Chapter 10 - BLOOD BENEATH THE CHANDELIERS
The sound was nothing like Bella expected.
A sharp crack.
Then a second.
The ballroom erupted.
Somebody screamed.
A champagne glass shattered.
Salvatore Bianke staggered backward, one hand pressed to his shoulder.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Bella dropped to her knees beside him.
“Help!”
Guests pushed toward the exits.
A security guard shouted for everyone to get down.
Bella pressed a folded table napkin against Salvatore's wound.
“Stay with me.”
His face had turned gray.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
“Don't talk.”
“I should have told you years ago.”
“Then stay alive and tell me now.”
Salvatore coughed.
His breathing came in short, frightened bursts.
Bella looked toward the ballroom.
“Call an ambulance!”
A woman nearby was already dialing.
Alessandro rushed down from the stage.
Vinnie was close behind him.
For an instant, Alessandro's eyes dropped to the blood on Bella's hands.
“Are you hurt?”
“No. It's Salvatore.”
He knelt beside them.
Salvatore grabbed his sleeve.
“Marco,” he gasped.
Alessandro looked toward the exit.
The gunman had disappeared into the fleeing crowd.
“Don't move,” Alessandro told him.
Salvatore tightened his grip.
“Your father... kept copies.”
“What copies?”
“The old accounts.”
“Where?”
Salvatore's eyes flickered toward Bella.
“The girl knows.”
His hand loosened.
Bella felt terror climb into her throat.
“Salvatore?”
He didn't answer.
A paramedic team entered moments later.
They moved him onto a stretcher and hurried toward the ambulance entrance.
Bella stood slowly.
Her knees shook.
She looked at the blood staining her borrowed dress.
Then at Alessandro.
“He was trying to help.”
“I know.”
“He was going to testify.”
Alessandro looked toward the far doors.
“He still might.”
Police secured the ballroom.
Officers separated witnesses and began collecting statements.
Tessa Ward had recorded Alessandro's speech and the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
Her footage showed the suspected gunman entering.
It also showed Victor Sloane leaving through a side door less than a minute before the attack.
Bella gave Mara Keene everything she knew.
The envelope Salvatore had carried was now in a police evidence bag.
“Do you think he'll survive?” Bella asked.
Mara looked toward the medical team outside.
“I hope so.”
Bella swallowed.
“Someone tried to kill him because he wanted to tell the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And they did it in front of hundreds of people.”
Mara's expression was grim.
“People who believe they're protected sometimes make spectacular mistakes.”
At two in the morning, the hospital confirmed that Salvatore had survived emergency surgery.
The bullet had missed several vital structures.
He remained in serious condition.
Bella sat in the waiting room with a blanket over her shoulders.
Alessandro stood beside the window.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Finally, Bella said, “Your father kept copies.”
Alessandro turned.
“That's what Salvatore said.”
“Where would he hide them?”
Alessandro considered the question.
“My father had a private office at the old lakefront house.”
“Did you search it?”
“After his death. But we didn't know what we were looking for.”
“What happened to the house?”
“I sold it.”
Bella closed her eyes.
“Of course you did.”
“To Marco's holding company.”
Her eyes opened.
“Marco bought your father's house?”
“Through an affiliated firm.”
“Why?”
Alessandro stared at the wall.
“I assumed it was an investment.”
Bella gave a humorless laugh.
“You assumed a lot of things.”
“Yes.”
He turned back toward her.
“And people paid for it.”
The admission sat between them.
Bella no longer wanted apologies.
She wanted something that would survive a courtroom.
“Can investigators search the house?”
“With a warrant. And I can provide the sale documentation.”
“Then do it.”
The following afternoon, Bella visited Luca.
He was sitting up in bed, watching a cartoon with the volume low.
His cheeks had regained a little color.
When she entered, he smiled.
“Bells!”
She hugged him carefully.
“Hey, buddy.”
He examined her face.
“You've been crying.”
“Long night.”
“Did the bad people do something?”
