Chapter 7 - THE BLACK SUV
Luca did not deny it.
The SUV belonged to Moretti Holdings.
That was the first sentence he spoke after Detective Ellis placed the photograph in front of him.
Della watched his face carefully.
"Who was driving?"
"I don't know."
"That's convenient."
"Della."
"No."
She stepped away.
"Owen calls me and says not to trust anyone in your company."
"Then the police show me a photograph of him getting into one of your vehicles."
"He wasn't getting into it."
"You know what I mean."
Luca turned toward Mara.
"Vehicle number?"
She gave it to him.
He called someone.
"Track asset 4187."
A pause.
"No."
"I want its full history for the last twelve months."
He ended the call.
Della shook her head.
"You can make one phone call and receive information the police couldn't find in nine weeks."
Mara spoke before Luca could.
"Money makes doors open."
Luca looked at her.
"Sometimes."
Mara didn't flinch.
"And sometimes it keeps them closed."
The tension between them was immediate.
Della stepped between the conversation.
"I want to know where Owen is."
"So do I," Mara said.
Luca's phone rang.
He listened silently.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
Della moved closer.
Luca ended the call.
"The SUV was assigned to Sebastian Moretti."
Della remembered the name.
"Your cousin."
"Yes."
"The man who knew about Fulton Street."
"Yes."
Mara closed her folder.
"Where is Sebastian now?"
Luca reached for his phone again.
It rang before he could dial.
Sebastian.
Luca answered on speaker.
"Where are you?"
His cousin sounded confused.
"Office."
"Don't move."
A pause.
"Why?"
"Police want to ask about asset 4187."
Silence.
Then Sebastian said something nobody expected.
"I wondered when you'd find that."
Della stopped breathing.
Luca's expression went cold.
"Explain."
"I can't over the phone."
"Try."
"Luca, someone inside the Vance organization came to me nine weeks ago."
"Who?"
"Owen Hale."
Della grabbed the edge of the table.
Sebastian continued.
"He said he had evidence involving Conrad Vance."
"What evidence?"
"He wouldn't give it to me."
"He said Moretti Holdings had been infiltrated."
"By whom?"
"He didn't know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Another silence.
"Because he made me promise not to."
Luca laughed once.
There was nothing pleasant in it.
"You kept a missing man secret from me?"
"He wasn't missing then."
Della stepped toward the phone.
"Where is he?"
Sebastian stopped breathing.
"Who is that?"
"Della Marsh."
The silence became different.
"Oh."
Della's anger sharpened.
"You know me?"
"I know your name."
"Where is Owen?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"No."
"Then why was he with your vehicle?"
"I drove him to the docks."
"Where?"
"Warehouse Twelve."
Detective Ellis immediately wrote the address.
Della whispered.
"What was there?"
Sebastian answered slowly.
"A storage unit Owen said contained enough evidence to send Conrad Vance to prison."
Luca looked at Mara.
Mara was already heading for the door.
Then Sebastian spoke again.
"But when we arrived, the unit was empty."
Della's hope disappeared.
"Then what happened?"
"I took Owen back downtown."
"That's the last time I saw him."
A loud crash suddenly came through the phone.
Luca straightened.
"Sebastian?"
No answer.
Another sound.
May you like
Glass breaking.
Then the line disconnected.
