Chapter 4 - The Basement Nobody Was Allowed to Enter
Masimo arrived in six minutes.
He brought Giani and two men.
Cora opened the door before he knocked.
He saw the envelope.
He read it.
His expression became still.
"Did anyone touch Milo?"
"No."
"Good."
He looked at Giani.
"Get a team here."
Giani nodded.
Masimo turned to Cora.
"You're coming with me."
"Where?"
"Home."
"This is my home."
"My house."
"No."
"Cora."
"No."
She crossed her arms.
"I'm not leaving Milo."
"We'll take him with us."
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
The Orsini estate stood behind iron gates on a hill overlooking the harbor.
Milo stared at the security cameras.
Cora stared at everything else.
The house was enormous.
Too large.
Too quiet.
Masimo noticed her expression.
"Don't be impressed."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm calculating how much it costs to heat this."
He laughed.
For the first time in years, Giani saw him genuinely amused.
Milo sat on a sofa with a blanket.
A housekeeper brought him warm milk.
Cora remained standing.
"Where is the accountant?"
Masimo led her downstairs.
They passed locked rooms.
Steel doors.
A private elevator.
A reinforced archive.
At the bottom level, an old man sat waiting.
His name was Samuel Price.
He had been Enzo Orsini's accountant.
He was seventy-four.
He looked at Cora's ledger.
Then he frowned.
"Where did you get this?"
"My father."
"What was his name?"
"Thomas Halliday."
Samuel closed his eyes.
"Thomas."
"You knew him."
"I did."
"What did he find?"
Samuel stood slowly.
"Your father found money moving through the company."
"How much?"
"Enough to bankrupt several countries."
Masimo stared.
"What?"
Samuel ignored him.
He looked at Cora.
"Your father was investigating a network within Orsini Harbor Group."
"Matteo?"
"Not at first."
"Then who?"
Samuel walked to a filing cabinet.
He pulled out a file.
"Cora, your father wasn't supposed to be at the diner."
"Why was he there?"
"Because he was meeting a woman."
"Who?"
"Her name was Maribel."
Cora's heart raced.
"Who was she?"
Samuel opened the file.
Before he could answer, the basement lights went out.
Masimo immediately reached for his weapon.
Gunfire erupted upstairs.
Milo screamed.
Cora ran.
Masimo caught her arm.
"No."
"My brother!"
"Giani is with him."
More shots.
Then silence.
They rushed upstairs.
Milo was gone.
The blanket was on the floor.
Giani lay unconscious beside the sofa.
Cora screamed his name.
Masimo's face became terrifyingly calm.
"Lock the gates."
Security moved instantly.
He knelt beside Giani.
"He was hit with something."
Cora looked around wildly.
"Milo!"
Masimo stood.
A monitor camera showed a black van leaving the estate.
"How did they get through?"
One guard answered.
"The west gate was opened remotely."
"Who has remote access?"
Silence.
Then someone said,
"Mr. Kane."
Masimo's expression changed.
Richard Kane was his chief financial officer.
One of the few people who had access to the estate systems.
Masimo turned to Cora.
"He betrayed us."
She shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"He doesn't know about Milo."
"How do you know?"
"Because when you brought me here, he called me."
Masimo stared.
"He told me to stay away from your family."
"Why?"
"He was afraid."
Before Masimo could answer, Samuel Price appeared behind them.
He was holding a photograph.
"Masimo."
Masimo turned.
Samuel handed it over.
A photograph of Matteo Orsini.
Alive.
Standing beside Richard Kane.
On the back was a date.
Three weeks ago.
Masimo's jaw tightened.
"Where did you get this?"
Samuel looked at Cora.
"Maribel sent it."
Cora froze.
"Maribel is alive?"
Samuel nodded.
"Yes."
Masimo stared at him.
"Where?"
Samuel whispered,
"Under your father's old warehouse."
The warehouse on Federal Street.
The one somebody had bought that morning.
Masimo looked at Cora.
"We're going."
She nodded.
"What about Milo?"
"We bring him back."
Cora grabbed his hand.
For a second, neither moved.
Then she said,
"Don't make me regret trusting you."
Masimo squeezed her fingers.
"I won't."
They left the estate.
But neither noticed the security camera above the basement door.
It had been disabled for exactly forty-three seconds.
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And during those forty-three seconds, someone had removed one page from Samuel Price's file.
A page bearing the name of the real owner of the Federal Street warehouse.
