Chapter 11 - The Man Dante Trusted Most
Ellie refused to surrender the rabbit.
“No.”
Rosa knelt in front of her.
“Sweetheart.”
“No.”
“It will only take a minute.”
“Dad gave him to me.”
“I know.”
“You said nobody could take Dad’s things.”
Rosa looked helplessly at Dante.
This was not a problem Dante’s usual methods could solve.
He crouched beside Ellie.
“What’s his name?”
She hugged the rabbit tighter.
“Benny.”
“I see.”
“Dad bought him when I was sick.”
Dante nodded.
“I’m not going to take Benny.”
Rosa looked at him.
Dante continued.
“But your dad may have put something inside him that he wanted your mom to have someday.”
Ellie frowned.
“Like treasure?”
“Maybe.”
“Is it money?”
“Probably not.”
“Then it’s not good treasure.”
Despite the situation, Adrian laughed.
Ellie stared suspiciously.
Dante lowered his voice.
“We can open one seam, look inside, and your mother can sew it again.”
“Will he look the same?”
“Yes.”
“You promise?”
Dante hesitated.
Promises had weight.
“I promise.”
Ellie handed him the rabbit.
Rosa found a sewing kit.
Near the bottom was a seam stitched with thread slightly darker than the rest.
Jacob.
Rosa recognized his clumsy handwork.
“He repaired this himself.”
She cut the stitches.
Her fingers reached inside.
Cotton.
More cotton.
Then plastic.
Rosa pulled out a tiny memory card sealed in a waterproof pouch.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian whispered, “Jacob.”
Rosa began crying.
“He gave this to Ellie.”
Dante understood why.
No criminal searching Jacob’s belongings would care about a child’s toy.
And Jacob knew Rosa would never throw away something connected to him.
They inserted the card into Rebecca’s laptop.
Password required.
Ellie immediately said, “Try my birthday.”
It failed.
“Dad’s birthday?”
Failed.
“Mom’s?”
Failed.
Rosa stared at the screen.
“Try the day we got married.”
It opened.
Inside were hundreds of scanned pages.
Bank ledgers.
Contracts.
Corporate records.
Audio files.
Photographs.
Enough documentation to destroy reputations, companies and perhaps entire criminal networks.
Dante’s face hardened.
He recognized signatures.
Sebastian’s.
His father’s.
Government officials.
Executives.
Some were retired.
Some were dead.
Some remained powerful.
Adrian stared.
“This is why Jacob was killed.”
Rosa flinched.
Dante looked at him.
“You don’t know that.”
Adrian nodded.
“No. But I think we both believe it.”
Dante opened an audio file.
Sebastian’s voice.
Fifteen years younger.
“The girl has to disappear.”
Dante stopped the playback.
Rosa covered her mouth.
Adrian looked sick.
Dante pressed play again.
Another male voice asked, “Permanently?”
Sebastian responded.
“I don’t care how. I need Dante convinced she’s gone.”
Dante’s face lost all expression.
There were moments when rage became so great it moved beyond anger into something colder.
Rosa saw it happen.
“Dante.”
He stood.
“Where’s Sebastian?”
Adrian answered.
“We’re still searching.”
“Find him.”
“Dante.”
“Find him.”
Rosa stepped between them.
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“You are not leaving here angry and doing something that destroys whatever is left of your life.”
“This is not your concern.”
“The evidence was hidden with my daughter.”
“It ends now.”
“How?”
Dante said nothing.
Rosa understood.
“Jacob died trying to expose the truth.”
“He died because Sebastian wanted this.”
“Then use it.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t become the kind of man Jacob was trying to protect Ellie from.”
The sentence hit.
Hard.
Dante looked toward the stairs.
Ellie sat halfway up, listening.
Of course she was.
He lowered his voice.
“Go upstairs.”
She shook her head.
“Ellie.”
“You look scary.”
Dante’s face changed.
He walked toward her slowly.
“I’m not angry at you.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you scared?”
“Because grown-ups do bad things when they’re angry.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Dante knelt.
Ellie looked at him.
“My dad used to go outside when he got mad.”
