Chapter 1 - The Brother Who Lied Twice
Lucas did not answer Hannah’s accusation immediately.
He stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows with Chicago glowing beneath him, one hand resting against the back of a leather chair.
“You want me to speak about Michael as if grief changes what he did,” he said.
“It does not.”
“He entered that warehouse alone.”
“He ignored my order.”
“And he trusted someone who knew exactly where he would be.”
Hannah stared at the silver locket resting on the desk.
“You make it sound like he arranged his own murder.”
“No.”
“I make it sound like someone close enough to know his habits arranged it.”
Lucas returned to the desk.
He opened the locket again and examined the hinge.
“This belonged to my mother.”
“Michael was not supposed to have it.”
“He told me it belonged to his grandmother.”
Lucas’s jaw tightened.
“That was another lie.”
Hannah felt anger rise beneath the shock.
Four years with Michael.
Four years of shared meals, whispered plans, and ordinary mornings.
Now every memory seemed to contain a hidden door.
Lucas pressed the edge of the hinge with his thumbnail.
A thin metal plate slid out from behind the photograph.
Hannah leaned closer.
A line of numbers had been etched into the silver.
17-4-22-9-3.
“What does it mean?” she asked.
Lucas did not answer.
One of his men, Marco Bellini, entered the office without knocking.
He closed the door behind him.
“We found the car outside the diner.”
Lucas looked at him.
“Albanian?”
“Registered to a shell company connected to Arben Kodra.”
Hannah recognized the name from the newspapers.
Kodra controlled several freight businesses near the lake.
He was also rumored to lead the Albanian organization Lucas believed had killed Michael.
Marco placed a photograph on the desk.
A man stood beneath the Rosewood Diner sign, watching Hannah through the window.
She had seen him before.
He came in twice during the past month.
Both times, he ordered coffee and left without finishing it.
“Who is he?” Hannah asked.
Lucas studied the photograph.
“Gabriel Moretti.”
“My uncle’s driver.”
The room became still.
“Your uncle works with Kodra?” Hannah asked.
“My uncle raised Michael and me after our father died.”
“That was not what I asked.”
Lucas’s eyes lifted toward her.
“No.”
“I do not know who he works with.”
The lights flickered.
Marco reached beneath his jacket.
A gunshot struck the office door.
The wood exploded inward.
Lucas grabbed Hannah and forced her behind the desk.
Three more shots followed.
Glass shattered near the windows.
Marco fired toward the hallway.
Lucas pressed a pistol into Hannah’s hand.
“Do not use it unless someone reaches the desk.”
“I have never fired a gun.”
“Then tonight would be a bad time to miss.”
A masked man entered through the broken doorway.
Lucas fired once.
The man fell.
Another attacker rushed from the side corridor.
Marco tackled him against the wall.
Hannah heard the elevator open behind them.
A third man stepped into the office.
Gabriel Moretti removed his mask.
He aimed directly at Hannah.
“Give me the locket.”
Lucas moved between them.
Gabriel smiled.
“Salvatore said you would choose the waitress over the truth.”
Lucas raised his weapon.
“What truth?”
“Michael did not die because of Kodra.”
May you like
Gabriel looked toward the silver locket.
“He died because your own family sold him.”
