Chapter 4 - The Ghost From Victor's Past
The man's name was Daniel Caruso.
And according to every official record in Illinois, Daniel Caruso had been dead for twelve years.
Nora stared at him.
Then at Victor.
Victor's face told her enough.
"You know him."
Victor nodded.
"Yes."
Daniel smiled.
"That's an understatement."
"Where's my daughter?" Victor asked.
Nora stood.
"Mia's safe."
Victor looked at her.
"Where?"
"Rachel took her somewhere secure after Daniel contacted us."
Victor turned toward Daniel.
"You threatened my children."
"No."
"You entered my home."
"Yes."
"You stood outside their nursery."
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"I needed you afraid."
"You used my children."
"I never touched them."
Victor stepped forward.
Nora moved between them.
"Stop."
Both men froze.
Nora looked at Victor.
"You're going to tell me everything."
Victor glanced at Daniel.
"No."
Nora's face changed.
"Then I'm leaving."
Victor immediately looked back at her.
"Nora."
"You still don't understand."
Her voice trembled.
"I left because I couldn't live with secrets anymore."
Victor lowered his eyes.
Daniel sat in a pew.
"Tell her."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"Stay out of this."
"I've stayed out of it for twelve years."
"Not long enough."
Nora shook her head.
"Victor."
He looked at her.
And finally, the man who controlled half his world surrendered control of the one thing he had guarded most fiercely.
The truth.
Twelve years earlier, Victor had not been powerful.
He had been twenty-seven.
Hungry.
Angry.
Working for men who treated loyalty like currency.
Daniel had been his closest friend.
Together they had built a network of legitimate businesses around dangerous relationships.
Then someone betrayed them.
A warehouse burned.
Three men died.
Daniel disappeared.
Victor had believed him dead.
"But you benefited," Nora said quietly.
Victor nodded.
"When Daniel vanished, his shares transferred according to an agreement we'd signed."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"An agreement Victor forgot to question."
"I thought you were dead."
"You didn't look very hard."
"I looked for two years."
Daniel stood.
"Then you stopped."
Victor didn't deny it.
Nora folded her arms around herself.
"Why come back now?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Because someone else knows I'm alive."
Victor's expression sharpened.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then why involve Nora?"
"Because whoever it is has been watching your family."
Victor went still.
Daniel continued.
"The photograph under Mia's crib wasn't mine."
Silence.
Victor stared.
"The man at the penthouse?"
"Me."
"The photograph?"
"No."
Nora looked frightened.
Daniel reached into his coat.
Victor instinctively stepped toward Nora.
Daniel slowly removed an envelope.
He handed it to Victor.
Inside were photographs.
Victor and Nora leaving the hospital.
Nora pushing a stroller.
Rachel visiting the penthouse.
Victor entering Sylvia's building.
Victor stared at that photograph longer than the others.
Nora noticed.
"You knew about Sylvia?" Victor asked Daniel.
"Everybody watching you knew."
Nora looked away.
Victor's shame returned.
Daniel placed another photograph on the pew.
It showed Marco.
Victor frowned.
"What is this?"
"Your problem."
Victor looked closer.
Marco stood beside a man outside a warehouse.
Victor recognized the man.
Anthony Vale.
One of Victor's oldest rivals.
"No."
Daniel's expression remained calm.
"Your enemy isn't outside your organization."
Victor stared at the image.
"Marco wouldn't."
"People said the same thing about you once."
Victor looked at Daniel.
Nora interrupted.
"Enough."
She picked up her coat.
"I need to get back to Leo."
Victor followed.
"Nora."
She stopped.
"I'll take you."
"No."
"I won't ask where Mia is."
She looked at him, surprised.
"I promised."
Nora studied him.
Then nodded toward the door.
"You can drive me to the hospital."
That tiny permission felt enormous.
The drive was quiet.
Halfway there, Nora spoke.
"How long?"
Victor knew what she meant.
"Sylvia?"
"Yes."
"Four months."
Nora looked out the window.
Victor tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"I'm ending it."
"Don't do it for me."
"I'm doing it because it should never have started."
Nora said nothing.
"I don't expect forgiveness."
"Good."
Victor nodded.
"I deserve that."
At the hospital, they found Leo improving.
Victor remained only fifteen minutes.
Then he left voluntarily.
Nora noticed.
Before he reached the elevator, she called his name.
Victor turned.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For leaving when you said you would."
Victor almost smiled.
It was the smallest victory he had ever received.
And perhaps the most important.
Then Marco called.
Victor answered.
"Where are you?"
Marco asked.
"Hospital."
"We have a problem."
Victor's eyes shifted toward Nora.
"What?"
"Someone broke into the penthouse again."
Victor stiffened.
"Anything taken?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Marco hesitated.
"They left something in the nursery."
Victor returned immediately.
On Mia's empty crib lay a photograph.
Victor picked it up.
It showed Nora inside the abandoned church.
Taken less than two hours earlier.
Someone had been watching.
On the back, written in black ink, were six words:
DANIEL ISN'T THE TRAITOR. ASK MARCO.
Victor slowly looked up.
Marco stood in the nursery doorway.
May you like
And for the first time in fourteen years, Victor wondered whether the man he trusted most had been lying to him all along.
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