Chapter 3 - The Empty Hall
Vincent reached the west corridor first.
He found no body.
Only Charles Bellamy’s expensive shoe lying on its side near the library door and a thin streak of blood leading toward the back stairs.
Dominic came behind him with his own weapon drawn.
“You think he was hit?”
“I think somebody wants us to think he was.”
The security system was still dead. Cell service had vanished too, probably jammed from somewhere on the grounds.
Vincent checked the library. Empty.
The French doors stood open to the night.
Rain blew across the floor.
“Seal the property,” he told Dominic. “Nobody leaves.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “You still trust me enough to give orders?”
“No.”
The answer landed hard.
Vincent stepped closer.
“But I trust you enough to know you hate losing money. If that trust transfer goes through, Bellamy controls more than you do. So for the next ten minutes, our interests match.”
Dominic gave a humorless laugh. “Family love. Beautiful thing.”
They returned to the ballroom.
Grace was wrapping Isabella’s shoulder with a linen napkin. Emily sat beside her, silent now.
Vincent took the phone.
“Play message two.”
Grace stood suddenly. “Wait.”
“No.”
“She made me promise.”
“Sofia made you promise what?”
Grace’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed steady. “That if she disappeared, I was not to bring the messages to you until Bellamy tried to move the trust.”
Vincent stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
He pressed Play.
Sofia’s voice came through weaker than before.
“Grace, I need you to listen carefully. If Vincent comes looking for me, tell him nothing. He’ll tear the whole state apart, and that is exactly what they want. They need him angry. They need him reckless. They need him to start a war.”
Vincent’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who?” he whispered.
The message answered him.
“Dominic knows part of it. Isabella knows more than she admits. But neither of them is the one I’m afraid of.”
Isabella jerked her head up.
Dominic swore.
Sofia continued.
“Bellamy has been moving money through companies Vince thinks are clean. I found the ledgers. But Bellamy answers to someone inside the family. Someone who was there before Vince took over.”
A pause.
Then Sofia said a name.
“Uncle Rocco.”
Vincent felt the room tilt.
Rocco Moretti had been dead for nine years.
Dominic laughed once, sharply. “That’s impossible.”
May you like
Emily shook her head.
“No,” she said. “I saw him yesterday.”
