Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Matteo’s voice came through the line again, ragged and uneven. “boss…”
adrian’s grip on the phone tightened. he could hear the wind in the background, people talking faintly, and matteo’s breathing — fast, panicked. that alone told adrian something was very wrong.
“what happened?” adrian demanded, his tone quiet but edged with steel.
“check the news,” matteo said. his voice cracked.
adrian’s brow furrowed. “what news?”
“just… just check it, boss.”
and then the line went dead.
for a moment, adrian stood there, frozen in the hallway outside the conference room. the faint hum of conversation carried through the glass, but it sounded distant now, muffled, as if the world had dulled around him. he turned, striding back into his office with quick, clipped steps, his mind racing.
he grabbed the remote from his desk and switched on the television mounted on the wall. the screen flickered, and the familiar voice of a morning anchor filled the room.
“…a suspected robbery incident earlier today has left one man dead in his home. sources confirm the deceased is identified as mr. daniel cortez, a senior clearance officer with the alvento shipping authority…”
adrian’s heart sank. the screen showed a photo of daniel — the same man whose signature he’d been inspecting just last night. a hardworking, quiet man who’d never missed a detail, never questioned an order, his clearance officer.
the image shifted to a shaky video clip from the crime scene — yellow police tape fluttering, officers moving in and out of a small gated compound. the reporter’s voice continued, calm and detached, as though describing the weather.
“…neighbors reported hearing gunshots around some hours ago . authorities suspect it was an attempted robbery gone wrong. the victim’s wife and children were home at the time but were unharmed…”
then came the part adrian wasn’t ready for.
the camera cut to daniel’s wife — sitting on the porch, surrounded by officers. her eyes were swollen and red, her voice broken as she tried to speak. two children clung to her, crying uncontrollably.
adrian stared at the screen. he didn’t move, didn’t blink. a dull, cold pressure built in his chest.
it didn’t make sense.
daniel had worked for him for nearly a decade. he was cautious, disciplined, and lived far from the kind of trouble that led to a “robbery gone wrong.” adrian knew the pattern — this wasn’t random. it was clean.
he exhaled slowly and reached for his phone again.
matteo answered on the first ring this time.
“you saw it?” matteo asked, his tone low.
“i saw it,” adrian said. “and you believe it’s robbery?”
matteo hesitated. “it… it looks like it, boss. cops said the door was broken. they took—”
“matteo.” adrian’s voice cut through like a blade. “you believe it?”
silence stretched on the line. then matteo sighed. “no, boss. i don’t.”
adrian leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “send two men to his house. i want eyes on the scene. quietly. tell them to talk to the neighbors, the cops, anyone who saw something. i don’t care how small it seems.”
“got it,” matteo said immediately. “you think this was a hit?”
“i think,” adrian said, his voice cold, “that someone’s trying to cover their tracks.”
matteo didn’t need to ask what he meant. “i’ll get it done,” he said, and hung up.
the office was quiet again. adrian stared at the screen, now replaying the same footage — daniel’s wife, the crying children, the flashing lights. it was like watching loyalty die in real time.
he shut off the tv and sat in silence for a while, the weight of it settling in. his mind drifted back to the files, to the forged signature, to rico’s face this morning — that flicker of fear, that moment of hesitation.
he had seen it a thousand times in others. the look of a man who knows he’s been caught, but is still scrambling to find a way out.
adrian’s jaw tightened.
there was a knock on the door.
he didn’t answer.
the knock came again, softer this time.
“come in,” he said finally.
the door opened, and lucia stepped inside. she was still in her office clothes — a crisp blouse, dark trousers — but her eyes told a different story. red-rimmed, glassy. she’d been crying.
adrian didn’t need to ask why.
“you heard,” he said quietly.
lucia nodded. “it’s all over the news.” she hesitated, then stepped closer. “he was a good man, Mr Adrian. he didn’t deserve that.”
adrian’s gaze drifted to the floor for a moment before he met her eyes. “no, he didn’t.”
lucia walked to the edge of his desk. her hands trembled slightly, and she clasped them together to hide it. “you think this was an accident?”
adrian didn’t answer right away. “no,” he said finally. “it wasn’t.”
she exhaled shakily, her voice low. “then it’s true, isn’t it? what i said about rico.”
adrian’s silence was confirmation enough.
lucia sank into the chair opposite him. “he had something to do with this,” she said, her tone almost pleading, as if needing him to believe her — or maybe to forgive her for being right.
