Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew Who Killed Luca Vitale
The hospital room was empty.
Mrs. Bell's bed had been stripped.
Her personal belongings remained in a clear plastic bag.
Security footage showed two men wearing medical transport uniforms entering her room shortly after midnight.
They presented forged transfer paperwork.
A temporary nurse approved the movement without contacting the attending physician.
By the time hospital security recognized the documents were false, Mrs. Bell had vanished.
Natalie listened to Marco's explanation without speaking.
Then she turned to Alessandro.
“They took her because of me.”
“No,” he said immediately.
“They attacked my apartment because of Dad's records. They hurt Michael. Now Mrs. Bell is missing.”
“Natalie—”
“This is happening because I noticed that stupid flower.”
Alessandro took a step closer.
“You noticed a crime. The people committing it are responsible for what they've done.”
She pressed her hands against her face.
“I should have stayed quiet.”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“Don't ever say that.”
Natalie looked up.
Alessandro's expression had changed.
The guarded, almost distant man she had first met was gone.
In his place stood someone visibly struggling to contain his anger.
“My brother stayed quiet too long,” he said.
She stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
Alessandro looked away.
“Luca discovered discrepancies in the foundation accounts. He wanted to report them immediately. I told him to wait until we knew who was involved.”
Natalie said nothing.
“I thought I was protecting him. I told him that accusing our father's associates without proof could start a war.”
“And?”
“He waited.”
Alessandro swallowed.
“Three weeks later, he was dead.”
Natalie felt her anger soften into grief.
“You couldn't have known.”
“I knew he was frightened.”
He looked at her.
“And I chose to believe I had more time.”
The admission hung between them.
Then Marco entered.
“We have a lead.”
Alessandro turned.
“Where?”
“A surveillance camera captured the transport van on the West Side Highway. Its registration was altered, but the original vehicle belongs to a private ambulance company.”
“Owner?”
Marco hesitated.
“Adrian Vale.”
Natalie's stomach dropped.
“Richard's family?”
“His son.”
Alessandro's face hardened.
“Find him.”
By morning, the emergency foundation meeting had become front-page news.
Several financial reporters gathered outside the Vitale Foundation headquarters.
Rumors spread that Alessandro had mismanaged charitable funds.
An anonymous source claimed he had diverted scholarship money into criminal enterprises.
A second source alleged that the canceled nine-million-dollar transfer had actually been legitimate.
Natalie watched the coverage from the estate kitchen.
The reporters repeated the accusations with confidence.
None mentioned the forged watermark.
None mentioned the copied signature.
None mentioned the stolen ledger.
Michael sat beside her eating toast.
“They're trying to make him look guilty,” he said.
Natalie frowned.
“He has admitted that some of his businesses aren't legal.”
“That's different from stealing scholarship money.”
She looked at her brother.
“When did you become his defender?”
Michael shrugged.
“When his security people helped save my life.”
Natalie did not answer.
She was still trying to reconcile two versions of Alessandro.
The feared Mafia boss.
And the man who had held her hand after the burglary.
She did not know whether those versions could coexist.
At ten o'clock, Alessandro entered the foundation boardroom.
Evelyn accompanied him.
Natalie had asked to attend as a witness to the document irregularities.
Alessandro initially resisted.
Then she reminded him that he had promised not to make decisions for her.
He agreed.
The boardroom occupied the thirty-first floor of a Manhattan office tower.
Twelve trustees sat around a glass table.
Several looked uncomfortable when Alessandro entered.
At the head sat Arthur Sloan, an elderly businessman who had worked with the Vitale family for decades.
“Alessandro,” Arthur began, “we're concerned about your recent actions.”
Alessandro took his seat.
“Then ask your questions.”
Arthur exchanged glances with the others.
“You suspended a substantial investment transfer without board approval.”
“Because the documents were forged.”
“That allegation remains unproven.”
Natalie placed a folder on the table.
“I can explain the physical evidence.”
Arthur looked at her with obvious irritation.
“And you are?”
