Chapter 5: What Marco Didn't Know
The guest suite on the fourteenth floor was nothing like the laundry room.
Mia didn't know the difference.
She pulled herself upright against the edge of the sofa, took three unsteady steps, and sat down hard on the carpet.
Then she looked up at me and laughed.
I sat on the floor beside her and pressed my face against the top of her head.
Raymond had brought formula from somewhere.
A clean blanket.
A set of towels folded on the bathroom counter.
He hadn't said much.
Just set everything down, checked the lock on the door, and told me Mr.
Duca would send word when it was time.
That had been two hours ago.
At 8:47 p.m., there was a knock.
It wasn't Raymond.
Alessandro came in carrying two cups of coffee.
He set one on the table near me without asking if I wanted it.
Then he sat in the chair across from the sofa and looked at Mia, who had fallen asleep on the blanket on the floor.
"My attorney has the letter and the photograph," he said.
"The courier on Raymond's footage has been identified.
He's a contract runner — he takes jobs through an app.
The payment traces back to a prepaid account, but the pickup location was three blocks from Marco's apartment."
"Is that enough?"
"Combined with fourteen months of contract records, two falsified invoices, and a witness statement from the security firm's billing coordinator?" He picked up his coffee.
"Yes."
I wrapped both hands around my cup.
"When did you get a witness statement?"
"This evening.
She's been waiting for the right moment for four months.
Marco made it easy for her when he started making threats." He looked at me steadily.
"You weren't the only person he was pressuring."
I thought about Diane.
Shaken in the corridor six weeks ago.
"What did he say to Diane?"
"He told her she'd be deported if she said anything about irregularities she'd seen on the upper floors.
She's been here legally for eleven years." His voice was flat.
"He knew that and used it anyway."
The coffee was hot.
I held it without drinking.
"He threatened a lot of people," I said.
"He did."
"And nobody went to you."
Alessandro was quiet for a moment.
"No.
They didn't."
He said it without defensiveness.
Just the plain fact of it, sitting between us.
"Because of what people believed about you," I said carefully.
"Because of what Marco made sure people believed about me." He set his cup down.
"There's a difference.
I should have seen it sooner."
Mia stirred in her sleep.
One small fist opened and closed against the blanket.
"What happens to him?" I asked.
"The police will execute a warrant tomorrow morning.
The attorney filed the complaint two hours ago." He paused.
"He'll know tonight that something has shifted.
He'll try to move."
"Move how?"
"He'll try to reach someone.
Warn someone.
Possibly destroy files." Alessandro's expression didn't change.
"We've already secured the files."
I looked at him.
"You planned all of this tonight."
"I've been planning most of it for six weeks.
Tonight simply accelerated the timeline." He glanced toward the door.
"Marco sent one more message at nine-fifteen.
When I didn't respond, he went quiet."
"What did the message say?"
Alessandro reached into his jacket pocket and set his phone on the table, screen up.
*You'll regret this.
I know things about this family that would end you.
Don't test me.*
I read it twice.
"He's frightened," I said.
"Yes."
"Frightened people do things."
May you like
"Yes," Alessandro said again.
"Which is why you and Mia are staying here tonight."
