Chapter 3 - THE NAME IN RED INK
I read my name three times.
D. MORETTI.
Same black ink as the rest of the page.
Same hurried handwriting.
No explanation.
Just my name beneath one sentence.
If anything happens to me, do not let Ray get the children.
I looked through the glass at Lily.
Still asleep.
Ben tucked against her.
Then I looked at Marco.
“Wake Anthony.”
“He’s awake.”
“Good.”
I handed him the notebook.
“Find every connection between Marissa Carter and me.”
Marco raised an eyebrow.
“That might take a while.”
“It shouldn’t.”
I meant that.
My world was large, but not random.
People did not usually write my name into private notebooks without a reason.
At two in the morning, I called Rosa into my office.
“Do you know Marissa Carter?”
She frowned.
“No.”
“Ever hear Lily’s last name?”
“Tonight.”
“Did either of them ever come here?”
Rosa thought.
“Not that I remember.”
“You’ve worked for me nine years.”
“Which is why I’m telling you I’d remember that child.”
Fair.
I looked at the security monitor.
Lily had shifted.
She was awake.
Her eyes were open.
Watching us through the glass.
I motioned for her to come in.
She entered carrying Ben.
“Did your mother ever mention me?”
Lily looked confused.
“You?”
“Dominic Moretti.”
“No.”
“Think.”
“She said Moretti once.”
My chest tightened.
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
“What did she say?”
Lily scrunched her face.
“She was on the phone.”
“With whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘If they won’t listen, maybe Moretti will.’”
Marco looked at me.
I felt an old memory stir.
Not Marissa.
A man.
An accountant.
No.
An auditor.
Seven years earlier.
Halpern Infrastructure had approached one of my businesses about a joint redevelopment project near the river.
I rejected it.
Too many shell vendors.
Too many political connections.
Too many people with soft hands making hard promises.
During due diligence, one junior compliance analyst had asked to speak privately.
A woman in her twenties.
Dark hair.
Nervous.
She told my team certain invoices were fabricated.
I never met her.
My attorneys handled it.
The deal died two weeks later.
“What did your mother do at Halpern?” I asked again.
Lily shrugged.
“She checked bills.”
“Accounts payable?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she work there seven years?”
“Longer, I think.”
I looked at Marco.
“Pull the files from the Halpern redevelopment proposal. Seven years ago.”
“You think Marissa was the source?”
“I think somebody tried to warn us.”
Lily watched me.
“Did you know my mom?”
“No.”
Her face fell.
“But maybe she knew enough about me to think I’d listen.”
“Did you?”
The question hit exactly where it should have.
“I don’t know yet.”
She stared at me.
I hated not knowing.
By sunrise, Anthony had the old deal file.
Marissa Carter’s name appeared twice.
Junior financial controls specialist.
Internal reviewer.
A whistleblower report had been submitted anonymously through our outside counsel.
The language matched the red notebook.
Fake vendors.
Inflated city invoices.
Payments to intermediaries.
The report had helped kill the deal.
Then my lawyers did what lawyers do.
They closed the file.
We walked away.
Halpern found other partners.
The city contracts continued.
Marissa kept working there.
I sat in my office holding seven-year-old paperwork and felt something I had not expected.
Guilt.
Not legal guilt.
Not direct responsibility.
Something worse.
The knowledge that a person had tried to tell us something dangerous, we had protected ourselves, and then we had left her standing alone with it.
Lily sat across from me eating toast.
“You knew.”
“I knew there were problems at her company.”
“Did you help her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know who she was.”
“That doesn’t answer.”
Eleven-year-olds are brutal.
I looked at her.
“We cared about the deal, not the person who warned us.”
Rosa looked at me.
So did Marco.
I did not soften it.
Truth was ugly enough without decoration.
Lily chewed slowly.
“Mom said rich people only care when the fire reaches their house.”
I almost laughed.
“She sounds like she was smart.”
“She was.”
Then Lily’s face tightened.
“Was?”
I cursed myself silently.
“She is,” I corrected.
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
“You said was.”
I leaned forward.
“Lily.”
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t fix it because I cried.”
I sat back.
She was right again.
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded once.
Then wiped her face angrily.
Ben banged one tiny fist against her sweater.
She kissed his head.
Marco entered with his phone.
“We have movement at Hale’s house.”
I stood.
“What?”
“Lieutenant Renner left around six. Veller still there. Hale’s packing.”
“Leaving?”
“Looks like it.”
“With luggage?”
“Yes.”
“Airport?”
“Maybe.”
I looked at Lily.
Raymond was preparing to disappear.
But why?
If he truly had city officials and police shielding him, why run?
