Chapter 5 - Anna Bennett
The old Moretti marina sat south of the city behind warehouses Gabriel’s grandfather had bought when docks were cheaper than hotels.
It had not officially operated in nine years.
Unofficially, Gabriel suspected Salvatore still used it.
That suspicion now felt like stupidity.
Federal teams surrounded the property before dawn.
Gabriel stayed in the command van.
He hated every second.
Claire hated it more.
“Why aren’t they moving?”
“They need confirmation.”
“My sister has been there six months.”
“If they rush—”
“I know.”
She rubbed both hands over her face.
Gabriel watched.
Then:
“She’s alive.”
Claire looked at him.
“You don’t know.”
“No.”
“Then don’t promise.”
He nodded.
Fair.
“I hope she is.”
Better.
At 5:48 a.m., agents breached.
Three men arrested.
No Salvatore.
One locked room found.
Inside, Anna Bennett.
Alive.
Underweight.
Weak.
But standing.
Claire saw the body-camera feed.
Her knees buckled.
Gabriel caught her elbow.
She didn’t pull away.
Anna left the warehouse wrapped in a gray blanket.
Claire ran.
The sisters collided.
No elegant reunion.
Crying.
Anger.
Half-sentences.
Hands checking faces.
“You’re alive.”
“You idiot.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Six months.”
“I know.”
Gabriel looked away.
Some reunions should not be watched by strangers.
Eventually Anna noticed him.
Her face changed.
“Gabriel Moretti.”
“Yes.”
She looked around.
“Where is Leo?”
“Safe.”
Relief.
“Good.”
Gabriel felt cold.
“You were protecting him.”
Anna nodded.
“What did Elena tell you?”
“More than I told Claire.”
Claire glared.
Anna whispered:
“I was trying to keep her out.”
“Look how well that worked.”
Anna almost smiled.
Then became serious.
“Elena woke for about ninety seconds before she crashed.”
“Before she died.”
Anna looked down.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Salvatore was stealing from the foundation.”
“We know.”
“She said Matteo helped track her.”
Matteo, standing farther back, closed his eyes.
Gabriel said:
“We know.”
“She said Elias tampered with the car.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“We know.”
Anna hesitated.
Then:
“She said someone else knew.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
“My father died four years before Elena.”
“No.”
Anna looked at him.
“Not your father.”
She corrected herself.
“Leo’s grandfather.”
Elena’s father.
Robert DeLuca.
Gabriel frowned.
Robert was a retired federal prosecutor.
Had hated the Moretti family from the beginning.
He died three months after Elena.
Heart attack.
Or so Gabriel thought.
“What did Robert know?”
“He had copies of the foundation transfers.”
“Why not expose them?”
“He planned to.”
“What happened?”
“Salvatore threatened Elena.”
So Robert waited.
Collected evidence.
Then Elena died.
Robert died three months later.
Anna looked at Gabriel.
“I don’t think his death was natural either.”
Gabriel felt the scale widen.
Salvatore had not committed one murder.
Potentially two.
Claire asked:
“What evidence did you have?”
Anna described hospital blood samples.
Toxicology showed sedative exposure not included in official postmortem.
Someone altered the report.
Who?
Hospital administrator with ties to Salvatore.
Anna copied everything.
Then disappeared with Matteo’s help.
But Salvatore found her eventually.
“How?”
Anna looked ashamed.
“I contacted Robert’s old investigator.”
“Who?”
“Samuel Price.”
Dominic swore.
Gabriel knew the name.
Price worked for Salvatore now.
Another trusted man.
Always inside.
Anna continued.
“He sold me out.”
Salvatore kept her alive because she had hidden the original sample.
Where?
Anna smiled faintly.
“Not telling you.”
Gabriel almost admired it.
“Fair.”
She looked toward Claire.
“I’ll tell federal agents.”
Good.
Not family.
System outside the family.
That mattered now.
Agent Grant approached.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Gabriel turned.
“We traced Salvatore’s phone.”
“Where?”
Grant looked at him.
“Your casino.”
Gabriel stared.
“The gala.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He never left.”
Dominic checked the security logs again.
Salvatore had entered through a restricted maintenance elevator during the chaos.
The same ballroom where Leo reached for Claire.
The same night everything began.
Gabriel felt something worse.
“What does he want?”
Grant answered:
“Access to the Moretti Foundation financial archive.”
Of course.
Destroy records.
Eliminate evidence.
Then flee.
Gabriel called casino security.
No answer from the archive level.
He stood.
Grant said:
“You stay.”
“No.”
“That is not a suggestion.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I own the building.”
“Tonight the federal government owns your crime scene.”
Claire, despite everything, laughed once.
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“It’s just nice hearing someone talk to you like that.”
Even Anna smiled.
Gabriel sighed.
May you like
Then obeyed.
Mostly.
