Chapter 12 - The Dead Detective's Phone
Detective Raymond Holt's death changed the investigation in a way no one around Aleandro trusted.
Within an hour, federal agents appeared at the airfield.
Within two hours, the New York Police Department announced that Holt had been under internal review for undisclosed misconduct.
By the third hour, every record connected to Sophia's arrest had been transferred to a special task force.
Samuel read the press release and shook his head.
"They are cleaning the table."
Sophia looked at him.
"Is that good or bad?"
"Depends who wants a clean table."
Aleandro stood at the library window watching Emma chase a yellow leaf across the lawn under the eyes of four guards.
"Holt was disposable."
Marco nodded.
"Probably from the beginning."
"Then Carlo killed his own link."
"Maybe."
Aleandro turned.
"You sound unconvinced."
"Because the message bothers me."
"Liar?"
"Carlo doesn't leave emotional notes."
"You know him well."
"So do you."
Marco placed a photograph of the windshield on the desk.
The word had been written with a thick black marker on a hotel receipt.
"This is theatrical."
Sophia looked at the image.
"Like planting a lion ring where a camera could see it."
Marco nodded.
"Exactly."
"So someone wants us to think Carlo killed Holt."
"Or Carlo wants us to think someone wants us to think that."
Sophia stared at him.
"I hate your world."
"Reasonable."
The federal team found Holt's second phone inside the lining of his coat.
They did not tell Aleandro.
Samuel learned because one of his former law-school classmates worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office and owed him a favor that had taken fourteen years to mature.
The phone contained six encrypted message threads.
One was with Daniel Kessler.
One was with a number connected to a Romano campaign consultant.
One was with a prepaid device that had pinged near three Vieri properties.
The last three were unidentified.
"Can we get the messages?" Aleandro asked.
Samuel gave him a look.
"Legally?"
"Preferably."
"No."
"Unpreferably?"
"Also no, if you are asking me in a room where I am standing."
Marco almost smiled.
Sophia did not.
"We do not need the messages if we can figure out what Holt was paid to do."
Aleandro looked at her.
"Arrest you."
"More than that."
She pointed to the timeline they had drawn across a large sheet of paper.
"He arrived prepared to take me away before anyone tested the glass."
"Yes."
"If the original plan worked, you would have been dead."
The room went quiet.
Sophia continued.
"Valentina would have been alive because she was not supposed to take your glass."
"Correct."
"I would have been arrested for your death."
"Yes."
"Emma would have been left with Rosa."
Aleandro's face changed.
Sophia tapped the next point on the timeline.
"Then Daniel takes Emma."
Marco leaned forward.
"The kidnapping was prepared in advance too."
"Exactly."
"Meaning Emma was always part of the operation."
Sophia looked at Aleandro.
"They were never fixing a mistake after she danced."
Aleandro understood.
"The two mistakes existed before the party."
"You and Emma."
Samuel sat back.
"Then why did Carlo let Sophia live?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Sophia did.
"Because I was useful as the killer."
Aleandro's gaze hardened.
The cruelty of the plan became clear in its full shape.
Kill Aleandro with a poison planted in his own glass.
Frame Sophia with a vial placed in her locker.
Use Holt to make the arrest look official.
Remove Emma before anyone could establish paternity.
Then the Moretti bloodline clause would never activate.
Carlo, as senior trustee, would assume temporary control.
"But Valentina disrupted it," Samuel said.
Sophia nodded.
"She took the wrong glass."
"And Emma danced in front of Aleandro."
"Which made him look at her."
Aleandro turned toward the window again.
His daughter was now crouched in the grass examining the leaf she had chased.
She had changed the entire conspiracy simply by being seen.
"The plan was already collapsing before Valentina drank," he said.
Marco's phone buzzed.
He read the message and looked up.
"Federal agents searched Holt's apartment."
"And?"
"They found cash."
"How much?"
"Four hundred thousand."
Samuel whistled softly.
"Traceable?"
"Serial numbers match a withdrawal from a private bank in Geneva."
"Account owner?"
"Shell company."
"Beneficial owner?"
Marco turned the screen.
Romano Strategic Holdings.
Sophia stared at the name.
"Valentina's family paid Holt."
Samuel shook his head.
"A Romano company paid the source account."
"That sounds like the same thing."
"In court, it is not."
Aleandro's face remained still.
"Dominic knew Holt."
"Almost certainly."
"And Carlo knew Holt."
"The airfield image says yes."
Sophia looked between them.
"Were Carlo and Dominic working together?"
Aleandro did not answer.
He remembered Dominic's reaction when asked about the engraved glass.
Too controlled.
Too prepared.
That evening, Valentina called Sophia directly.
Sophia almost rejected the call.
Aleandro told her to answer only if she wanted to.
That irritated her enough to answer.
"What?"
Valentina's voice was weak but clear.
"I need to speak with you without Aleandro listening."
Sophia looked at Aleandro.
He raised both hands and walked out of the room.
"Speak."
"I lied about you."
"I noticed."
"I am going to correct the statement."
"How generous."
Valentina exhaled.
"You have every reason to hate me."
"I don't have the energy."
"Then use the energy to listen."
Sophia almost ended the call.
"My father knows about Emma."
She went still.
"How?"
"I heard him arguing with Carlo six months ago."
"About my daughter?"
"Not by name."
"What did they say?"
"Carlo said the child was still unrecognized and should remain that way."
Sophia gripped the phone.
"And your father?"
"He said the girl could be useful."
"Useful how?"
Valentina was silent.
"Answer me."
"He said blood can be leverage if you hold the person carrying it."
Sophia's skin went cold.
"Why didn't you tell Aleandro?"
"Because I thought they were discussing some illegitimate relative overseas."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
Valentina's voice cracked.
"I expect you to believe I was selfish enough not to ask questions that might threaten my wedding."
For the first time, Sophia heard something resembling honesty.
"Where are you now?"
"Hospital."
"Your father with you?"
"He left an hour ago."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know."
A door opened on Valentina's end of the call.
She stopped speaking.
Sophia heard a male voice.
"Miss Romano?"
Valentina whispered, "That's not my nurse."
The line went dead.
The federal agents also recovered a handwritten calendar from Holt's apartment.
Several dates matched unexplained meetings with Romano political staff, but one entry disturbed Samuel more than the cash.
It read BELLINI - FAMILY COURT CONTINGENCY.
The date was three weeks before the engagement party.
Holt had not been recruited simply to make an arrest look official after a poisoning.
He had been briefed on what would happen to Emma afterward.
A second note listed the name of a child-placement consultant connected to Carlo's foundation.
Sophia read the copied page in silence.
She imagined Holt taking her away while another official-looking stranger arrived for Emma with paperwork everyone believed was legitimate.
The plan depended on institutions doing normal things at exactly the wrong time.
That was why it frightened her more than masked men.
Masked men announced danger.
Forms, badges, and signatures could make danger look responsible.
From that point forward, Sophia insisted every order affecting Emma be verified through two independent channels.
May you like
The rule later saved them once, and failed them once, because Dominic learned how to counterfeit both.
