Chapter 3 - The Ledger Beneath the Floor
The ledger was inside the Hart estate.
Dante returned there before noon.
Olivia stayed beside him as they entered through the rear corridor.
Charles was nowhere to be found.
The house felt different.
More dangerous.
A place Olivia had once called home now seemed like a crime scene.
Isabella’s bedroom was untouched.
Her father’s study was locked.
Dante kicked the door open.
Olivia flinched.
“That was expensive.”
“I’ll buy him a new door.”
“You really do solve everything with money.”
“Not everything.”
He walked inside.
The study had been searched.
Drawers open.
Papers scattered.
Someone had beaten them to it.
Dante crouched beside the desk.
“Isabella said she found the ledger here?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“She said under the floorboard behind the bookcase.”
Dante looked around.
Olivia went to the bookcase.
“How do you know which one?”
“I don’t.”
She remembered something.
“When I was little, Mother used to hide birthday presents here.”
“Behind the bookcase?”
“No. Beneath it.”
Dante stared at her.
“Move.”
Together they shifted the shelf.
One floorboard was scratched.
Dante lifted it.
A hollow space appeared.
Empty.
Olivia’s face fell.
“He took it.”
“Maybe.”
Then she noticed a folded photograph tucked into the cavity.
She picked it up.
Her mother.
A younger Dante.
A man Olivia recognized as Dante’s father.
And Charles Hart.
All four stood in front of a warehouse.
On the back was a handwritten note.
September 17, 2009.
Olivia looked at the necklace.
The date was identical.
Her pulse accelerated.
“What happened that day?”
Dante looked at the photograph.
“My father disappeared.”
“My mother died six months later.”
“Exactly.”
Olivia swallowed.
“You think they were connected.”
“I know they were.”
“Then tell me everything.”
Dante remained silent.
Olivia stepped closer.
“No more half-truths.”
He nodded.
“In 2009, my father discovered that someone had been laundering money through Hart Development.”
Olivia stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Charles knew?”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
“My mother.”
“And Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“What did my mother do?”
“She kept records.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
That sounded like the mother she remembered.
Organized.
Careful.
Always writing things down.
“She was helping your father.”
Dante nodded.
“Then why was she killed?”
“We believe she was about to testify.”
“Against whom?”
“We still don't know.”
Dante pulled out his phone.
A message appeared.
One line.
WE FOUND THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
Dante’s expression darkened.
“Where?”
The reply came quickly.
THE OLD RAIL YARD.
“We’re going.”
Olivia grabbed her coat.
“No.”
Dante looked at her.
“You’re staying.”
“I’m coming.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“My entire life is apparently dangerous.”
“This is different.”
“I want answers.”
He held her gaze.
Then nodded.
The rail yard had been abandoned for years.
Rust covered the tracks.
Broken warehouses stood like skeletons in the fog.
Three Moretti men waited beside an old freight container.
One held a metal case.
Dante approached.
“Where is it?”
The man handed him the case.
Dante opened it.
Inside lay a black leather ledger.
Olivia stepped closer.
The pages were filled with dates, names, amounts.
She recognized one name immediately.
Charles Hart.
Another.
Evelyn Hart.
And then another.
Dante Moretti.
Olivia looked at him.
“Your name is here.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Dante turned several pages.
Then stopped.
A notation had been written in red ink.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO EVELYN, WATCH CHARLES.
Olivia’s breath caught.
Her mother had written it.
Underneath was another line.
DON’T TRUST THE POLICE.
Dante looked at Olivia.
“This is why I didn’t trust the official story.”
She touched the page.
“My mother knew she was in danger.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She probably wanted to protect you.”
“Or someone stopped her.”
A sound came from the warehouse.
Dante raised one hand.
All three guards drew weapons.
Olivia froze.
A shadow moved between the old shipping containers.
Then a man emerged.
Charles Hart.
Olivia’s blood ran cold.
“Father.”
Charles smiled.
“You found it.”
Dante stepped in front of Olivia.
“You’re not touching her.”
Charles laughed softly.
“You still think this is about her?”
Olivia stared.
“What is it about?”
Charles’s expression changed.
“Your mother.”
“Why?”
“Because she made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted the wrong people.”
Dante’s voice hardened.
“You’re talking about yourself.”
“No.”
Charles looked at Olivia.
“She trusted Evelyn’s sister.”
Olivia shook her head.
“My mother didn’t have a sister.”
Charles smiled.
“She did.”
Then he raised a gun.
Dante shoved Olivia sideways.
The shot exploded through the warehouse.
Glass shattered.
Guards returned fire.
Olivia fell behind a concrete barrier.
“Dante!”
“I’m fine.”
Another shot.
Then another.
Silence.
Olivia waited.
Dante appeared beside her.
Blood stained his sleeve.
“Are you hurt?”
He ignored her question.
“Just a graze.”
“What about my father?”
Gone.
He had escaped through the rear exit.
Olivia looked at the ledger.
Her hands trembled.
“My mother had a sister.”
Dante nodded.
“And my father knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why did he lie?”
“We’ll find out.”
“No.”
Olivia looked at him.
“We’ll make him tell us.”
That night, Olivia returned to the Moretti study.
Dante was not there.
The locked cabinet stood against the wall.
She touched the gold necklace.
September 17, 2009.
She remembered something else.
Her mother’s voice.
Not the sentence.
The tone.
Afraid.
Hurrying.
Olivia walked to the desk.
There was a small brass key attached to the necklace chain.
She had thought it was decorative.
Now she stared at it.
A tiny key.
Dante had never asked about it.
Olivia inserted it into the cabinet.
Click.
The lock opened.
She pulled the door.
Inside were folders.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Newspaper clippings.
And at the very bottom, one cream-colored envelope.
On it was written:
OLIVIA.
She opened it with shaking fingers.
The first line read:
My darling girl, if you are reading this, then Charles failed to keep you away from the truth.
Olivia stopped breathing.
The second line was worse.
May you like
And if Dante Moretti is beside you, trust him.
Because he is not the man your father told you he was.
