Chapter 4 - The Woman They FramedBy 3:12 a.m., Chicago police were looking for me.
Not officially.
Not yet.
But Dante had people who heard things before police radios finished talking.
Dr. Carver had been found dead inside her locked office.
No obvious weapon.
No surveillance footage showing anyone entering after midnight.
And my name had been written across her whiteboard in black marker.
LAUREL MERCER KNOWS.
It did not accuse me directly.
That was smarter.
It made me interesting.
Interest from police was the last thing I needed while someone else was actively trying to find me.
“You need a lawyer,” Dante said.
“I need sleep.”
“You need both.”
“I have eighty-six dollars.”
“You have me.”
I looked at him.
“That sentence is exactly why I need a lawyer.”
Marco laughed before pretending he had coughed.
Dante glared at him.
“Helpful.”
We moved Luca before sunrise.
Again.
This time, Dr. Bell went with him.
A reinforced ambulance left first as a decoy.
Luca actually traveled in the back of an ordinary catering van beside enough medical equipment to run a small ICU.
I rode with him.
Dante objected.
I ignored him.
Luca woke halfway through the trip.
“Did he open it?”
I checked his pupils.
“Yes.”
“Dante angry?”
“Very.”
“Good.”
“That is a weird family dynamic.”
Luca’s lips moved in something close to a smile.
“He listens better angry.”
“Did you know Carver was going to fire me?”
His expression changed.
“I knew Victor wanted you removed.”
“So you let me keep working there?”
“I was trying to build a case.”
“While I was being watched.”
“I didn’t know they’d escalate.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
The immediate answer disarmed me.
He looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry.”
I adjusted his blanket.
“What did I see six months ago?”
His eyes found mine.
“Thomas Vale.”
“The dead man who wasn’t dead.”
“He was moving money for Victor.”
“Why fake his death?”
“Because he agreed to testify.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense. If he was going to testify, Victor would want him dead.”
“He did.”
“Then why was Vale alive?”
“Because the man on the gurney wasn’t Thomas Vale.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Luca swallowed.
“They switched identities.”
My mind raced.
“Who died?”
“That is what I was trying to prove.”
The van turned.
Luca winced.
I steadied his shoulder.
He whispered, “Check his wrist.”
“Whose?”
“Vale.”
“The man six months ago?”
“Yes.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Tattoo.”
Memory hit me.
The patient had no tattoo.
I remembered because the chart said he had a compass tattoo on his left wrist.
I had noted the discrepancy.
Then an administrator corrected the chart.
I stared at Luca.
“The man in the bed was not Thomas Vale.”
“No.”
“Then who was he?”
Luca closed his eyes.
“My father’s driver.”
I stared.
Dante’s father had died years earlier.
“How?”
“His name was Samuel Reed. He disappeared after my father’s death. Victor told everyone he stole money and ran.”
“But he was alive.”
“For a while.”
“And Carver helped switch his identity.”
“Yes.”
The pieces became uglier.
Samuel Reed had probably known something.
He had been given Thomas Vale’s identity.
Declared dead.
Then removed.
But why?
“What happened to the real Vale?”
Luca’s eyes opened.
“That’s the seventy-million-dollar question.”
I looked at him.
“Literal?”
“Unfortunately.”
When we reached the safe house, Dante was already there.
He had not ridden with us.
He appeared from another SUV, coat open, expression severe.
He came directly toward me.
“You weren’t supposed to question Luca.”
“I didn’t.”
Luca called weakly from behind me.
“She absolutely did.”
Traitor.
Dante stared at me.
“You questioned an unstable patient.”
“He volunteered information.”
“She threatened me.”
I turned.
“I checked your pupils.”
“Violently.”
“You are impossible.”
Dante’s mouth twitched.
Then Marco approached holding his phone.
“Police found something in Carver’s office.”
He showed us a photograph.
My hospital badge.
Placed beside her body.
My stomach dropped.
“That was in my box.”
Dante looked at me sharply.
“You had it when I found you.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it now?”
I pictured handing him my box.
Riding in the McLaren.
Entering the estate.
I had not looked inside since.
Marco had.
“The badge is missing.”
Dante’s expression went cold.
“Someone in the convoy took it.”
Silence.
One of Dante’s own people.
The traitor Luca had warned him about.
Marco said, “Only seven men handled security between the street and the house.”
“Lock it down,” Dante ordered.
“No one leaves.”
I looked at him.
“Who knew we were moving Luca this morning?”
“Very few people.”
“And yet Victor may know.”
