Chapter 6 - The One Thing Ricardo Couldn’t Take
Ricardo took us somewhere nobody expected.
Not a mansion.
Not a casino.
Not one of the fortified estates whispered about whenever his name appeared in newspapers.
He took us to a small house in Margate.
His mother’s house.
“She lives here?” I asked.
“Not anymore.”
He unlocked the door.
“She died nine years ago.”
The living room looked untouched by wealth.
Old floral couch.
Wooden crucifix above the fireplace.
Framed family photographs.
Ricardo at twelve.
Ricardo at twenty.
Ricardo standing beside an elderly woman who had his eyes.
I watched him remove his suit jacket.
For the first time, Ricardo Santoro looked less like a legend and more like someone’s son.
Gabriella noticed too.
“You kept this place.”
“Yes.”
“You never brought me here.”
Ricardo looked at her.
“That should have told you something.”
I shot him a warning look.
“Ricardo.”
He sighed.
“You’re right.”
Gabriella blinked.
“Did Ricardo Santoro just admit someone else was right?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Despite everything, she laughed.
It was the first genuine sound I had heard from her.
Ricardo’s men secured the house.
Then we examined Victor Parker’s flash drive.
Hundreds of files.
Shipping schedules.
Bank transfers.
Names.
Photographs.
Stephen Parker’s signature appeared repeatedly.
So did officials.
Businessmen.
A police captain.
Two port administrators.
And one name none of us expected.
Paul Mercer.
My hotel manager.
“No.”
I stared at the screen.
“Paul helped me.”
Ricardo leaned closer.
“He also controlled security access.”
My stomach dropped.
The seventeen missing minutes.
My workshop door.
My address.
“He knew everything.”
Gabriella whispered, “He gave me Jason’s name.”
I turned.
“What?”
“When I wanted the cameras disabled, Paul suggested Jason.”
Anger rose so quickly I felt dizzy.
“You never mentioned that.”
“I didn’t know it mattered.”
Ricardo’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression darkened.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don’t touch him.”
He ended the call.
“Paul is gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Left the hotel twenty minutes ago.”
I grabbed my coat.
Ricardo stepped in front of me.
“No.”
“Move.”
“You’re not chasing a corrupt hotel manager through Atlantic City at midnight.”
“He knows where my apartment is.”
“We have people watching it.”
“My workshop.”
“Also covered.”
“My clients.”
Ricardo softened.
“Claire.”
I hated how hearing my name from him could calm me.
“This isn’t just about you anymore,” he said.
“That’s exactly why I can’t hide here.”
Gabriella surprised us.
“She’s right.”
Ricardo looked annoyed.
“Wonderful.”
“She has a career. A life.”
Gabriella looked at me.
“And I already helped damage both.”
The admission mattered.
Not enough for instant forgiveness.
But it mattered.
“What do you suggest?” Ricardo asked.
Gabriella pointed at the files.
“We stop running.”
We contacted federal investigators the next morning.
Ricardo had resisted involving authorities for years, partly because corrupt officials had helped Victor and Stephen.
But the flash drive contained enough evidence to bypass local influence.
Agents arrived before sunrise.
Elena Russo joined by secure video.
Seeing her alive changed Ricardo.
Her hair was streaked with gray now.
Her daughter, fourteen-year-old Sofia, slept in another room.
Elena looked at Ricardo through the screen.
“You got older.”
“So did you.”
“You got softer.”
“Absolutely not.”
She smiled.
I did too.
Then Elena saw me.
“Who is she?”
Ricardo looked toward me.
“Claire Bennett.”
“That explains nothing.”
Gabriella snorted.
“Welcome to my problem.”
I wanted the floor to swallow me.
Elena studied Ricardo.
Then me.
“Oh.”
Ricardo frowned.
“What does ‘oh’ mean?”
“Nothing.”
“It means something.”
“Ricardo.”
Elena smiled.
“You still hate not controlling conversations.”
“I’m hanging up.”
For a few seconds, the danger disappeared.
Then agents began discussing Stephen Parker.
The flash drive established trafficking, extortion, bribery, and financial crimes stretching back more than a decade.
But to prosecute everything, they needed current evidence.
