Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS
Vincent immediately moved Emma behind him.
“Stay back.”
Emma looked around.
“Who is that?”
“No idea.”
The voice outside laughed.
“You really don't recognize me, Vincent?”
Vincent's expression changed.
Emma noticed.
“You do.”
Vincent remained silent.
The voice spoke again.
“Ask your mother about Daniel Langford.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“Victoria's father?”
Vincent stepped toward the door.
“Show yourself.”
“You're still the same arrogant boy.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“Arthur?”
“No.”
The lights went out.
Emma heard a metallic click.
Then the emergency lights came on.
A small side door opened.
A man in a gray coat stood there.
He was older, perhaps sixty.
He looked at Vincent.
“You've grown.”
Vincent stared.
“Richard Vale.”
Emma had never heard the name.
Richard smiled.
“Your father trusted me.”
Vincent's expression was cold.
“My father trusted too many people.”
Richard looked toward Emma.
“And you must be Thomas Carter's daughter.”
Emma stepped forward.
“How do you know my father?”
Richard laughed softly.
“Your father saved your family.”
“From what?”
“From me.”
Emma froze.
Richard continued.
“Your father discovered that your grandfather's company had been drained through shell corporations.”
Vincent looked at the ledger.
“And the Moretti family?”
Richard shook his head.
“Not the family.”
He pointed toward the names.
“Individuals.”
Emma looked at Vincent.
“So who stole the money?”
Richard smiled.
“That's the question.”
Before he could say more, footsteps echoed outside.
Security.
Richard disappeared through the side door.
Vincent ran after him.
Emma followed.
They reached the alley.
Empty.
Only a black sedan disappearing around the corner.
Vincent stopped.
Emma looked at him.
“Was that man telling the truth?”
“I don't know.”
“You recognized him.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Vincent looked toward the road.
“My father's former attorney.”
“And now?”
“A ghost.”
They returned to the warehouse.
The ledger was gone.
Emma stared at the empty shelf.
“He took it.”
Vincent nodded.
“But why leave us alive?”
Vincent looked at the door.
“Because he wanted us to know he could.”
That night, Vincent finally told Emma what he knew.
Twenty-three years earlier, his father had acquired a failing shipping company.
The deal made the Moretti family wealthy.
But according to the blue ledger, millions had moved through shell companies before the acquisition.
Someone had manipulated the transaction.
Someone had profited.
And someone had convinced everyone that Isabella had signed the final transfer.
“She didn't,” Emma said.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Victoria's father.”
Emma's heart sank.
“So Victoria knew.”
“We don't know that.”
“She's been threatening your mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then she knows something.”
Vincent didn't disagree.
The next morning, Emma returned to her father's hospital room.
He was awake.
She placed a copy of one ledger page on his blanket.
His face went pale.
“Where did you get this?”
“From the Moretti archive.”
He closed his eyes.
“I told you to stay away.”
“You never told me the truth.”
Her father looked at her.
“I wanted you to have a normal life.”
“I don't have one anymore.”
He sighed.
“Your mother and I were threatened.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“Years ago.”
“By whom?”
He hesitated.
“Daniel Langford.”
Emma felt the room tilt.
“Why?”
“Because I had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Her father reached beneath his pillow.
He pulled out an old photograph.
It showed Daniel Langford, Vincent's father, Isabella, and Thomas Carter.
On the back was written:
THE NIGHT THE MONEY DISAPPEARED.
Emma stared.
Her father whispered:
“Victoria wasn't the mastermind.”
Emma looked up.
“Then who was?”
Her father swallowed.
“The man who became Vincent Moretti's closest adviser.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“Who?”
May you like
Her father whispered:
“Arthur Bellamy.”