“Natalie Collins. Bell Paper.”
A younger trustee frowned.
“Collins?”
Natalie nodded.
“Daniel Collins was my father.”
The reaction was immediate.
Arthur's face lost color.
Two trustees looked away.
A woman near the window dropped her pen.
Alessandro noticed every reaction.
“Interesting,” he said quietly.
Arthur cleared his throat.
“We weren't aware that Daniel Collins had surviving family members involved in this matter.”
Natalie looked directly at him.
“Why would that concern you?”
Arthur did not answer.
Instead, Evelyn distributed copies of an independent preliminary printing analysis.
The report supported Natalie's findings.
The signature had likely been digitally reproduced.
The account number used a different printing process.
The embossed foundation seal was inconsistent with genuine certificates.
Arthur skimmed the report.
“This is preliminary.”
“Correct,” Evelyn said. “Which is why we're requesting a full audit and preservation of all related records.”
One trustee leaned forward.
“Do we have evidence that money actually left the foundation?”
Evelyn opened another file.
“Yes.”
She displayed a transaction history.
Over fifteen years, the foundation had moved millions through intermediary accounts bearing names similar to legitimate scholarship funds.
The transfers were broken into smaller amounts.
Some were disguised as management fees.
Others appeared as investments in entities that had no clear educational purpose.
Natalie examined the screen.
Then she noticed something.
“Can you enlarge the third account?”
Evelyn did.
Natalie leaned forward.
The account carried a reference number beginning with LC-12.
Her father had used the letters LC on old family documents.
She had always assumed they referred to her and Michael.
But the number twelve caught her attention.
The foundation's lily had twelve petals.
The forged certificate had eleven.
“Alessandro,” she whispered.
He turned.
“That number.”
She pointed.
“LC-12.”
Arthur Sloan abruptly stood.
“This meeting is becoming inappropriate.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“Sit down, Arthur.”
Arthur hesitated.
Then slowly lowered himself into his chair.
Natalie continued.
“My father's records used that prefix. I think the original trust might have been identified using the same code.”
Evelyn typed quickly.
A second account appeared.
Then a third.
All shared the same prefix.
One account had remained inactive for twenty-three years.
Its listed beneficiaries were Natalie Collins and Michael Collins.
Natalie stared.
The balance was visible.
Three million, eight hundred thousand dollars.
Her vision blurred.
Michael could have completed medical school without debt.
She could have kept their mother's engagement ring.
They could have remained in the apartment where their parents had raised them.
Instead, she had spent years worrying about every dollar.
Arthur stood again.
“Those funds were subject to administrative restrictions.”
Alessandro turned toward him.
“What restrictions?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Historical legal complications.”
“Explain.”
“I don't have the complete records.”
“Then why did you know the account existed?”
Arthur went silent.
Natalie felt something cold settle inside her.
He had known.
At least one trustee had known her family possessed an education fund.
And nobody had told her.
Alessandro looked around the room.
“Who else knew?”
Nobody answered.
He slowly stood.
“The vote to remove me can proceed after the audit begins. Until then, any trustee who destroys records or interferes with investigators will answer to the authorities.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“You've forgotten who built this organization.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“No,” he said. “I'm finally remembering who paid for it.”
The meeting ended without a successful removal vote.
Evelyn secured an agreement to preserve the foundation's records and appoint an independent accounting firm.
But Alessandro knew the conflict was far from over.
As they left the building, Natalie received a message from an unknown number.
A photograph.
Mrs. Bell sat in a wooden chair.
Her hands were tied.
A bruise marked her cheek.
Below the image were six words.
Bring the book. Come without Vitale.
Natalie felt sick.
A second message arrived.
Midnight. Pier 47. No police.
She stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
Your father trusted the wrong Vitale.
Natalie's hands began shaking.
She looked toward Alessandro.
He was speaking with Evelyn beside the elevator.
May you like
For the first time since meeting him, she wondered whether the danger came only from Richard Vale.
Or whether the secret her father had hidden involved the man she was beginning to trust.
