Chapter 4: The Ghost Account
Federica had spent her career proving impossible things were usually just things nobody wanted to see.
A missing million dollars was not missing.
Someone moved it.
A fake company was not fake.
Someone created it.
A dead person receiving money was not a ghost.
Someone was using their name.
But this was different.
Because the account belonged to Matteo Romano.
Gabriele’s older brother.
Leo’s father.
A man who had supposedly died in a boating accident eight months earlier.
Federica stared at the screen until her eyes hurt.
“No.””
The word left her mouth before she realized she had spoken.
Leo stirred in the next room.
She immediately lowered her voice.
“No.””
But the numbers remained.
The payment.
The account.
The date.
Everything.
She printed the document and walked into the room where Gabriele was standing by the window.
He had not slept.
She could tell.
Men like him did not need to say they were exhausted.
Their silence said it for them.
“We need to talk.””
Gabriele turned.
“What happened?””
She placed the paper on the table.
He looked down.
Then he stopped moving.
Federica watched his face carefully.
That was the first time she saw something close to fear.
Not for himself.
For the truth.
“Where did you get this?””
“It was in the payment records.””
“That’s impossible.””
“That’s what I thought.””
Gabriele picked up the paper.
“My brother is dead.””
Federica nodded.
“I know.””
“Then explain this.””
She couldn’t.
Not yet.
The room was quiet except for the sound of rain against the windows.
Finally, Gabriele spoke.
“Who else has seen this?””
“No one.””
“Good.””
Federica looked at him.
“Why?””
Because the answer mattered.
Because the reaction mattered.
Because if someone inside the organization could fake a dead man’s account, then the kidnapping was not the beginning.
It was the middle.
Gabriele folded the paper.
“Because if Matteo was alive…”
He stopped.
Federica waited.
“What?””
His eyes met hers.
“Then Leo was never the target.””
A chill moved through the room.
“What are you saying?””
Before he answered, the safe house alarm sounded.
Not a warning.
A breach.
Someone had entered the property.
Gabriele immediately moved.
The man who had been standing quietly by the window disappeared.
The dangerous version returned.
He pulled a weapon from beneath his jacket.
“Stay behind me.””
Federica grabbed the paper.
“I hate when people say that.””
“Federica.””
“Because it usually means something terrible is about to happen.””
A shadow moved beneath the hallway lights.
Someone was walking toward them.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Like they belonged there.
Gabriele aimed his weapon.
“Whoever you are, you have five seconds to explain.””
The footsteps stopped.
Then a voice answered.
A voice Federica recognized.
A voice she had heard only once.
Through the recording from the kidnapping van.
“The accountant found it, didn’t she?””
Gabriele’s face changed.
Federica felt the blood drain from hers.
Because the person standing outside the door was not an enemy.
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It was someone from inside the Romano family.
And they knew exactly what Federica had discovered.