“That sounds smart.”
“He said you can’t put words back after you throw them.”
Dante looked at Rosa.
Jacob again.
Teaching his daughter the things powerful men never learned.
Dante stood.
He returned to the laptop.
“Rebecca.”
“Yes?”
“Make copies.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
“Where are they going?”
“My attorney.”
“Anyone else?”
“Federal investigators.”
Adrian stared.
“Dante.”
“If these records are what they appear to be, they don’t stay inside the family.”
“You understand what that does to Mercer operations.”
“Yes.”
“It could destroy everything.”
Dante looked at Ellie.
“Maybe some things deserve to be destroyed.”
Adrian slowly nodded.
For fifteen years, Dante had preserved an empire partly because he believed it was what his family required.
Now he realized preserving it had cost him his sister.
His mother’s truth.
Jacob’s life.
And nearly Ellie’s safety.
No more.
His phone rang.
A guard from the Mercer estate.
“Sir, we found Mr. Sebastian.”
“Where?”
“He came back.”
Dante frowned.
“To the estate?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He says he wants to speak with you.”
“About what?”
The guard hesitated.
“Lucia.”
Dante looked at Adrian.
“When?”
“Now.”
Rosa immediately shook her head.
“You can’t go alone.”
“I won’t.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She folded her arms.
Dante recognized the expression.
Argument would waste time.
“Fine.”
Rebecca would remain with Ellie.
Adrian would accompany Dante and Rosa.
Before leaving, Dante went upstairs.
Ellie sat on the bed with Benny, now carefully restitched.
“You fixed him.”
“I promised.”
She inspected the seam.
“It’s crooked.”
“I didn’t do the sewing.”
Rosa called from downstairs, “I heard that.”
Ellie smiled.
Then became serious.
“Are you going to see the bad man?”
Dante did not lie.
“Yes.”
“Will you come back?”
He thought about promises again.
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
Dante held out his hand.
Ellie wrapped her little finger around his.
“I promise.”
She released him.
“Five minutes when you get back.”
Dante nodded.
“Five minutes.”
He left the room.
Outside, Adrian waited.
“You realize,” Adrian said quietly, “Sebastian won’t confess.”
“I don’t need him to.”
“You want answers.”
“Yes.”
“What if he refuses?”
Dante looked toward the evidence copied from Jacob’s memory card.
“Then I let the truth answer for him.”
At the Mercer estate, Sebastian waited in Dante’s study.
Sitting in Dante’s chair.
An untouched bourbon beside him.
Exactly where Dante had been when Ellie first found him.
Sebastian smiled when they entered.
“You finally found the box.”
Dante stopped.
Rosa went cold.
Sebastian looked at her.
“My condolences about Jacob.”
Rosa’s face tightened.
“You knew my husband.”
Sebastian’s smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
Adrian stiffened.
Dante watched.
Sebastian answered without hesitation.
“No.”
Rosa did not believe him.
Neither did Dante.
Sebastian leaned back.
“But Jacob made the same mistake Lucia made.”
“What mistake?” Dante asked.
“He believed evidence mattered more than power.”
Dante moved closer.
“You spent fifteen years convincing me my sister was dead.”
Sebastian sighed.
“I spent fifteen years keeping you alive.”
The words made Dante almost laugh.
Everyone claimed the same thing.
Sebastian continued.
“Lucia was reckless. Your mother was worse. They believed truth could change people.”
“Where is Lucia?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe.”
Dante stared at the man who had raised him.
Sebastian’s face remained calm.
Then he said something Dante had not expected.
“If you truly want to know what happened fifteen years ago, ask Adrian why Lucia ran the second time.”
Dante turned.
Adrian’s face changed.
Sebastian smiled.
“There it is.”
Dante stared at his oldest friend.
“What is he talking about?”
Adrian said nothing.
“Adrian.”
Sebastian leaned forward.
“Tell him.”
Dante’s voice became quiet.
“What did you do?”
And when Adrian finally answered, Dante discovered Sebastian had not been the only man whose betrayal changed Lucia’s life.
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Adrian had once made a choice that sent her running for fifteen years.
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