Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO WAS ERASED|
Catherine did not intend to meet Celeste alone.
She also knew that refusing the meeting would give the other woman time to disappear.
Gabriel arranged surveillance around the old railway station, but Catherine insisted that no armed guards enter the building. She wanted answers, not a confrontation that would end with someone bleeding on the floor.
At six in the evening, she stepped into the abandoned ticket hall.
Celeste stood beneath a broken clock.
Without the emerald dress and the ballroom lights, she looked younger. More tired. A faint bruise colored one wrist.
"You came," Celeste said.
"You threatened my child."
"I warned you."
"There's a difference only when the person giving the warning isn't involved."
Celeste looked away.
For the first time, she seemed unable to produce the perfect smile.
"Enzo has been using my company to move money from the waterfront project. I thought it was ordinary political corruption. Then I discovered the trust documents."
"And the warehouse?"
"Enzo ordered it destroyed. I signed the contract because he told me it was an empty building."
"Did you believe him?"
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to believe him."
Catherine felt no sympathy, only exhaustion.
"You knew Matteo had a child on the way."
"Yes."
"And you still stood beside him while he abandoned me."
"I thought if he stayed at the gala, Enzo would let me keep the company. I didn't know he'd send men after you."
"You chose money."
"So did you, once."
The words struck harder than Catherine expected.
Celeste stepped closer.
"You married Matteo to save your father's business. You accepted his name, his house, his protection. You knew what the Baloris were."
"I knew the public version."
"You didn't ask what happened to the people who stood in their way."
"No," Catherine admitted. "I didn't."
For a moment, they stood in uncomfortable silence.
Then Celeste reached into her purse and removed a small memory card.
"Everything I know is on here. Payments, messages, the warehouse contract, and the original hospital transfer record."
"Why give it to me?"
"Because Enzo plans to kill Matteo's brother before the trust vote."
Catherine stared at her.
"Where is he?"
"At a rehabilitation center outside Asheville. He believes his birth family abandoned him."
"Does he know who he is?"
"No."
"What's his name?"
"Daniel Cross."
Catherine took the memory card.
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
Celeste looked toward the station entrance.
"I made a deal with Enzo because I thought I could control him. I was wrong. I am trying to make one decent decision before the consequences catch up with me."
A sound echoed from the far platform.
Celeste's face changed.
"They're here."
Two men entered through the eastern doors.
Gabriel's voice came through Catherine's earpiece.
"Move to the north exit. Now."
Catherine ran.
A man grabbed her coat, but she twisted free and stumbled through a side passage. Gabriel's security team intercepted the men before they reached the street.
When Catherine emerged, Celeste was gone.
So was the memory card.
Catherine searched her coat, then her bag.
Empty.
Someone had taken it during the struggle.
Gabriel arrived moments later.
"Did you get the evidence?"
"No."
"Did Celeste take it back?"
"I don't know."
His phone rang.
He listened, then looked at Catherine.
"Daniel Cross has disappeared from the rehabilitation center."
"Enzo?"
"Possibly."
Catherine's heart hammered.
"If he's Matteo's brother, we have to find him."
Gabriel nodded.
Then a new message appeared on Catherine's phone from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of a man tied to a chair in a dark room.
May you like
Underneath it were seven words.
TELL MATTEO HIS BROTHER IS ALREADY DEAD.
