Chapter 6 - The Bodyguard Who Raised Him
Carmine watched the file name until the letters stopped looking real.
Marco Bell had guarded Leo since birth.
He had carried Alessia’s coffin.
He had taught Leo how to ride a bicycle.
He had just spent the previous night outside the boy’s bedroom door.
Nina touched Carmine’s arm.
“Do not confront him alone.”
Carmine gave her a flat look.
“Not because you can’t handle him,” she said. “Because we don’t know what he is.”
They opened the file.
Alessia’s voice filled the study.
“Marco is the only person inside Carmine’s security team who believes me.”
Carmine exhaled.
The next sentence changed everything again.
“He found the first falsified route order.”
A photograph appeared.
A printed vehicle route for the day Alessia died.
Her car had been redirected from the freeway to a mountain road because of a supposed security threat.
The authorization carried Carmine’s digital seal.
Carmine had never issued it.
Alessia continued.
“Marco thinks the seal was cloned. I think someone inside the family office had access to the token.”
The video ended.
Marco was not the traitor.
He had been investigating with Alessia.
Carmine called him into the study.
Marco entered, saw the paused video, and stopped.
“You found it.”
“You knew.”
“I knew she hid something. Not where.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Marco looked at him for a long moment.
“Because after she died, you started a war.”
Carmine’s face hardened.
“You thought the Lombardi crew killed her. Salvatore gave you names. You went after them before the police finished the crash report.”
“You think I wouldn’t have listened?”
“I think you were grieving and armed.”
That landed because it was true.
Marco continued.
“Alessia told me if anything happened to her, I was supposed to protect Leo first and evidence second.”
“So for five years you said nothing?”
“I searched.”
“For what?”
“The cloned token.”
Marco removed a small black case from inside his jacket and placed it on the desk.
Inside was an old biometric security key.
Carmine recognized it.
His father had used it before Carmine took control of the family companies.
“It was found in Salvatore’s lake house last month,” Marco said.
“Then why is he still breathing freely?”
“Because the usage logs don’t match Salvatore’s biometrics.”
Carmine frowned.
Marco opened a printout.
The token had been used six times after Carmine’s father died.
Each use required a fingerprint plus a six-digit code.
Only four people had known the code.
Carmine.
Alessia.
Salvatore.
And Carmine’s mother, Teresa.
Carmine looked at Marco.
“My mother was in Rome when Alessia died.”
“Her passport says she was.”
Carmine felt the room tighten.
“Passport?”
Marco slid another document across the desk.
An airline manifest.
Teresa DeLuca had not boarded the Rome flight.
Someone else had used her ticket.
And hotel security footage showed Teresa entering a private clinic outside Chicago the night before Alessia’s crash.
The clinic belonged to Dr. Peter Ames.
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
