Chapter 12 - THE NAME IN THE FILE|
The authorities took Victor and Arthur into custody before sunrise.
Roman remained at the terminal until the investigators had collected the evidence, documented the injuries, and confirmed that Norah was safe.
Safe.
The word felt inadequate.
She had been threatened, abducted, and forced to confront the people responsible for her father's death. She had survived, but Roman could see that survival had cost her something.
He drove her to the estate himself.
Neither spoke during the journey.
When they arrived, he instructed the staff to prepare breakfast and asked the doctor to examine her.
Norah refused the doctor.
“I don't need a medical team because I have a cut on my lip.”
Roman stood in the hallway.
“You were kidnapped.”
“And I'm home.”
“You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn't.”
He looked at her.
She sighed.
“Roman, I appreciate that you're worried. But I can't spend the rest of my life being escorted from room to room because someone might hurt me.”
He was quiet.
“What do you want?”
The question surprised her.
“I want to understand what happened to my father. I want to know who that man was at the terminal. And I want to make my own decisions.”
Roman nodded.
“Then we'll start with the man at the terminal.”
Marcus had already begun searching surveillance footage from the surrounding streets. By noon, he had identified the stranger as Nathaniel Graves, a former financial adviser to Roman's father.
Graves had disappeared from public life fifteen years earlier, shortly after the elder Costa's death.
He had also been listed as a beneficiary in several accounts connected to the shell companies in Norah's father's ledger.
Roman read the report twice.
“Bring him in.”
Marcus shook his head.
“He won't come willingly.”
“Then find him.”
That afternoon, Norah sat with the accountant and examined the financial records.
She was not an expert in criminal finance, but her father had taught her enough to recognize patterns. Transfers repeated at regular intervals. Company names changed, but the account numbers remained connected.
She found a series of payments dating back nearly twenty years.
The first was made six months before Roman's father died.
The last was made three weeks before Norah's father was killed.
“Look at this,” she said.
Roman approached the table.
“What?”
“These payments all go through the same intermediary. But the account holder changes every few months.”
The accountant leaned closer.
“She's right.”
Norah pointed to a number in the margin.
“That's not a bank account. It's a trust reference.”
Roman's expression changed.
“Whose trust?”
The accountant searched the records.
After several minutes, he found the answer.
“The Costa family trust.”
Roman stared at the page.
“My father's estate?”
“Yes.”
“That trust was frozen after his death.”
“Officially,” the accountant replied.
Norah looked up.
“Who controlled it?”
The accountant hesitated.
“Your mother, initially. Then the trustees transferred authority to Nathaniel Graves.”
Roman's face hardened.
“My mother never told me.”
“Perhaps she didn't know,” Norah said.
He looked at her.
“You think she was deceived?”
“I think you should find out before deciding what she knew.”
Roman looked back at the file.
For years, he had believed his father built the empire and his mother protected the family. He had never considered that someone might have manipulated both of them.
Marcus entered with a new report.
“We found Graves's current residence.”
“Where?”
“Connecticut. He lives under his own name.”
Roman closed the file.
“Then we're going.”
Norah stood.
“I'm coming with you.”
“No.”
She looked at him steadily.
“You promised to let me choose.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
He remembered the words.
He also remembered the man at the terminal mouthing the words your father.
Finally, Roman nodded.
“You can come. But if I tell you to leave, you'll leave.”
Norah considered the condition.
“If you give me a real reason, I'll listen.”
It was the closest thing to an agreement they had ever reached.
They left the following morning.
Nathaniel Graves's house stood behind iron gates on a quiet country road.
A security camera turned toward their car.
Before Roman could knock, the front door opened.
An elderly man stood inside.
He looked at Roman, then at Norah.
His expression did not show surprise.
Only regret.
“I wondered when you would finally come,” Graves said.
Then he looked directly at Norah.
“Your father didn't die because of the Costa family alone.”
May you like
He stepped aside.
“He died because he discovered what your own family had done first.”
