suddenly felt heavy in Elena’s hand.
“What is it about?”
Owen answered.
“At five o’clock Friday, Felix is filing documents that transfer liability for the entire Harbor Arts theft to Marcus.”
Nadine’s face changed.
“That could be challenged.”
“Not if Marcus signs.”
Elena stared.
“My father would never sign.”
Owen said quietly, “He already agreed to.”
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Elena understood first.
“Me.”
Luca looked at her.
“He threatened me.”
Owen nodded.
“Mason says Felix promised Marcus that if he signed the confession and surrendered the evidence, Elena’s name would be removed completely.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
Her father was preparing to destroy himself.
May you like
And Friday was tomorrow.
---
