Chapter 10 - The Trap at Moretti Tower
Moretti Tower rose forty-eight stories above downtown San Francisco.
Arturo had built it as proof the family had become legitimate.
Silvio now understood legitimacy had always been a costume.
At 9:00 p.m., the building was evacuated.
At least officially.
Rachel coordinated tactical teams outside.
Marco remained with Mia, Ethan and Isabella at a secure federal location.
Silvio entered through the underground garage alone.
That was Anthony’s condition.
He knew police were nearby.
He simply didn’t care.
The elevator opened on the forty-sixth floor.
Grant sat tied to a chair.
His shirt was stained with blood.
Anthony stood beside the windows.
He looked remarkably like Arturo.
Not identical.
But enough that Silvio finally understood Lucinda’s confusion.
“Welcome,” Anthony said.
Silvio looked at Grant.
“Alive?”
Grant smiled weakly.
“Disappointed?”
“Constantly.”
Anthony laughed.
“The Moretti sense of humor.”
Silvio faced him.
“You raped my sister.”
Anthony’s smile vanished.
“You recently learned Elena was your sister. Don’t become sentimental retroactively.”
Silvio crossed the room before anyone could react.
He hit Anthony.
Once.
Hard.
Anthony fell against the desk.
Two armed men emerged from the shadows.
Guns pointed at Silvio.
Anthony wiped blood from his mouth.
“I expected that.”
Silvio’s chest heaved.
“You’re going to prison.”
“No.”
Anthony straightened.
“I’m going to save what your grandfather began.”
“Marcellus?”
“Marcellus created your family’s fortune.”
“By blackmail and murder.”
“By leverage.”
Silvio looked at Grant.
“Where’s the ledger?”
Grant laughed softly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Anthony struck him.
Grant’s head snapped sideways.
Silvio noticed something.
Grant was terrified.
But not of Anthony.
He kept looking toward the conference table.
Underneath it.
Silvio followed his gaze.
A phone.
Recording.
Grant was capturing everything.
Maybe for leverage.
Maybe insurance.
Anthony continued talking.
“Your father became weak.”
“He grew a conscience.”
“Same thing.”
“You killed him?”
“No.”
Silvio stared.
Anthony nodded toward Grant.
“He did.”
Grant shouted, “Lucinda changed the medication!”
“On your instruction.”
Grant struggled against the restraints.
Anthony smiled.
“He switched the tablets after Lucinda prepared them.”
Silvio looked at Grant.
Grant said nothing.
“So Lucinda thought she was making Dad sick.”
“Yes.”
“And you made the dose lethal.”
Grant’s face hardened.
“He was destroying our future.”
Silvio stepped toward him.
Anthony’s gunmen raised their weapons.
That was the trap.
Anthony wanted Silvio enraged.
Wanted him to kill Grant.
Silvio stopped.
Anthony looked disappointed.
“You’re more disciplined than Arturo.”
“You’re trying to disqualify me.”
Anthony smiled.
“Good.”
Silvio said, “You need me convicted of murdering a qualifying heir.”
“Correct.”
“And Grant is the sacrifice.”
Grant turned toward Anthony.
“You said—”
Anthony laughed.
“You believed me?”
Grant’s face drained.
Anthony looked at Silvio.
“He has spent years murdering people for control he never understood.”
“You killed David,” Silvio said to Grant.
Grant looked away.
“Elena?”
Silence.
“Did you kill Elena?”
Grant finally answered.
“She wouldn’t give me Ethan.”
Silvio closed his eyes.
There it was.
A confession.
The hidden phone continued recording.
“You cut her brake line.”
Grant said, “Voss arranged it.”
Anthony laughed again.
“Adrian arranged nothing. Grant did it personally.”
Grant shouted, “Shut up!”
“You also killed Victor Crane because he discovered the repair record.”
Grant lunged against the ropes.
Anthony seemed delighted.
Silvio realized Anthony was giving him everything.
Why?
Because Anthony believed Silvio would never leave the room alive unless he complied.
Silvio glanced toward Grant’s phone.
One gunman noticed.
He bent to grab it.
Grant kicked the conference table.
The phone slid across the floor.
Silvio moved.
Chaos exploded.
He drove into the first guard.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Grant threw himself sideways with the chair, knocking the second guard off balance.
Silvio took the first weapon.
Rachel’s tactical team breached the stairwell.
Gunfire erupted.
Anthony ran.
Silvio followed him into the executive floor.
Anthony entered Arturo’s old office.
Silvio cornered him near the windows.
Anthony held a pistol.
“Stop.”
Silvio stopped.
Anthony smiled.
“This is where your father decided to betray us.”
“Put the gun down.”
“You sound like police.”
“You’re surrounded.”
“I’ve been surrounded for fifty years.”
Anthony aimed at Silvio.
Then the office doors opened.
Isabella stood there.
Silvio’s heart stopped.
“Mom!”
She held no weapon.
Anthony stared.
“Isabella.”
She walked inside.
“You destroyed my daughter.”
Anthony’s face changed.
For the first time, confidence disappeared.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“You destroyed Elena.”
“That was Grant.”
“You started it.”
Anthony’s hand trembled.
Isabella stepped closer.
“You thought women in this family were pieces on your board.”
“Stop.”
“You used Clara.”
“That was Margaret.”
“You used Lucinda.”
“She was willing.”
“You used Elena.”
Anthony’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Silvio moved.
The shot fired.
Glass shattered.
Isabella screamed.
Silvio hit Anthony and drove him to the floor.
The pistol slid away.
Rachel entered.
“Hands!”
Anthony laughed beneath Silvio.
“You can arrest me.”
Silvio forced his arms behind his back.
“But Marcellus still belongs to whoever holds the ledger.”
Grant’s voice came from the doorway.
“Then I guess you lose.”
He stood unsteadily with a paramedic supporting him.
In his hand was a black notebook.
The missing pages.
Anthony stared.
Grant smiled.
“I stole it from Voss months ago.”
Rachel immediately took the ledger.
Anthony’s face collapsed.
Grant looked at Silvio.
“There.”
He breathed heavily.
“Now we’re even.”
Silvio stared at him.
“No.”
Grant’s smile faded.
“You murdered my sister.”
Grant understood.
Silvio stepped aside.
Rachel approached Grant.
“Grant Hale, you’re under arrest for the murders of Elena Russo, Victor Crane and conspiracy in the death of Arturo Moretti.”
Grant didn’t resist.
He looked at Silvio.
“What about Ethan?”
Silvio said nothing.
Grant’s voice cracked.
“He’s my son.”
Silvio answered quietly.
“No.”
Grant was led away.
But as Rachel secured the Marcellus ledger, Isabella touched Silvio’s arm.
“There’s one problem.”
“What?”
“The ledger Anthony wanted isn’t the only copy.”
Silvio looked at her.
“Who has the other one?”
May you like
Isabella glanced toward the city below.
“Margaret.”
