Chapter 11 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD|
Roman returned to Chicago with his mother's letter tucked inside his jacket and a question that would not leave him alone.
If Adrian Vale had died at Pier 14, why had Eleanor written his name years later?
Dante had the answer waiting in the study.
“Adrian's death certificate is real,” he said. “The body was identified by dental records. But the funeral arrangements were handled privately, and the medical examiner's file is missing several pages.”
Roman removed his coat.
“Find the examiner.”
“Already working on it. There's something else. A security consultant named Andrew Vale has been advising Vanessa's legal team for the past three years.”
Roman stared at him.
“Andrew?”
“Same birth date. Same military service. Different middle name on his professional license.”
“Bring him in.”
Dante hesitated.
“Legally?”
Roman gave him a hard look.
“Legally.”
Two hours later, Roman met Andrew Vale in a conference room at Ferrara Holdings. The man was in his late fifties, with graying hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a slight limp.
When he saw Roman, his expression remained calm.
“Mr. Ferrara.”
“Adrian.”
The man's eyes narrowed.
“That name belongs to a dead man.”
“Apparently, dead men make excellent consultants.”
Roman placed Eleanor's photograph on the table.
Andrew studied it without touching it.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother.”
For the first time, the older man's composure faltered.
“She survived?”
“Yes.”
Andrew leaned back.
“Then I suppose the past has finally caught up with us.”
Roman wanted to strike him. Instead, he folded his hands and waited.
“Tell me what happened at Pier 14.”
Andrew looked toward the window.
“Your father hired me to investigate missing maintenance funds. I discovered that the safety equipment had been deliberately removed. Claudia knew. Anthony Rossi knew. Vanessa knew more than she admitted.”
“And you?”
“I was ordered to keep you away from the warehouse that night. Someone changed your schedule and sent you there anyway.”
“Who?”
“Your father suspected Claudia had arranged it. But he couldn't prove she had planned to kill you.”
Roman's voice hardened.
“Did you?”
Andrew looked him in the eye.
“No. I tried to get you out.”
“Then why did everyone believe Vanessa saved me?”
“Because she was the first person who reached the hospital and told the story. By the time the investigators questioned the survivors, the narrative had already been established.”
Roman placed the photograph of Evelyn beside the first one.
“Where was my wife?”
Andrew's expression changed.
“She came back for you.”
“I know.”
“She carried you toward the eastern exit. The smoke was so thick she could barely see. I found both of you near a collapsed beam.”
“Why didn't you testify?”
Andrew looked down.
“Because Claudia told me my family would be killed if I spoke. I helped move evidence after the fire. I signed a statement I knew was false. Then I disappeared.”
“You let my wife suffer for two years.”
“Yes.”
The admission was quiet, but it carried the weight of everything Roman had spent the morning learning.
“Why help us now?”
Andrew reached into his briefcase and produced a memory card.
“Because I kept the original security footage. I thought I might need it someday.”
Roman took the card.
“What's on it?”
“Vanessa entering the maintenance room before the fire. Claudia meeting Anthony Rossi outside the warehouse. And a final recording made by your father.”
Roman stood.
“Where is the recording?”
Andrew looked at him.
“Not here. I hid it somewhere Claudia would never think to search.”
“Where?”
“In the place your mother disappeared from.”
Roman's expression went cold.
“The clinic?”
Andrew nodded.
“There's a room behind the old rehabilitation wing. Your father left a safe there. The combination is your mother's birthday.”
Roman called Dante.
Within minutes, a team was preparing to travel to Wisconsin.
Before leaving, Roman turned back to Andrew.
“You'll cooperate with Margaret Ellis and the investigators. You'll tell them everything.”
Andrew nodded.
“And Roman?”
“What?”
“Don't underestimate Vanessa. Claudia is afraid of exposure. Vanessa is afraid of losing what she believes she deserves.”
Roman thought of Evelyn sitting alone in the mansion vestibule, clutching her hospital folder while Vanessa stood over her.
He understood the difference now.
Claudia had built a conspiracy to protect an empire.
Vanessa had helped destroy a woman because she wanted the woman's place.
Roman left the building with the memory card in his pocket.
For the first time, the truth was no longer a collection of fragments.
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It was a trail.
And at the end of that trail stood two women who had believed they could rewrite his life.
