Chapter 3 - The Uncle Vincent Refused to Suspect
Salvatore Costa had taught Vincent how to shave.
How to throw a punch.
How to identify a police tail.
After Vincent’s father died, Salvatore became the closest thing he had to one.
That made the evidence almost impossible to accept.
Mave did not have that problem.
“Bring him in.”
Vincent stared.
“You say that casually.”
“He has access.”
“He’s family.”
“Family members can commit crimes.”
“In my world, accusing family without proof starts wars.”
“Your world already has a war.”
He hated when she was right.
Salvatore arrived at noon.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Warm smile.
He kissed Mave’s cheek.
“Heard you had excitement last night, sweetheart.”
Mave stiffened.
Vincent noticed.
“How did you hear?”
Salvatore’s smile remained.
“People talk.”
“The attack wasn’t public.”
Silence.
Tiny.
Barely noticeable.
Mave noticed.
Salvatore recovered.
“Leo called.”
Vincent looked at Leo.
Leo shook his head.
Salvatore’s smile disappeared.
Vincent’s voice became quiet.
“Sit down, Uncle.”
The interrogation lasted an hour.
Salvatore denied everything.
The gun had been stolen months earlier.
He knew nothing about Belize.
Nothing about the trucking company.
Nothing about Dominic’s death.
Then Mave asked:
“Why did you call me sweetheart at the gala last month?”
Salvatore looked confused.
“What?”
“You always call me sweetheart.”
“So?”
“The stranger who approached me last night called me something else.”
Vincent looked at her.
She continued.
“He called me ‘pretty secretary.’ But on the note found in his pocket, investigators found the phrase ‘Costa’s sweetheart.’”
Salvatore’s face changed.
Only slightly.
Mave had lied.
There was no note.
Vincent realized it.
Salvatore didn’t.
“Lots of people call you that.”
Mave smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“I never said the note called me sweetheart.”
Silence.
Vincent’s expression turned lethal.
Salvatore looked at him.
“Vincent.”
“Explain.”
“I misspoke.”
“Explain.”
The older man stood.
Leo blocked the door.
Salvatore looked around.
Then laughed.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Vincent went still.
“Of what?”
“Letting a secretary interrogate blood.”
Mave felt the temperature change.
Vincent stood.
“Careful.”
“There.”
Salvatore pointed at Mave.
“That’s your weakness.”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“You built everything your father left you into something stronger. Then she came along.”
Mave’s stomach dropped.
Vincent said:
“You did it.”
Salvatore smiled sadly.
“I tried to save you.”
“By killing Dominic?”
“He discovered too much.”
“And Mave?”
Salvatore looked at her.
“She discovered everything.”
Vincent moved.
Mave caught his arm.
“Vincent.”
His promise was not one she had asked for yet.
But her touch stopped him anyway.
Salvatore noticed.
And smiled.
“See?”
Vincent looked at his uncle.
“What was the plan?”
“To remove distractions.”
“You mean me.”
“I mean her.”
Mave felt cold.
Salvatore continued.
“You were becoming soft.”
Vincent laughed once.
“No.”
“You changed shipments to reduce exposure. Stopped certain businesses. Started legitimizing revenue.”
“Those were my decisions.”
“Because she was always outside your door reminding you clean books mattered.”
Mave stared.
She had never known.
Salvatore had interpreted ordinary accounting as moral contamination.
Vincent stepped closer.
“You tried to kill her because she balanced spreadsheets?”
“I tried to protect the Costa name.”
“No.”
Vincent’s voice became almost gentle.
“You tried to inherit it.”
Salvatore’s face hardened.
Men appeared behind Leo.
Vincent nodded.
“Take him.”
Salvatore stared.
“You would choose her over family?”
Vincent looked at Mave.
Then back at his uncle.
“No.”
Salvatore seemed surprised.
“I’m choosing truth over family.”
Mave felt those words settle somewhere deep.
Salvatore was taken away alive.
Vincent handed evidence to his attorneys and investigators connected to Dominic’s murder.
It should have ended there.
It didn’t.
Because Salvatore had built the shadow organization for eighteen months.
He had partners.
One of them remained unidentified.
That evening, Mave opened Dominic’s encrypted backup files.
She found a scheduled email.
Recipient:
Mave Collins.
Subject:
IF I’M DEAD, TRUST NO ONE.
She opened it.
Mave,
If you’re reading this, Salvatore moved faster than I expected.
The Belize transfers are only part of it.
There is another person.
Someone Vincent trusts more than Salvatore.
Someone who has access to his house, calendar, cars, security rotations and you.
Do not tell Vincent until you find the file labeled MAYFLOWER.
Mave read the message twice.
Then looked through the glass door.
Vincent stood in the hallway speaking to Leo.
Someone Vincent trusted more than Salvatore.
Someone with access to everything.
Including her.
May you like
And suddenly Mave understood that exposing Salvatore had not made her safer.
It had told the real traitor exactly how much she knew.
