Chapter 3 - The Reaper Leaves the Hospital
We left through the laundry loading dock.
No dramatic convoy.
No visible security.
One hospital maintenance van.
Marco hated the plan.
That meant it was probably good.
Frank sat beside Eli in the back.
Goliath lay across the boy's feet.
I wore borrowed clothes beneath my coat.
“You're taking us where?” Frank asked.
“Somewhere secure.”
“We don't know you.”
“You know enough.”
“I know men tried to kill you.”
Fair.
“And now somebody may be trying to kill my grandson because he found you.”
Also fair.
Frank leaned forward.
“So don't tell me to trust you.”
I turned.
“I'm not asking you to trust me.”
“What are you asking?”
“Give me twelve hours.”
“For what?”
“To make sure nobody gets near Eli again.”
Frank studied me.
“You talk like you can guarantee that.”
“I can.”
He looked out the window.
“That's exactly what scares me.”
The safe house was hidden inside a private hunting lodge near the Kentucky border.
Only Marco knew it existed.
Or so I believed.
Inside, Eli wandered toward a stone fireplace while Goliath inspected every room.
Frank remained suspicious.
Good.
Suspicious people live longer.
Marco opened his laptop.
“We pulled traffic cameras from the road where you disappeared.”
Four vehicles.
One belonged to a shell company.
The shell company traced to a Moretti-controlled logistics subsidiary.
My company.
Someone had used my own resources to bury me.
“Who authorized the vehicle?”
Marco hesitated.
“Your access code.”
Impossible.
My authorization required biometric confirmation.
Unless—
“Luca.”
My younger brother and I shared emergency executive access.
Marco nodded.
Evidence pointed toward him.
Too perfectly.
I didn't like perfect evidence.
“Find Luca.”
“He's in Manhattan preparing an emergency board meeting.”
“To declare me dead?”
“Not yet.”
Interesting.
If Luca wanted my empire, why wait?
Then Marco showed me another file.
Silas Bennett's phone had pinged near Hollow Falls six hours after my disappearance.
Bennett hadn't fled.
He had remained nearby.
“Why?”
No answer.
Then Goliath barked.
Eli called from the hallway.
“Mr. Dante?”
I followed him.
The dog stood beside an old storage cabinet scratching the floor.
“What?”
Eli pointed.
“There's something under there.”
We moved the cabinet.
Beneath it was a loose floorboard.
Marco removed it.
Inside was a black plastic bag.
Photographs.
Dozens.
Me entering restaurants.
Marco leaving meetings.
Luca outside his apartment.
And Eli.
My entire body went still.
The photograph of Eli had been taken months earlier.
Before he found me.
Frank grabbed it.
“No.”
His face drained.
“This isn't possible.”
“Why?”
He turned the photograph over.
A date.
October 14.
Three months ago.
Eli wasn't an accidental witness.
Someone had been watching him before I ever entered West Virginia.
Then we found another photograph.
Frank.
Standing beside Silas Bennett.
Twenty-two years earlier.
I slowly looked at him.
“You know the man who betrayed me.”
Frank stared at the photograph.
His voice dropped.
“I thought he was dead.”
Now it was my turn to ask:
“Who is Silas Bennett?”
Frank looked toward Eli.
Then toward me.
May you like
And said:
“The reason my daughter disappeared.”