Bella paused.
She had tried so hard to keep him sheltered.
But Luca was smarter than adults gave him credit for.
“Somebody got hurt,” she admitted.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Mr. Moretti?”
“No.”
Luca looked down at his hands.
“He came to see me yesterday.”
Bella went still.
“Who?”
“Mr. Moretti.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether I needed anything.”
“And what did you tell him?”
Luca smiled faintly.
“That I wanted the hospital to serve real spaghetti.”
Despite everything, Bella laughed.
“What did he say?”
“He said the hospital kitchen was probably committing a crime against Italy.”
Bella laughed again.
A real laugh this time.
Then Luca grew serious.
“He seemed sad.”
Bella brushed his hair back.
“He has some things to be sad about.”
“Did he do something bad?”
Bella looked into her brother's eyes.
“Yes.”
Luca considered that.
“Can people stop being bad?”
“I think they can stop making bad choices.”
“Would that make everything okay?”
Bella shook her head.
“Not everything.”
He nodded slowly.
Then he reached beneath his pillow.
“I made this for him.”
He handed her a folded paper crane.
One wing was slightly crooked.
Bella smiled.
“Why?”
“Because he said his little sister used to make them.”
Bella's smile faded.
“Did he?”
“Yeah. He said she was better at it than me.”
“That's not very nice.”
Luca grinned.
“I told him mine was better because it had a secret message.”
Bella unfolded the wing.
Inside were four words.
Please help my sister.
Her throat tightened.
She kissed his forehead.
“I love you, kiddo.”
“I know.”
That evening, Mara called Bella.
“We've made progress on the payment record beside your mother's name.”
Bella straightened.
“What did you find?”
“The transfer was routed through a private account associated with a company called Alder Holdings.”
“Who owns it?”
“Ownership was concealed through several layers. We're working through those records.”
Bella thought of Marco.
“Could it be his?”
“Possibly.”
“Could it be Alessandro's?”
“We have no basis to rule that out yet.”
Bella closed her eyes.
Mara continued.
“But the signature on the ledger does not appear to match the original authorization date. There's evidence that the document was altered.”
Bella gripped the phone.
“So Salvatore was telling the truth.”
“At least about that part.”
“What about my parents?”
“We're reopening the investigation into the crash.”
Bella sat down.
For six years, her parents had been reduced to a line in an accident report.
Now someone was finally asking what had really happened.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Don't thank me yet. We still have a lot of work.”
Two hours later, Alessandro received a phone call from Marco DeLuca.
He answered on speaker with Mara present.
“Alex,” Marco said pleasantly. “We need to discuss your recent behavior.”
Alessandro remained silent.
Marco continued.
“You embarrassed important people tonight.”
“Those people can call my attorney.”
Marco laughed softly.
“Attorneys. Federal agents. A little waitress. You're becoming sentimental.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
Alessandro looked at Mara.
She continued documenting the call.
“What ledger?”
“Don't insult me.”
“Then be specific.”
Marco's voice hardened.
“You think your father trusted you? He knew you were too soft to run this family.”
Alessandro said nothing.
Marco continued.
“He left the real business to men who understood necessity.”
“And the children?”
“What children?”
“The ones whose medication you stole.”
A silence followed.
Then Marco spoke quietly.
“Business isn't a church, Alessandro.”
“No,” Alessandro replied. “But it isn't a license to poison children either.”
Marco laughed.
“You're going to regret choosing that waitress.”
Alessandro stared at the phone.
“I'm choosing to stop protecting you.”
The call ended.
Mara looked up.
“He knows the ledger exists.”
“Yes.”
“And he doesn't know how much we have.”
“Apparently not.”
She closed her notebook.
“Then we need to move fast.”
Before Alessandro could reply, another call arrived.
This time from Vinnie.
“Boss,” he said urgently. “We've got a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone just used one of your old access codes.”
“Where?”
May you like
Vinnie hesitated.
“At the house where Luca Rossi is being moved tonight.”
