Chapter 6 - NOBODY TOUCHES ELLIE HUGHES
The lockbox required a six-digit code.
Ellie tried her birthday.
Wrong.
Her parents’ anniversary.
Wrong.
Her father’s birthday.
Wrong.
Then she remembered something Thomas Harper used to say whenever Ellie became frightened as a child.
“Count the good things.”
There had been four people in their family.
Thomas.
Diane.
Ellie.
Her younger sister Rachel.
Four.
Then three.
Then Ellie noticed six small scratches beside the lock.
She entered 041203.
The box opened.
Inside were three flash drives.
A notebook.
Two bank statements.
And a letter.
Ellie opened the letter first.
Sweetheart,
If you are reading this, then I was right to worry.
Ellie stopped.
Her hands began trembling.
Adrian stood several feet away.
He didn’t approach.
She continued.
Philip is not the man you think he is.
I have discovered evidence that his company has been falsifying property valuations and routing development money through shell entities.
What frightens me most is that several of those entities use your identity.
I confronted him.
He denied everything.
Two days later, my office was broken into.
I do not know who is involved, and I do not know how far this goes.
If anything happens to me, take these records to someone outside Philip’s circle.
Do not confront him alone.
You are stronger than you know.
Dad.
Ellie lowered the paper.
Her father had died in what everyone believed was a sudden cardiac event.
For the first time, she wondered whether his death had truly been natural.
Adrian read the fear on her face.
“We don’t know that his death was connected.”
“You thought it.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t protect me from conclusions.”
“I’m protecting you from conclusions without evidence.”
Ellie closed the box.
“Good.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“That’s the first thing you’ve said today that didn’t make me want to yell at you.”
They reviewed the flash drives with an independent forensic accountant.
The evidence was devastating.
Inflated property valuations.
Fake invoices.
Transfers to shell corporations.
One entity led directly to Vanessa Cole.
Another led to an investment company controlled by Philip’s older brother, Martin.
And one transfer—$4.8 million—had gone to a business connected to a city official.
This was no marital scandal.
It was an entire financial network.
The accountant looked pale.
“If these documents are authentic, federal investigators will be interested.”
Ellie looked at Adrian.
“Then we give it to them.”
Adrian nodded.
But that evening, before the files could be copied, someone entered the building.
Security alarms activated.
Ellie was rushed into a secure room.
Adrian’s men searched floor by floor.
No one was found.
But the forensic accountant’s laptop was gone.
Nothing else.
Only the evidence.
Adrian became very quiet.
That frightened everyone around him more than shouting would have.
“Who knew he was here?” he asked.
“Seven people,” one of his men replied.
“Now make that list five.”
Ellie stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means two were with us continuously.”
“And the others?”
“We verify them.”
“You think someone around you is helping Philip.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Yes.”
Ellie suddenly understood something important.
Adrian Moretti was feared not because he was unpredictable.
He was feared because he was extremely controlled.
And when someone threatened people under his protection, that control became terrifying.
“I don’t want anyone hurt because of me,” Ellie said.
Adrian’s gaze shifted.
“This isn’t because of you.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“If someone betrayed you—”
“They’ll be removed from my organization.”
“Removed?”
“Fired.”
Ellie stared.
Adrian sighed.
“I knew exactly what you thought.”
“You have a reputation.”
“So do you now.”
“What’s mine?”
He pulled out his phone.
A headline filled the screen.
MAFIA KINGPIN HIDING MARRIED SOCIALITE IN LUXURY APARTMENT.
Ellie groaned.
“Oh, wonderful.”
“There’s more.”
“Please don’t.”
“Apparently we’re having an affair.”
“I have cracked ribs.”
“Journalism has become ambitious.”
Ellie laughed.
It was the first full laugh since the attack.
Then Adrian laughed too.
For one strange moment, everything felt normal.
Until the apartment intercom sounded.
The security desk spoke through the speaker.
“Mr. Moretti, there’s a woman downstairs asking for Mrs. Hughes.”
“Name?”
Silence.
Then:
“Vanessa Cole.”
Ellie and Adrian looked at each other.
Vanessa entered ten minutes later.
Her hair was wet.
Her face pale.
She carried no purse.
No phone.
She looked at Ellie.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For helping him.”
Ellie’s chest tightened.
Vanessa started crying.
“I thought it was just business.”
“What did you help Philip do?”
Vanessa looked toward Adrian.
Then back to Ellie.
“Everything.”
Before anyone could speak, she added:
“And he knows about your father’s files.”
Ellie froze.
“How?”
May you like
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Because your mother told him.”
