Chapter 13 - The Man Behind the Paper Trail
Riley was already moving.
Matteo caught her before she reached the elevator.
“You’re not going there alone.”
“I never said I was.”
“You were walking toward the exit.”
“That’s generally how leaving works.”
“Riley.”
She turned.
Her face made him stop arguing.
“My father is in that building.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
Adrian called police and federal agents.
Thomas contacted the investigator handling the archive.
Within ten minutes, they were heading toward Whitmore Tower.
Matteo drove.
Riley hated being a passenger.
She hated not knowing.
She hated every red light.
“Call him again,” she said.
Connor did.
No answer.
Patrick’s location remained fixed underground.
Parking garage.
Level B3.
When they arrived, police were still several minutes away.
Adrian ordered Matteo to wait.
Matteo ignored him.
Riley almost appreciated the hypocrisy.
They entered the garage.
Patrick’s pickup sat near an elevator.
Empty.
Driver’s door unlocked.
His cane lay on the pavement.
Riley picked it up.
Her hands shook.
Matteo touched her shoulder.
“He’s here.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“Don’t promise.”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
A phone rang.
Not theirs.
Patrick’s.
Inside the truck.
Riley answered.
Daniel Whitmore.
“Come upstairs.”
“Where’s my father?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt him—”
“Twenty-eighth floor.”
The line ended.
Matteo said, “We wait for police.”
Riley stared at him.
“You’d wait if it was Sofia?”
His jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Then don’t ask me.”
They took the elevator.
Adrian accompanied them.
Thomas remained below to coordinate police.
The twenty-eighth floor was nearly empty.
Whitmore Urban Partners occupied the entire level.
Riley stepped into a conference room.
Daniel stood beside the window.
Patrick sat in a chair.
Unharmed.
Luca stood near the door.
Riley’s relief became fury.
“Dad.”
“I’m fine.”
Daniel smiled.
“He is remarkably difficult company.”
Patrick replied, “You’re remarkably unpleasant.”
Riley nearly laughed from relief.
Matteo stared at Luca.
“Why?”
Luca avoided his eyes.
Daniel answered.
“Money.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“It wasn’t only money.”
Matteo looked at him.
“Then what?”
“Victor owned my father’s debt.”
Matteo’s expression changed.
Luca continued.
“He put me near you eight years ago.”
Adrian looked devastated.
“You were his informant.”
“Yes.”
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
Matteo’s voice was quiet.
“You could have told me.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“Could I?”
“Yes.”
“You’re Matteo Duca.”
“And?”
“People don’t bring you weakness. They hide it.”
The words struck Matteo harder than anger would have.
Riley saw it.
Salvatore’s warning.
Fear is not loyalty.
Even Matteo’s attempt to become different had not fully erased his family’s reputation.
Daniel interrupted.
“Moving.”
He placed documents on the table.
Sale agreement.
Morgan Towing.
Twenty million dollars.
“Sign.”
Riley laughed.
“No.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“You are exhausting.”
“I’ve heard.”
“I can destroy the company.”
“You tried.”
“I can destroy Matteo.”
“He’s had a rough week already.”
Patrick coughed to hide a laugh.
Daniel slammed his hand down.
“Do you people understand the situation?”
Riley’s humor vanished.
“Yes.”
She stepped closer.
“You’re losing.”
Daniel stared.
“The archive exists. Victor is talking to investigators. The board kept Matteo. The press story didn’t make us sell.”
“Victor will never testify.”
“Maybe.”
“And without the current files, nothing connects me.”
Riley nodded.
“That’s what this is about.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“The property.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“You.”
Matteo understood.
“You need Riley to sell because once you own the tunnel, you can claim anything discovered there was illegally obtained or contaminated.”
Daniel said nothing.
Riley continued.
“You’re not buying a tow yard.”
“You’re buying control of the evidence.”
Patrick smiled proudly.
Daniel’s calm slipped.
Riley knew she had hit it.
“Where are the current records?” Matteo asked.
Daniel looked at him.
“You think I’m going to answer?”
“No.”
Matteo glanced toward the office walls.
“But I think they’re here.”
Daniel laughed.
“Search.”
Riley looked around.
Too confident.
She remembered her mother.
Hide things somewhere obvious enough that only someone who understands why will look.
Whitmore Tower stood on land acquired through the redevelopment scheme.
Daniel had spent his life building on the fraud.
Where would a man like that keep the documents protecting him?
Not hidden.
Displayed.
Riley looked at the framed architectural plans on the wall.
One showed the river district.
She walked toward it.
Daniel’s face changed.
Just slightly.
Enough.
Riley smiled.
“Oh.”
She removed the frame.
Behind it was a wall safe.
Daniel moved.
Adrian blocked him.
Matteo looked at the safe.
“Combination?”
Daniel said nothing.
Patrick spoke.
“Try 314.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Patrick shrugged.
“People are unimaginative.”
Riley entered 3-1-4.
Nothing.
Daniel smiled.
Matteo studied him.
“Your father’s birthday.”
Still nothing.
Riley looked at Daniel.
“What matters most to you?”
“Don’t psychoanalyze me.”
She looked around the office.
No family photos.
No spouse.
No children.
Only buildings.
Deals.
Projects.
Then she saw a model.
WHITMORE RIVER DISTRICT — PHASE ONE.
Groundbreaking date.
06-18.
She entered 0618.
The safe clicked.
Daniel went white.
Riley opened it.
Inside were files.
Hard drives.
Corporate seals.
And three folders labeled MORGAN.
Matteo laughed softly.
“Remarkably unpleasant and predictable.”
Daniel lunged toward the table.
Adrian restrained him.
Luca did not move.
He simply stared at the floor.
Sirens sounded below.
Daniel’s face changed.
“You think this is over?”
Riley pulled the sale agreement from the table.
Tore it in half.
“Yes.”
Police entered moments later.
Daniel was detained.
Patrick stood.
Riley hugged him hard enough to make him complain.
“I’m fine.”
“You left without telling Connor.”
“I went to the pharmacy.”
“And got kidnapped.”
“Unexpected detour.”
Riley laughed through tears.
Matteo approached Luca.
Officers waited.
Luca looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
Matteo said nothing initially.
Then, “Tell them everything.”
Luca nodded.
“I will.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
Matteo looked toward Riley.
Then back at Luca.
“Maybe I should have given you more reason to.”
Luca’s eyes filled.
Officers led him away.
Daniel passed Riley.
He stopped.
“You have no idea what happens when that property becomes public knowledge.”
Riley looked at him.
“It becomes mine.”
Daniel smiled strangely.
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“It becomes the most valuable undeveloped parcel on the Chicago River.”
Riley’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Daniel continued.
“The twenty million wasn’t generosity.”
An officer moved him along.
Riley looked at Matteo.
“What did he mean?”
Thomas had entered behind police.
He was holding one of the documents from Daniel’s safe.
His face said everything.
“Riley.”
“What?”
He handed her the paper.
It was a city redevelopment proposal.
Morgan Towing sat directly at the center.
Projected acquisition value:
$47.8 million.
Riley stared.
Patrick whispered, “Jesus.”
Connor, arriving from the elevator, saw the number.
“Are we rich?”
Riley looked at him.
Then at Matteo.
Then at the paper.
The fight to save Morgan Towing had ended.
But something far more complicated had just begun.
Because every developer in Chicago was about to learn what Riley’s land was really worth.
May you like
And this time, the person she would have to decide whether to trust most was Matteo Duca.
---
