Chapter 12 - Evelyn Walks Into the Trap
Victor Caruso did not break down the door.
He did not need to.
“I know Diana left,” he called from the hallway. “I know Falcone is in Charlestown. And I know you’re holding a drive that belongs to men who were powerful before you learned how to type.”
Evelyn stood in the dark kitchen.
Her phone showed no signal.
Jammer.
Of course.
Victor continued.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“That sentence has never improved a situation.”
A pause.
Then a low chuckle.
“I understand why Giovanni liked you.”
Evelyn’s eyes adjusted.
There was another exit through the bedroom.
Fire stairs.
But if Victor had planned this properly, someone would be waiting.
She needed time.
“Why did Giovanni choose me?”
“Open the door.”
“Answer the question.”
“You’re negotiating?”
“I schedule Lorenzo Falcone. Negotiating unreasonable demands is most of my job.”
Victor laughed again.
“You really don’t know.”
“Apparently.”
“Giovanni chose you because you once told him no.”
Evelyn frowned.
Memory.
Two years earlier.
Giovanni had appeared unannounced for a meeting with Lorenzo.
Evelyn had refused to interrupt because Lorenzo was on a confidential call.
Giovanni had stared at her as though nobody had denied him access to anything in decades.
Then sat down.
Waited eleven minutes.
She had forgotten about it.
Victor said, “He asked Margaret about you afterward.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Powerful men remember the people who don’t immediately obey.”
Evelyn almost smiled.
Then Victor’s tone changed.
“Open the door before my patience becomes less entertaining.”
Evelyn looked at the flash drive.
A fake copy sat in her handbag.
The real one was hidden somewhere Victor would not expect.
She opened the door.
Victor stood alone.
Gray overcoat.
White hair.
Red tie.
No visible weapon.
“I thought you’d be taller,” Evelyn said.
His eyebrows lifted.
“We’ve met.”
“You were sitting down.”
He smiled.
“Bring the drive.”
She picked up her bag.
“Where are we going?”
“To correct an old mistake.”
Twenty minutes later Evelyn sat in the rear of Victor’s car.
Boston lights moved past.
She memorized every turn.
Not because she expected to escape alone.
Because information was the one weapon nobody could take from her unless she stopped paying attention.
Victor sat opposite.
“You’re remarkably calm.”
“I’m forty-two. I’ve survived office Christmas parties.”
“You joke when frightened.”
“I also alphabetize.”
He studied her.
“Lorenzo cares about you.”
Evelyn looked out the window.
“That bothers you?”
“It creates leverage.”
“You’ve spent too much time around men who confuse affection with weakness.”
Victor’s expression changed slightly.
“You think Lorenzo is different?”
“I think he tries to be.”
“That will disappoint you.”
“Perhaps.”
The car stopped at an old private bank building in the Financial District.
Not the warehouse.
Margaret’s message had been right.
Victor escorted Evelyn downstairs.
The vault level had been converted into a private office.
Margaret sat in a chair.
Unhurt.
Furious.
“Evelyn.”
“Hello, Margaret.”
“You weren’t supposed to come.”
“Apparently everyone has instructions for me this week.”
Victor closed the door.
“Touching.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You have her. Let me go.”
“No.”
“You said—”
“I lied.”
Evelyn glanced at Margaret.
Her hands were free.
No visible injuries.
Victor wanted cooperation, not force.
Good.
“What exactly do you need?” Evelyn asked.
Victor placed documents on the table.
A transfer of voting authority.
“Sign.”
“No.”
“You haven’t read it.”
“Does it say ‘give Victor Caruso control of Falcone Global’?”
“Essentially.”
“Then I’ve read enough.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“You are temporary trustee only because Margaret can activate the provision.”
Evelyn looked at Margaret.
“Have you?”
“No.”
Victor said, “She will.”
Margaret remained silent.
Victor moved behind her.
“You both misunderstand your position.”
Evelyn put her handbag on the table.
“No. You misunderstand yours.”
He stared.
“You have Samuel under arrest, federal investigators opening old files, Diana determined to prove you were involved in Daniel Voss’s death, and Lorenzo coming for Margaret.”
“He’s going to an empty warehouse.”
“For now.”
Victor’s expression sharpened.
Evelyn continued.
“You need control of Falcone Global before Bellweather becomes public because once it does, you lose every arrangement Giovanni’s old network gave you.”
Victor said nothing.
That meant she was right.
“You don’t want revenge.”
“No?”
“You want relevance.”
Margaret’s eyes almost smiled.
Victor did not.
“You’re very brave for a secretary.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The mistake.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You all keep saying secretary as though it means stupid.”
Evelyn opened her handbag.
Victor tensed.
She removed the flash drive.
Placed it on the table.
His attention locked onto it.
“Sign.”
“First Margaret leaves.”
“No.”
“Then you don’t get the password.”
Victor looked from the drive to Evelyn.
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No. I expect you to need me.”
Silence.
The power balance shifted by one inch.
Enough.
Victor nodded toward the door.
“Margaret goes upstairs.”
“Outside.”
“No.”
“Then no password.”
He stared at her for several seconds.
Finally:
“Outside.”
A man entered and escorted Margaret away.
As she passed Evelyn, Margaret whispered, “You should have listened.”
Evelyn replied, “I learned from Lorenzo.”
Victor waited until the door closed.
“Password.”
“Confirm she’s outside.”
He made a call.
Video appeared on the monitor.
Margaret exiting the building.
Evelyn exhaled.
“Now.”
She slid the drive toward Victor.
“Burnedharborwater.”
Victor typed.
Nothing.
Again.
Access denied.
His face changed.
“One attempt remains.”
Evelyn looked innocent.
“Capital B?”
Victor stared at her.
“You gave me a fake drive.”
“Yes.”
Rage finally broke through his composure.
“Where is the real one?”
“Somewhere safer.”
Victor crossed toward her.
Then the vault door alarm began screaming.
Victor stopped.
A second later the lights flashed.
His phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His face darkened.
Margaret had not simply walked outside.
She had reached federal agents Diana sent.
The building was surrounded.
Victor looked at Evelyn.
“You planned this.”
“No.”
That was true.
“But I hoped competent people might.”
He grabbed the documents.
Moved toward the back exit.
Evelyn stepped aside.
She was not going to physically stop him.
Victor paused at the doorway.
“You think this ends with me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked almost pleased.
“Because Lorenzo has one enemy left.”
“Who?”
Victor smiled.
“The person who told Samuel that Margaret gave you the books.”
Then he disappeared through the service passage.
Evelyn stood still.
Only a handful of people knew about those books.
Margaret.
Rita.
Evelyn.
And the person who had been inside her apartment when Margaret delivered them.
Her neighbor, Mrs. Donnelly.
But that made no sense.
Unless someone else had been watching even then.
A minute later Margaret rushed back downstairs.
“You all right?”
“Yes.”
“You gave him a fake drive?”
“Yes.”
Margaret actually laughed.
Then stopped.
“Where’s the real one?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“In Lorenzo’s office.”
Margaret went pale.
“What?”
“I put it there before we left headquarters.”
“Where?”
“Inside the one place nobody touches.”
Margaret stared.
Then understood.
Lorenzo’s father’s locked desk.
Her face changed.
“Evelyn, Giovanni’s desk isn’t secure.”
“What?”
“The board has a master key.”
Evelyn’s heart dropped.
“Who has it?”
Margaret’s answer came immediately.
“Diana.”
And Diana Voss had left the safe apartment forty minutes earlier.
May you like
Alone.
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