Chapter 4 - The Wife Who Was Supposed to Take the Fall
The bullet had struck the wall six inches above where Martha had been standing.
For the next ten minutes, everyone kept telling her how lucky she was.
Martha did not feel lucky.
She felt furious that survival could be described as luck when somebody had deliberately decided she was disposable.
Police arrived.
Victor’s lawyers arrived faster.
The shooter was gone.
The weapon had likely been fired from a property bordering the Romano estate. Cameras captured a dark SUV leaving minutes later, but the plates were obscured.
Sofia received three stitches.
Martha refused a doctor until Evelyn threatened to drag one into the room.
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m angry.”
“You can be angry with a concussion.”
“I didn’t hit my head.”
“You hit the floor.”
“Victor was between me and the floor.”
Evelyn looked toward Victor.
“Well. Unexpectedly useful.”
Victor ignored her.
Martha sat on a couch in one of the downstairs rooms while detectives took statements.
They knew Victor Romano.
They knew enough about him that their politeness looked carefully measured.
One detective questioned Martha separately.
“Why were you at Mr. Romano’s residence?”
“My husband is having an affair with his wife.”
The detective blinked.
Martha continued.
“My husband also used my identity to create financial accounts, possibly launder money, bought an airline ticket in my name, stole my passport, may have burned down our house, and may now be involved with whoever shot through that window.”
The detective wrote for several seconds.
Then looked up.
“Anything else?”
“It’s been a difficult twenty-four hours.”
For the first time, he almost smiled.
By evening the estate had been locked down.
Sofia sat across from Victor in the library.
Martha had not intended to stay.
Then Sofia asked for her.
“I want both of you to hear this,” she said.
Victor remained standing.
Martha took a chair.
Sofia held a glass of water with both hands.
“Richard isn’t just working with Vale.”
Victor said, “We know.”
“No. You know he gave Vale information. You don’t know the plan.”
“What plan?”
Sofia looked at Martha.
“To make her responsible.”
Martha’s stomach tightened.
“For what?”
Sofia hesitated.
Victor’s voice sharpened.
“For what?”
“For stealing from you.”
Silence filled the library.
Sofia continued.
“Vale has been moving money through Romano subsidiaries for months.”
Victor’s face went still.
“Impossible.”
“That’s what Richard said you’d think.”
“Which subsidiaries?”
“I don’t know all of them.”
“Name one.”
“Romano Maritime Services.”
Victor turned toward Marcus.
“Freeze internal transfers. Audit everything.”
Marcus left immediately.
Martha asked, “Where do I fit?”
Sofia looked ashamed for the first time.
“MRC Consulting received payments from companies connected to Romano Maritime.”
Victor understood.
“If investigators discover the money, it leads to Martha.”
“Yes.”
“And Richard claims she orchestrated it.”
“Yes.”
Martha’s hands went numb.
“He wanted me arrested.”
Sofia looked down.
“Eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“The plan was bigger.”
Martha laughed once in disbelief.
“Of course it was.”
Sofia took a breath.
“Vale wanted Victor distracted publicly. Financial investigation. Internal suspicion. Problems with business partners.”
“And while I’m distracted?” Victor asked.
“He takes control of several port contracts.”
Victor’s gaze hardened.
“He needs board approval.”
“He has it.”
“No.”
Sofia looked at him.
“He has enough people.”
Victor went silent.
Martha realized the scale.
This was not an affair that became complicated.
The affair was one moving part inside a corporate coup.
Richard had placed his wife at the center of the financial evidence.
Sofia had provided access.
Vale had recruited insiders.
And Victor had spent weeks believing the primary betrayal was romantic while an entire section of his empire shifted beneath him.
Martha asked the question no one else seemed willing to.
“Why shoot at us?”
Sofia swallowed.
“Because I told Richard I wanted out.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
Victor’s head turned.
“Before you came here?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said there was no out.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
“He said people who tried to leave Vale didn’t get second chances.”
Martha thought of Richard’s voice on the phone.
You should never have followed me.
“What does Richard want?” she asked.
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“Everything he thinks men like Victor have.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“He wants money.”
“He wants respect,” Sofia said. “Money is how he measures it.”
Martha knew that answer was true.
Richard had always cared about rooms.
Who entered first.
Who got seated near powerful people.
Who owned the better watch.
Who was invited somewhere he was not.
He did not want comfort.
He wanted hierarchy.
For years Martha had mistaken ambition for drive.
Now she realized Richard experienced every successful man as an accusation.
Especially men like Victor Romano.