“i don’t know yet,” adrian said. “but someone wanted that officer quiet.”
lucia looked down, her throat tightening. “he must have known something. something about the shipments. And he feels you have found out and knows the clearance officer knows about it..”
“maybe,” adrian murmured. “or maybe he just signed the wrong page and started asking questions.”
he stood and walked toward the window. the sky outside was heavy with clouds, pressing low over the city. a storm was coming.
“you were close to him,” he said without turning.
lucia blinked, surprised. “daniel? he was just… kind. he helped me once with a shipment mix-up when i first started. he didn’t have to, but he did.” her voice faltered. “he had this way of making people feel safe.”
adrian nodded slowly. “that’s probably why he’s dead.”
lucia flinched at the bluntness, but she didn’t argue.
a long silence stretched between them. adrian’s mind was already moving — connecting dots, tracing threads. rico’s shipments, the forgery, the timing of the murder. none of it was coincidence.
lucia watched him, unsure if she should speak. there was something in his eyes she hadn’t seen before — not just anger, but disappointment. a quiet, restrained kind that hurt more than rage ever could.
“mr adrian,” she said softly. “what are you going to do?”
he turned from the window, his face filled with a gloomy expression. “find out the truth.”
“and if it’s him?”
adrian’s gaze darkened. “then he’ll wish it wasn’t.”
lucia’s breath caught. she had seen that look before — the calmness before adrian’s fury. the same look he’d worn years ago when someone had betrayed the family and paid the price for it. She saw the photos in the magazine Miguel brought home. The face haunted her for months.
she rose to her feet. “you’ll need proof first,” she said carefully. “you can’t just—”
“i know what i need,” he said quietly.
lucia swallowed, then nodded. “be careful, Mr adrian. rico isn’t stupid. if he planned this, he’s already two steps ahead.”
adrian’s expression didn’t change. “then i’ll take three.”
she hesitated, wanting to say more, but decided against it. “i’ll be in my office,” she murmured, and turned to leave.
“lucia.”
she stopped at the door.
“don’t tell anyone about this conversation,” he said. “not a word.”
her eyes met his. “i wouldn’t.”
“i know,” he said, softer now. “but i needed to say it.”
lucia gave a small nod and slipped out.
the door clicked shut, and the room fell silent again. adrian stood there, listening to the fading echo of her footsteps in the hall.
then his phone buzzed. a message from matteo.
got men at the scene. police say they’re closing the case as robbery. no fingerprints. no signs of forced entry. just clean shots.
adrian stared at the message, his jaw tightening. no forced entry.
whoever did it had been let in.
he pocketed the phone and looked once more at the folder on his desk. the same folder that had started all this. his instincts were never wrong — not about business, not about people. and right now, every instinct screamed that this was the beginning of something bigger.
he walked to the cabinet behind him and unlocked the top drawer. inside were old files, ledgers, and records that only he had access to. he pulled out one of rico’s earlier shipment logs and began scanning through it. the dates, the cargo, the signatures — all of it.
there.
a name. a date. a shipment route that shouldn’t exist.
adrian leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. the clearance officer’s signature was there too — one of the real ones. and next to it, a note scribbled in the margin in tiny letters: “ask rico.”
it was faint, almost erased. but it was there.
adrian sat back, his heart beating hard against his ribs. His mind was reeling with different thoughts. His palms became sweaty as he stared the more. The pieces were falling into place.
daniel had found something. he’d tried to ask questions. and someone made sure he never asked again.
adrian’s phone buzzed again. this time, it was a new message. unknown number.
“you’re looking in the wrong place, Di Santi.”
adrian froze, reading it twice. the number was blocked.
he looked up, the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth — cold and dangerous.
“Am i?” he whispered.