Chapter 10 - My Cousin's Bargain
I answered before the second ring.
"Where is the boy?"
Luca laughed softly.
"You always did skip greetings when you were angry."
Tessa grabbed my sleeve.
I put the call on speaker.
"Eli is twelve."
"He is fine."
"You took him from school."
"I did not take anyone."
"Noah identified you."
A pause.
"Children are unreliable witnesses."
Tessa leaned toward the phone.
"If you touch my brother, I will spend the rest of my life making sure you regret waking up every morning."
Luca went silent.
Then he chuckled.
"You must be Tessa."
"Where is Eli?"
"Safe."
"Prove it."
There was movement on the line.
Then Eli's voice.
"Tess?"
Tessa covered her mouth.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Did they hurt you?"
"No."
"Where are you?"
"I do not know."
Luca came back on.
"That is enough."
"What do you want?" I asked.
"The red notebook."
Tessa looked at me.
Of course.
"And the recorder," Luca continued.
"And the flash drive."
"You know exactly what was in the locker."
"Yes."
"So you were there before us."
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"Graham told me."
Tessa stepped closer to the phone.
"Where is Graham?"
Luca's voice changed.
"I wish I knew."
"His car had my mother's photograph inside."
"I know."
"How?"
"Because Graham was supposed to bring me the notebook."
The admission came too easily.
I looked at Aaron.
He was recording everything.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because your little moral awakening is going to destroy a company that employs twenty thousand people."
"You mean it is going to expose you."
"You do not understand what you are touching."
"I understand wage theft."
"You understand one ledger."
"I understand a fake settlement."
"You understand paper."
"Then explain the rest."
Luca was quiet.
When he spoke again, the arrogance was gone.
"Victor built Harrow Bridge to solve a labor problem."
Tessa's eyes narrowed.
"What labor problem?"
"Overspending."
I laughed in disbelief.
"You stole from workers to improve margins."
"I did not steal anything."
"Your company took money from paychecks."
"Victor handled operations."
"And you took four hundred seventy-five thousand dollars."
"That was consulting income."
"For what?"
"For introducing Harrow Bridge to several companies."
"Companies you knew they were stealing from?"
"I did not know that at first."
"At first."
The words hung in the air.
"When did you know?"
Luca did not answer.
Tessa did.
"When my mother complained."
Silence.
She stepped closer to the phone as if he could see her.
"You knew after my mother complained."
Luca exhaled.
"Your mother was told the deductions would be corrected."
"They were not."
"That was not my department."
"She was followed."
"I did not order that."
"She died."
"I did not kill your mother."
Tessa's face changed.
No one had accused him of killing her.
Not in that call.
Luca realized what he had done.
I spoke carefully.
"What happened the night Katherine died?"
"Nothing involving me."
"Where were you?"
"I do not remember."
"You remember a consulting invoice from years ago but not where you were the night a whistleblower died?"
"I said I did not kill her."
"Then why are you afraid of the evidence?"
"I am afraid of what Victor will do if it gets out."
That was new.
I looked at Aaron again.
"Victor?"
"Yes."
"You have spent two days defending him."
"I have spent two days trying not to end up like Graham."
Tessa went still.
"What happened to Graham?"
"I do not know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I do not."
Luca's breathing became unsteady.
"He called me yesterday."
"He said he had the notebook."
"He said he wanted money to disappear."
"How much?"
"Five hundred thousand."
"Did you pay him?"
"I agreed to meet."
"Where?"
"Near the river."
"The place police found his car."
"Yes."
"Did he show up?"
"No."
"Then why did you go to the office?"
"To tell Victor Graham was missing."
"Why not call police?"
Luca laughed bitterly.
"Because Victor told me if I involved police, he would make sure every illegal payment looked like mine."
"You accepted illegal payments."
"Not all of them."
Not all.
The phrase told me more than he meant to.
Tessa looked furious enough to tear the phone apart.
"Where is my brother?"
Luca went quiet.
"Luca," I said.
"Tell us now."
"I cannot."
Tessa's voice dropped.
"You called us."
"Yes."
"You asked for the notebook."
"Yes."
"So you can tell us where he is."
"I cannot because I do not have him anymore."
The air left the room.
"What?" Tessa whispered.
"Someone took him from me."
"You lying piece of-"
"I am not lying."
Her face twisted.
"You kidnapped a child and lost him?"
"I did not kidnap him."
"You put him in a van."
"I arranged for someone to bring both boys to a safe location."
"Against their will."
"I was trying to keep them away from Victor."
Tessa laughed in disbelief.
"You left Noah locked in a utility room."
"I did not know that happened."
"Who took Eli from you?" I asked.
"I do not know."
"When?"
"Thirty minutes ago."
"Where?"
"A house in Bridgeport."
"Address."
He gave it.
Aaron sent it to police immediately.
"Who was with Eli?"
"A man I hired."
"Name."
"Derek Sloan."
"What happened?"
"He called me yelling."
"About what?"
"Someone came to the back door with police credentials."
"Real police?"
"I do not know."
"Then what?"
"The call cut off."
Tessa gripped the edge of the table.
"Let me talk to Eli again."
"I cannot."
"You just did."
"That recording was from ten minutes ago."
She went white.
I felt murder in the room.
Not as an act.
As a possibility living inside anger.
Tessa spoke slowly.
"If my brother is hurt, there will not be enough money in Chicago to protect you."
Luca's voice cracked.
"I am trying to help you."
"You are trying to save yourself."
"Yes."
For the first time, he sounded honest.
"Yes, I am."
Then he said something none of us expected.
"Victor has your father."
Tessa froze.
"What?"
"Owen Cole is alive."
"I know he is alive."
"No."
Luca lowered his voice.
"You do not understand."
"He did not disappear on his own."
Tessa stopped breathing.
"Where is he?"
"I only know where he was six months ago."
"Tell me."
"Kenosha."
The tower location from her father's call.
My pulse quickened.
"Where in Kenosha?" I asked.
"A private rehabilitation facility called North Point House."
"Why was he there?"
"Because Victor paid for it."
Tessa's eyes filled.
"Why?"
Luca hesitated.
"After Katherine died, Owen started drinking."
"He threatened to go public."
"Victor convinced him he would lose custody of the boys if he did."
Tessa shook her head slowly.
"No."
"He offered him treatment and money to stay quiet."
"My father would not leave us for money."
"I do not think he did."
"What does that mean?"
"I think Victor threatened you."
Tessa stared at the phone.
"What did you say?"
"I heard them arguing once."
"Victor told Owen that accidents happen quickly in families under stress."
Tessa sat down as if her legs stopped working.
I felt something inside me shift from suspicion to certainty.
Whatever Victor had done, it was not only accounting fraud.
It was coercion.
Threats.
Targeting a family already broken by death.
Then Luca whispered one more thing.
"Zo, listen to me."
"I am listening."
"Victor knows you have the off-site backup."
"How?"
"Because Dana's preservation notice went through corporate servers."
I looked at Dana.
Her face tightened.
"He will move before you can."
"Move where?"
"Northshore."
"Why?"
"To destroy what Katherine never saw."
"What is in the backup?"
Luca answered with a word I had not heard before.
"Orchid."
"What is Orchid?"
A knock sounded on Luca's end.
He stopped speaking.
"Luca?"
Another knock.
Harder.
Then Luca whispered.
May you like
"He found me."
The call went dead.
