Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Anthony would not reveal his location.
He agreed to speak only through a prepaid phone.
Dominic wanted to trace it.
Sadie said no.
“You trace him, he disappears again.”
“He could be lying.”
“So could you.”
Dominic gave her a tired look.
“Fair.”
Anthony called again the next afternoon.
This time Rosa sat beside Sadie.
“You old fool,” Rosa said immediately.
Anthony laughed weakly.
“Good to hear you too.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I thought it kept you alive.”
“Clearly that worked beautifully.”
Even Dominic smiled at that.
Anthony explained that two years earlier he discovered dock invoices linked to a Moretti-controlled shipping company.
But the payments were approved by someone within Castile operations.
He copied records.
Then he was attacked.
“Who?”
“I never saw the shooter.”
“How convenient,” Carmine said.
Anthony ignored him.
A passerby found him alive.
He paid cash for transport to St. Catherine’s because Vale had treated Castile people quietly in the past.
That was where Sadie saw him.
Vale stabilized him.
Then asked what Anthony knew.
“I should have lied.”
“You told him?” Dominic asked.
“Enough.”
Anthony realized Vale was compromised when men arrived before dawn.
He escaped through a loading corridor.
Sadie remembered the chaos that morning.
Vale accusing staff of missing medication.
Security checking bags.
Her own student badge used as evidence.
“You used me,” she said.
Anthony went silent.
“What?”
“You escaped through the corridor where I was assigned.”
“I didn’t know who you were.”
“Vale blamed me because I was there.”
Anthony’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Sadie laughed bitterly.
“Everyone is sorry after somebody else pays.”
Dominic looked at her.
Anthony continued.
He fled Chicago.
He lived under another name.
Three weeks ago, he learned Vale and a Moretti captain were planning to eliminate Rosa because Anthony had mailed her copies of the old invoices.
Rosa looked horrified.
“You mailed me what?”
“Documents.”
“I never received them.”
“Then someone intercepted them.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Who knew Rosa’s mail routines?”
Everyone looked at Carmine.
Carmine stared back.
“Oh, come on.”
Dominic asked, “Who?”
“Housekeeper. Driver. Me. Two guards. Your mother.”
Rosa snapped, “I did not burn my own house.”
“No one said you did, Ma.”
Sadie thought.
“What about the mail carrier?”
Carmine frowned.
“Normal postal service.”
“Then the interception might not be inside Dominic’s organization.”
Anthony agreed.
“I sent them certified.”
Carmine checked.
Delivery recorded.
Signed by R. Castile.
Rosa stared.
“I never signed.”
Dominic looked at the signature image.
Not Rosa’s handwriting.
Sadie asked, “Who else uses R?”
Nobody answered.
Then Rosa whispered, “Regina.”
Dominic’s aunt.
His father’s younger sister.
Sadie had never heard the name.
Dominic looked furious.
“Regina lives in Naples.”
“No,” Rosa said. “She came back last fall.”
“You knew?”
“She asked me not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because you two hate each other.”
Carmine muttered, “Strong family communication.”
Dominic gave him a look.
Sadie almost smiled.
Regina Castile was located in a condo near Lake Shore Drive.
She agreed to meet.
Public place.
Coffee shop.
Sadie insisted on going.
Dominic objected.
Rosa overruled him.
“Stop telling women where they may sit.”
Dominic surrendered.
Regina arrived wearing red lipstick and a camel coat.
She looked like Rosa’s sharper-edged younger version.
“You,” she said to Dominic, “look exactly like your father when he was about to make a stupid decision.”
“Nice to see you too.”
She kissed Rosa.
Then looked at Sadie.
“The fire girl.”
“Waitress.”
“Good. Titles make men lazy.”
Sadie liked her immediately.
Dominic placed the signature receipt on the table.
Regina’s expression changed.
“That is mine.”
Rosa inhaled.
“You signed for the envelope?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Regina.”
She held up a hand.
“I opened it.”
Anthony’s invoices.
Payment codes.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Stephen Vale.
Another: Luca Moretti.
And one more.
Carmine Russo.
Every person at the table looked at Carmine.
He went white.
“That’s not me.”
Regina said, “I assumed it was.”
Carmine leaned across the table.
“What exactly?”
“Payments.”
“For what?”
“Transport security.”
“I never received anything.”
Dominic’s face became unreadable.
Sadie watched Carmine.
Fear looked real.
Not guilt.
At least not obvious guilt.
Regina continued.
“I hid the papers because I knew Dominic would start a war before understanding them.”
Dominic looked offended.
Sadie said, “She has a point.”
Regina smiled.
“See? I like her.”
“Where did you hide them?” Dominic asked.
“In Rosa’s house.”
Everyone froze.
Rosa whispered, “Where?”
“Behind the basement furnace panel.”
The house had burned.
Regina looked sick.
“I thought no one knew.”
Anthony had warned Rosa.
Regina hid proof.
Then Rosa’s house was set on fire.
Sadie asked the obvious question.
“Who knew you were going there?”
Regina thought.
“My driver.”
“What’s his name?”
“Paul.”
Carmine’s phone was already out.
“Last name?”
“Brennan.”
Carmine stopped typing.
Dominic’s face changed.
Sadie noticed.
“What?”
Dominic said quietly, “Paul Brennan used to work for Stephen Vale.”
The coffee shop suddenly felt too exposed.
Then the front window shattered.
Everyone ducked.
A brick landed near their table.
No gunshot.
No bomb.
Just a brick wrapped in paper.
Carmine grabbed it.
Written in black marker:
STOP DIGGING OR THE NEXT FIRE HAS PEOPLE INSIDE.
Sadie looked at Dominic.
He looked ready to explode.
She said, “Don’t.”
His jaw clenched.
“Don’t what?”
“Become exactly what they expect.”
For a long second, he stared at the threat.
Then he handed it to Carmine.
“Police evidence bag.”
Regina blinked.
“You called police?”
May you like
Dominic sighed.
“Apparently I am evolving.”
