Chapter 3 - The Blue Ledger
The Moretti estate stood behind black iron gates on the edge of Elmwood, hidden beneath tall oak trees and walls covered in ivy.
Lena had passed the property dozens of times.
She had never imagined entering it.
Adrian's driver stopped at the main entrance.
She looked through the window.
"I feel like I'm entering a movie."
Adrian glanced at her.
"Most movies don't have this many security cameras."
She laughed before she could stop herself.
He smiled.
It was the first truly relaxed expression she'd seen from him.
Something about it made him seem less dangerous.
Which somehow made him more dangerous.
Inside, the house was elegant without being flashy.
Dark wood.
Stone floors.
Old portraits.
A staircase that curved upward.
Lena noticed that Adrian didn't walk like a man showing off his wealth.
He walked like a man who had spent his entire life surrounded by things he couldn't trust.
She followed him into the library.
"What are we looking for?"
"Anything connected to your father."
He opened a cabinet.
"My father kept business records here."
"Why would my father's documents be in your family home?"
"Because after his death, my father believed there were files worth protecting."
Lena turned.
"Your father knew mine died?"
"Yes."
"Then why did nobody contact me?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Because they thought you were safer not knowing."
"That seems to be everyone's excuse."
He didn't argue.
For three hours they searched.
Nothing.
Then Lena noticed a photograph.
Her father stood beside Adrian's father outside a warehouse.
She pulled it down.
"That's him."
Adrian came closer.
The photograph was dated thirteen years earlier.
Behind them was a shipping container.
On it was a blue painted symbol.
Adrian stared.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"That warehouse was supposedly empty."
"Why?"
"Because records say it burned down."
Lena frowned.
"Then why is it in this photograph?"
Adrian turned the frame over.
Something was written on the back.
Vine Street. Unit 17. Third floor. October 12.
Lena's eyes widened.
"My father had an office on Vine Street."
"Does it still exist?"
"I don't know."
Adrian checked his phone.
"Unit 17 is now owned by a company registered to Walsh Holdings."
Lena felt sick.
"Ethan owns it."
"Indirectly."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Then that's where we go."
The building was abandoned.
Dust covered the windows.
The first floor was empty.
The second floor had broken furniture.
The third floor had a locked metal door.
Adrian's security man, Marco, opened it.
Lena stepped inside.
The office was smaller than she remembered.
She had been there only once as a child.
Her father had kept a red desk lamp.
It was still there.
Lena touched it.
"That's his."
She opened the desk.
Empty.
Then the drawer beneath it.
Locked.
Adrian handed her a small key.
She stared.
"Where did you get this?"
"Your father gave it to my father."
Her hand trembled.
She inserted the key.
The drawer opened.
Inside was a blue ledger.
Lena stared at it.
"That's it."
Adrian didn't touch it.
"You open it."
She did.
The first pages were harmless.
Consulting fees.
Shipping schedules.
Client names.
Then the numbers became stranger.
Large payments.
Offshore accounts.
Transfers between companies.
And a name that made Lena's heart stop.
Ethan Walsh.
Beside the name was another.
Victor Moretti.
Adrian's uncle.
Lena looked up.
"Your uncle."
Adrian nodded.
"Keep going."
There were dozens of entries.
Some involved businesses.
Some involved politicians.
Some involved shipments.
Then Lena saw a note in her father's handwriting.
"Payments are not for legitimate freight. They are cover for human trafficking routes through the eastern ports."
She dropped the ledger.
Adrian caught it.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Lena's voice came out thin.
"My father knew."
"Yes."
"And Ethan knew."
"Probably."
"My father was killed because he knew."
Adrian looked at her.
"We don't know that yet."
She stared at him.
"Then explain why he wrote this."
Adrian couldn't.
They photographed the pages.
Marco copied the contents.
Suddenly the lights went out.
Lena froze.
Adrian's hand reached for her shoulder.
"Don't move."
She obeyed.
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Then a voice.
"Lena."
Ethan.
Her entire body locked.
Adrian moved in front of her.
Ethan entered the doorway with two men.
He smiled.
"You really are making this difficult."
Lena's hands shook.
"You followed us."
"I followed you."
He pointed at Adrian.
"He's another matter."
Adrian looked at him.
"Leave."
Ethan laughed.
"You still think you own this town?"
"No."
Adrian's voice dropped.
"I own what matters."
Ethan's smile disappeared.
"You don't know what she has."
Adrian glanced toward the ledger.
"I do now."
For the first time Ethan looked genuinely afraid.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"Adrian, this is bigger than you."
"Then you're about to regret making it my problem."
One of Ethan's men raised a weapon.
Adrian's guards moved instantly.
The room exploded into chaos.
Lena ducked behind the desk.
A shot cracked against the wall.
Glass shattered.
Someone shouted.
Adrian grabbed Lena and pulled her toward a side door.
They ran into the stairwell.
Ethan followed.
"Lena!"
She kept moving.
Adrian pushed open an emergency exit.
They emerged into the alley.
A car screeched around the corner.
Adrian shoved Lena behind a concrete barrier.
The car sped past.
Ethan's voice echoed from above.
"I know where you'll go!"
Adrian looked at Lena.
"Do you?"
She nodded.
"Home."
"No."
His expression was serious.
"Your home is compromised."
"But my students—"
"I'll send protection."
She shook her head.
"This is my life."
"And someone is hunting you through it."
She stared at him.
He stepped closer.
"I need you to trust me for twenty-four hours."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because if you go home tonight, they will come for you there."
Lena swallowed.
"Where do I go?"
Adrian answered quietly.
"With me."
She didn't like the sound of it.
But she liked the alternative even less.
So she nodded.
And neither of them saw the second car parked at the far end of the alley.
Inside it, a man watched Lena disappear into Adrian's vehicle.
He picked up his phone.
"Tell Mr. Walsh the ledger is compromised."
A pause.
Then he added:
"And tell him Adrian Moretti is protecting her."
May you like
The voice on the other end replied:
"Then we change the plan."
