Chapter 10 - THE SECRET IN THE FOLDER
Emma read her father's letter three times before she could speak.
Michael Hayes had been an accountant for the Romano shipping business. He had discovered that Victor Russo was diverting money through shell companies, while Dante's father was using the legitimate shipping operation to conceal illegal transactions.
Michael had gathered evidence and planned to hand it to federal investigators.
He never got the chance.
The letter explained that Michael had hidden a second copy of the ledger somewhere outside the warehouse. He had also written about a woman named Catherine, who had helped him prepare the records.
At the bottom, he had included an address.
Rosa read it over Emma's shoulder.
"Do you recognize the name?"
"No."
"Then why would your father leave it for you?"
Emma folded the letter carefully.
"Because he thought I might need it one day."
The address belonged to a closed accounting office on the outskirts of Chicago. The building had been converted into storage units, but the manager confirmed that one unit had remained under Michael's name for more than a decade.
Emma rented a car under Rosa's name and drove there the following morning.
Inside the unit, beneath boxes of old paperwork, she found a metal lockbox.
The key had been taped beneath the shelf.
Emma opened it.
There were bank statements, photographs, a small digital recorder, and a sealed envelope addressed to her.
Her hands shook as she unfolded the letter.
Emma, if you're reading this, it means I failed to come home. I am sorry for every birthday I may miss, every question I cannot answer, and every moment your mother will have to explain my absence.
She pressed the paper against her chest.
Rosa stood beside her, crying silently.
Then Emma noticed another document.
It was a birth certificate.
Her name appeared at the top.
But beneath the section identifying her father was a handwritten notation indicating that the original certificate had been amended.
Emma stared at it.
"What does this mean?"
Rosa took the paper carefully.
"It means someone changed your records."
"Who?"
Before Rosa could answer, the recorder crackled to life when Emma accidentally pressed its switch.
A man's voice filled the storage unit.
"Michael, the girl must never know what happened at the hospital."
Emma stopped breathing.
She recognized the voice.
Dante's father.
The recording continued.
"And if Romano discovers the truth, he'll destroy everyone involved."
The machine clicked off.
Emma stood motionless, the folder clutched against her chest.
May you like
Her father had not simply been killed over money.
Someone had been hiding a secret about her since the day she was born.