“He hates you,” Martha said.
Victor looked at her.
“Richard.”
She continued.
“He used to read articles about you. He joked about people fearing you, but he hated it.”
Victor leaned against the desk.
“Why?”
“Because nobody fears Richard.”
Sofia whispered, “He thinks they will after this.”
Martha looked at her.
“After what?”
But Sofia stopped.
Victor stepped closer.
“What hasn’t she told me?”
Martha understood.
“There’s something else.”
Sofia’s eyes filled with tears.
Victor did not soften.
“What?”
“Your uncle.”
Victor froze.
“Which uncle?”
“Carlo.”
Something dangerous entered Victor’s expression.
“What about him?”
“He’s working with Vale.”
Martha watched Victor’s face.
Carlo Romano was not a name she knew.
But clearly it mattered.
Victor walked toward the window.
“My father trusted Carlo more than anyone.”
Sofia said, “That’s why Vale chose him.”
Victor turned.
“Chose him?”
“He has gambling debts.”
Victor laughed coldly.
“Carlo owns casinos.”
“Apparently that doesn’t prevent stupidity.”
Under different circumstances Martha might have appreciated the line.
Victor did not.
“How long?”
“Two years.”
Victor stared into the darkness outside.
Martha could almost see decisions rearranging behind his eyes.
Then Daniel entered.
“Mr. Romano.”
Victor turned.
“We found Richard’s car.”
“Where?”
“Airport garage.”
Martha stood.
“He went to Toronto?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“The tickets were a distraction.”
Victor asked, “Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel handed over a tablet.
“His car was abandoned. Inside, police found Mrs. Crowe’s passport.”
Martha exhaled.
“So he wanted it found.”
Evelyn, entering behind Daniel, nodded.
“Exactly.”
Martha looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because now authorities see Richard’s abandoned car, your passport, and tickets in both your names.”
“He wants them to think we left together.”
“Or that something happened between you.”
Victor said, “Richard doesn’t disappear without another identity.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You know something?”
Victor nodded.
“One of the companies tied to Vale paid a private identity broker last month.”
Martha stared.
“An identity broker?”
“Someone who supplies documents.”
Her stomach turned.
“So Richard was planning this long before I followed him.”
“Yes.”
That hurt differently.
The fire.
The passport.
The airport.
None of them were panic.
They were scheduled steps.
Martha sat again.
She suddenly remembered a conversation two months earlier.
Richard had suggested increasing her life insurance.
“Just responsible planning.”
At the time she had laughed.
They did not have children.
Their mortgage was manageable.
He had insisted.
“How much insurance?” Evelyn asked when Martha told them.
“One million.”
The room changed.
Victor’s voice lowered.
“Who is the beneficiary?”
“Richard.”
Evelyn swore.
Sofia covered her mouth.
Martha stared at them.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“You need to consider the possibility.”
“No.”
“Martha.”
“He’s cruel. He’s a liar. But murder?”
Victor did not answer.
He did not need to.
Someone had already fired a bullet through a window.
Martha stood too quickly.
“I need air.”
Victor followed her into the corridor.
“I said air, not company.”
“You’re not walking outside.”
“Because I might get shot?”
“Yes.”
She stopped.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“I married a corporate attorney.”
“You married a man pretending to be one thing while building another.”
“So did you.”
Victor’s face changed.
Martha regretted it immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
He leaned against the wall.
For several moments neither spoke.
Then Martha asked, “Why did you marry Sofia?”
Victor looked surprised.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“I loved her.”
“That simple?”
“For me.”
Martha studied him.
“You don’t seem like someone who does anything simply.”
“I met her at a hospital fundraiser. She argued with me for ten minutes because I wanted to close a pediatric program my company was funding.”
“Why were you closing it?”
“Bad management.”
“What did she say?”
“That rich men like me enjoyed calling abandonment efficiency.”
Martha smiled despite everything.
“I understand why you liked her.”
“So did I.”
The sadness in his voice made Martha look away.
“She may have loved you.”
Victor’s expression closed.
“Love without truth isn’t enough.”
Martha thought of Richard.
“No.”
Victor glanced at her.
“It isn’t.”
They stood together in the hallway, both mourning marriages that technically still existed.
Then Victor’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face sharpened.
“Say that again.”
Martha watched him.
“What?”
Victor hung up slowly.
“Carlo called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow morning.”
“Can he?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked toward the library where Sofia sat.
“Because Vale isn’t waiting for the investigation.”
May you like
He turned back to Martha.
“They’re moving now.”