Gabriella offered herself.
“No.”
Ricardo and I said it simultaneously.
She rolled her eyes.
“You two are becoming irritating.”
Her plan was simple.
Contact Stephen.
Pretend she wanted to trade the flash drive for immunity from his anger.
Wear a recording device.
Get him talking.
“It’s dangerous,” I said.
“So was threatening you.”
“That doesn’t mean you owe me this.”
“No.”
Gabriella’s expression became serious.
“I owe myself.”
She looked at Ricardo.
“I spent twelve years blaming another person for my own choices.”
Then she looked at me.
“And when I felt humiliated, I became exactly the kind of person I claimed Ricardo was.”
Ricardo didn’t react defensively.
Maybe because he knew she wasn’t completely wrong.
“I need to fix something,” Gabriella said.
The meeting took place at the Belvedere.
Stephen chose the location, believing he still controlled people inside.
He didn’t know federal agents were watching.
Gabriella entered alone.
Ricardo and I monitored from a service room.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“You say that often.”
“And you ignore it often.”
“Good system.”
His gaze remained on the monitor.
“You trust her?”
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
“But?”
“But she came back for me at the restaurant.”
“That surprised you.”
“Yes.”
“You thought she hated you.”
“She did.”
“She still might.”
“Probably.”
Ricardo glanced at me.
“You’re strangely forgiving.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Forgiveness and pretending something didn’t happen aren’t the same thing.”
He absorbed that.
“Could you forgive someone like me?”
The question caught me off guard.
“For what?”
“For the person I was.”
“Did you hurt me?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not the person who decides whether you’re forgiven.”
His eyes held mine.
“That might be the most inconvenient answer anyone has ever given me.”
“Good.”
On the monitor, Stephen arrived.
Gabriella played terrified perfectly.
Maybe because part of her wasn’t acting.
“You have the drive?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“I want something first.”
Stephen smiled.
“There’s the Parker blood.”
“I want out.”
“You were never in.”
“You used me.”
“I protected you.”
“You let me believe Ricardo was responsible for Elena.”
“That kept you manageable.”
Ricardo’s jaw tightened beside me.
Gabriella’s voice shook.
“And Victor?”
Stephen became still.
“What about him?”
“Did Ricardo kill my brother?”
Stephen laughed.
“No.”
Gabriella closed her eyes.
Ricardo leaned forward.
“Say it.”
Stephen continued.
“Victor got nervous. Wanted to confess.”
Gabriella whispered, “What did you do?”
Stephen smiled.
“What needed doing.”
That was enough.
Agents moved.
But before they entered, Paul Mercer stepped from behind the curtains.
He had a gun.
My heart stopped.
Gabriella froze.
Stephen smiled.
“You really thought I’d come alone?”
Ricardo moved toward the door.
Federal agents blocked him.
“Stay here.”
He looked ready to tear through them.
On the monitor, Paul took the flash drive.
Then looked directly toward one of the hidden cameras.
For one terrible second, I wondered if he knew.
He did.
“Claire.”
My blood went cold.
His voice came through the surveillance audio.
“I know you’re watching.”
Ricardo turned toward me.
Paul smiled into the camera.
“You ruined everything when you refused to apologize.”
Then the screen went black.
Every monitor in the room died.
Agents shouted.
Ricardo grabbed my shoulders.
“Stay with me.”
A fire alarm erupted.
Smoke began filling the hallway.
People rushed toward exits.
In the confusion, someone seized my arm.
I thought it was Ricardo.
It wasn’t.
Paul.
He pulled me through a service door before I could scream.
Ricardo turned one second too late.
“CLAIRE!”
The door slammed between us.
Paul dragged me toward the old freight elevator.
“You should’ve stayed with your paintings.”
I fought him.
“You should’ve stayed honest.”
He laughed.
“Honesty doesn’t buy hotels.”
The elevator opened.
He pushed me inside.
Before the doors closed, Ricardo appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Our eyes met.
He ran.
The doors shut.
Paul smiled.
“Looks like Mr. Santoro finally found something he can’t control.”
I stared at him.
And for once, I wasn’t afraid because Ricardo Santoro might come after us.
May you like
I was afraid because I knew he would.
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