Chapter 5 - THE SAFE THAT HAD BEEN SEALED FOR THREE YEARS| The Moretti family's private safe stood behind a painting in Nico's old bedroom.
Aleandro had not entered the room since the warehouse explosion. His father had ordered every personal belonging preserved, claiming that the room should remain untouched until the family could hold a proper memorial.
No memorial had ever taken place.
There had been no body.
Only a burned jacket, a broken watch, and a story that changed whenever anyone asked questions.
Marcus placed the brass key into the lock.
It turned smoothly.
Inside lay several envelopes, an old phone, a leather-bound notebook, and a small wooden music box. The box played the same melody Emma had danced to in the ballroom.
Aleandro closed his eyes.
For a moment, he was twenty years old again, sitting on the floor beside Nico while their mother sang the tune.
Marcus examined the notebook.
"These appear to be financial records. There are references to hospital payments, private transport, and something called the Lantern Fund."
Aleandro took the first envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Nico standing beside Sophia outside the Queens diner. He looked thinner than Aleandro remembered, and his hair fell across his forehead. Sophia was smiling. Nico's arm was around her shoulders.
On the back, he had written:
If my brother ever finds this, tell him I finally found someone who makes me want to come home.
Aleandro felt the words like a physical blow.
He had spent three years believing his brother had chosen to betray the family. Now he wondered whether Nico had been trying to escape it.
A second envelope contained medical records from St. Vincent's Medical Center. The patient's name was listed as John Doe, but the date matched the warehouse explosion.
One note had been underlined.
Patient conscious. Requests contact with family. Contact denied by order of R.M.
Aleandro recognized his father's initials.
Richard Moretti.
"Someone deliberately prevented Nico from contacting us."
Marcus nodded.
"There are also payments to a private security company. The last transfer was made six months after the explosion."
"To whom?"
Marcus showed him the account number.
"It belongs to a company controlled by Valentina Romano's father."
Aleandro looked up.
"Romano was involved?"
"Possibly. We need to trace the funds."
The phone inside the safe suddenly vibrated.
It was an old model, its screen cracked, but a battery icon appeared.
One new message.
If you found the key, take the child to Saint Agnes. The truth is waiting beneath the chapel floor.
Aleandro read it twice.
Marcus reached for the phone.
"Could be a trap."
"Probably."
"Then we should not take Sophia or the child."
Aleandro shook his head.
"If this concerns Nico, Sophia deserves to know what's happening. We will not use Emma as bait."
He called Sophia and explained what they had found. She agreed to meet him the next morning, but insisted that Emma remain with her until they had a plan.
Aleandro respected the boundary.
Before ending the call, Sophia asked one question.
"Did Nico ever mention a woman named Celeste?"
Aleandro looked at Marcus.
"No. Why?"
"Because the night he disappeared, he told me that if I ever saw a woman wearing a silver crescent bracelet, I should ask her what happened at Saint Agnes."
The line went quiet.
Aleandro stared at the music box.
Saint Agnes was a private chapel on land once owned by the Moretti family. It had been closed after a fire three years earlier.
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The same night Nico disappeared.
And according to the notebook, his final payment had been made to a maintenance company hired to seal the chapel's basement.
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