Dante looked around the safe house.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty.
Not fear.
Doubt.
That was worse for a man surrounded by loyal people.
Dante turned to Marco.
“Names.”
Marco listed them.
Enzo.
Rafael.
Nico.
Peter.
Anthony.
Julian.
And Marco himself.
Dante looked at him.
Marco did not flinch.
“If you think it’s me, boss, say it.”
“I think nothing yet.”
“Good.”
I studied the names.
One stood out.
“Who is Julian?”
Dante looked at me.
“My cousin.”
“Victor’s son?”
“No. My aunt’s.”
“Close to the family?”
“Since childhood.”
I thought about Dr. Carver’s files.
Money.
Leverage.
Weakness.
“Which one of them has debt?”
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
“All people have debt.”
“I mean serious debt.”
Marco spoke.
“Peter gambles.”
“Who has family problems?”
“Nico’s father needs dialysis.”
“Who recently changed lifestyle?”
Silence.
Then Dante said, “Anthony bought a house.”
“How expensive?”
“Too expensive.”
Marco was already typing.
Seconds later he turned the phone around.
A property record.
Anthony Vitale.
Security lieutenant.
A $2.4 million house purchased through a trust.
Dante’s face hardened.
“Find him.”
Marco made the call.
No answer.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Then one of the guards entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Anthony’s car is gone.”
Dante did not move.
“He left before lockdown?”
“Six minutes ago.”
Marco cursed.
Dante turned.
“Track him.”
“Already doing it.”
A screen on the wall showed a moving GPS point.
Anthony’s SUV headed south.
Then suddenly stopped.
“Why’d he stop?” I asked.
Marco zoomed in.
Industrial district.
Old medical storage warehouses.
Dante grabbed his coat.
“You’re staying here.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Laurel.”
“If Anthony stole my badge and delivered it to whoever killed Carver, he knows who framed me.”
“You are not coming.”
“Then you’re going to have to lock me in a room.”
His gaze met mine.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Luca’s voice came weakly through the doorway.
“Take her.”
Dante turned.
“You’re supposed to be unconscious.”
“I tried. Family argument woke me.”
“Laurel stays.”
“She notices things.”
“So do I.”
Luca smiled faintly.
“She notices things you don’t.”
That irritated Dante.
Which made me like Luca slightly more.
Twenty minutes later, I sat inside the Bentley beside Dante.
He had lost the argument.
He had also made me wear a bulletproof vest.
“Necessary?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“It weighs twenty pounds.”
“Good.”
“How is that good?”
“You won’t run very fast.”
I stared at him.
He looked out the window.
I could see the corner of his mouth moving.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“Quiet.”
Marco’s voice came through the radio.
“Target vehicle ahead.”
We entered the industrial district.
Warehouses.
Fences.
Abandoned loading bays.
Anthony’s SUV sat beside a brick building.
Door open.
Engine running.
Dante raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
Marco checked the vehicle.
Empty.
Then we heard a phone ringing inside the warehouse.
Anthony’s phone.
Dante moved toward the entrance.
I stayed behind him.
Inside, the warehouse smelled like dust and cold metal.
Medical supply boxes filled shelves.
Expired hospital equipment.
Old St. Alden logos.
Then Marco stopped.
“Boss.”
A man sat tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Anthony.
Alive.
Barely.
His face was bruised.
No blood beyond a cut at his lip.
He looked at Dante.
“I didn’t do it.”
Dante approached slowly.
“Do what?”
“Your nurse’s badge.”
My heart stopped.
“How do you know about it?” I asked.
Anthony looked at me.
“Because whoever took it wanted me blamed.”
Dante crouched.
“Who?”
Anthony swallowed.
“I saw him at the house.”
“Name.”
Anthony hesitated.
Then a gunshot shattered the warehouse window.
Dante hit me hard around the waist and pulled me behind a concrete column.
Glass rained across the floor.
Men shouted.
Marco fired commands.
Anthony screamed.
Then silence.
Dante shielded me with his body.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He looked over his shoulder.
Anthony sagged against the chair.
Dr. Bell would later tell us the bullet had missed anything vital.
But at that moment, Anthony thought he was dying.
His eyes found mine.
He whispered one word.
“Julian.”
Then the warehouse lights went out.
And Dante’s phone rang.
He answered.
A familiar male voice came through the speaker.
Luca.
Except Luca sounded terrified.
“Dante…”
Dante’s face went white.
Behind Luca, someone laughed.
May you like
Then Julian Moretti spoke.
“You should have left the nurse on the sidewalk.”
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