Chapter 5 - Locker 418
The storage facility opened at six.
Locker 418 was registered under a company that did not exist.
The brass key opened it anyway.
Inside were six cardboard boxes.
A steel cash case.
And one old laptop.
Dante’s men checked everything before letting me enter.
The first box contained bank records.
The second held photographs.
The third held copies of property deeds.
My father’s name appeared everywhere.
Thomas Carter.
I sat on the concrete floor and opened a folder with trembling hands.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Cash payments.
Names I recognized from Chicago newspapers.
Developers.
Judges.
Union leaders.
Politicians.
And one name that made Dante go completely still.
SALVATORE MORETTI.
“Your father?”
I asked.
Dante nodded.
He picked up another document.
“My brother.”
I stared.
“You had a brother?”
“Had.”
Something dark passed through his face.
“Gabriel died eighteen years ago.”
“How?”
“Car bomb.”
I swallowed.
“My father died seventeen years ago.”
Neither of us said anything.
Marco opened the steel case.
Inside was no money.
Only a digital recorder.
Dante pressed play.
Static filled the storage unit.
Then my father’s voice came through.
I had not heard it since I was eight years old.
I covered my mouth.
“If anyone finds this, I failed.”
My eyes filled instantly.
My father continued.
“Salvatore Moretti’s organization has been compromised from inside.”
Dante froze.
“Gabriel Moretti discovered it first.”
The recorder crackled.
“They killed Gabriel because he found the account.”
Dante’s face became stone.
My father continued.
“And now they know I helped him.”
I could barely breathe.
Then another sentence came.
“If something happens to me, protect Emily.”
My knees gave out.
Dante caught my shoulder before I hit the floor.
My father’s voice returned.
“There is one person Gabriel trusted.”
The recording paused.
“Dante Moretti.”
I looked up at him.
He looked as shocked as I felt.
My father had known him.
Trusted him.
Seventeen years ago.
The recording ended with one final warning.
“The man responsible is still inside the Moretti family.”
Marco slowly looked at Dante.
Dante looked toward the storage entrance.
May you like
Then the lights went out.
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