Because he knew we had the forged order.
Because he knew Lily had escaped.
Because maybe he realized she took the notebook.
“Did Raymond know you had this?” I asked.
Lily nodded slowly.
“Not for sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“He tore my room apart yesterday.”
“Did he ask about the red notebook?”
“Yes.”
There it was.
“He knows it’s missing.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Marco.”
“I know.”
“Do not let him vanish.”
Lily grabbed my sleeve.
Again.
“No.”
I looked down.
“Don’t go there.”
“I’m not.”
She did not believe me.
Smart child.
I crouched slightly.
“I’m not going to his house.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Make sure he doesn’t leave the city before police have a reason to question him.”
“You know police.”
“I know some.”
“He knows more.”
“Maybe.”
Her grip tightened.
“Then who can you trust?”
The question hung between us.
I had spent twenty-two years building networks based on loyalty.
But loyalty and goodness were not the same thing.
Some men I trusted with my life should not be allowed near a courtroom.
Some honest men I barely knew would never take my call.
I thought of one name.
Assistant State’s Attorney Rachel Kim.
She had tried to prosecute one of my associates nine years earlier.
She disliked me personally.
That was why I trusted her.
People who hate you for free are often less corruptible than people who like you for money.
“Someone who does not owe me anything,” I said.
I called Rachel.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“If this is social, I’m hanging up.”
“It isn’t.”
“That makes it worse.”
“I need five minutes.”
“You get three.”
I told her the minimum.
Minor child.
Forged guardianship order.
Possible abuse.
Possible municipal corruption.
Potentially compromised police lieutenant.
She interrupted twice.
“Do you have the child?”
“Yes.”
“Are you keeping her against her will?”
“No.”
“Did you threaten the alleged guardian?”
“No.”
Marco looked at me.
I ignored him.
Rachel heard the silence.
“Dominic.”
“I encouraged him to leave.”
“With words?”
“Yes.”
“Only words?”
“Mostly.”
She sighed.
“Bring the child to a neutral place.”
“She won’t go with police.”
“That’s not your decision.”
“She believes some police are involved.”
“Then bring her to the state’s attorney child advocacy center.”
“At seven in the morning?”
“I’ll open it.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because if half of what you’re saying is true, I don’t want CPD taking first custody either.”
I looked at Lily.
“We’ll be there.”
Rachel added, “And Dominic?”
“What?”
“No entourage.”
“Two men.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“Fine.”
She hung up.
I looked at Marco.
“You heard her.”
He smiled.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t.”
Lily listened while I explained.
“A lawyer wants to talk to you.”
“No.”
“She works for the prosecutor’s office.”
“No.”
“You can bring Ben.”
“No.”
“Rosa can come.”
Lily hesitated.
I saw the opening.
“And I’ll be there.”
She looked at me.
“You said one guard.”
I stared.
She had heard everything.
“One guard,” I said.
“Which one?”
“Marco.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
Marco put a hand to his chest.
“I’m charming.”
“No, you’re scary.”
Rosa laughed.
Marco looked offended.
Good.
The drive downtown was silent.
Lily sat beside Rosa in the back with Ben.
I sat in front.
No convoy.
No backup vehicle.
I hated it.
Rachel wanted neutral.
She was getting neutral.
The child advocacy center was inside a nondescript government building.
No cameras outside.
No press.
No men in suits.
Rachel met us in the lobby wearing jeans, boots, and a winter coat over a sweatshirt.
Not exactly courtroom intimidation.
She looked at me.
“You look terrible.”
“Good morning to you too.”
Then she saw Lily.
Everything changed.
Rachel crouched.
“Hi. I’m Rachel.”
Lily said nothing.
“I’m a lawyer.”
Still nothing.
“I’m not your uncle’s lawyer.”
Lily’s eyes shifted.
“I’m not Dominic’s lawyer either.”
That got a reaction.
Rachel smiled faintly.
“I don’t work for him.”
Lily looked at me.
I nodded.
“That’s true.”
Rachel continued.
“You don’t have to tell me everything right now. But I want to make sure nobody takes you somewhere you’re afraid to go.”
Lily’s shoulders loosened.
Barely.
“Can Ben stay?”
“Yes.”
“Rosa?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Moretti?”
Rachel looked at me.
“No.”
Lily’s face changed.
I stepped forward.
“She asked for me.”
Rachel stood.
“And she needs an interview without a powerful adult in the room.”
“She trusts me.”
“That is exactly why.”
Lily grabbed my sleeve.
Rachel noticed.
I looked down at her.
“I’ll be outside.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t leave?”
“No.”
She let go.
I stayed in the hallway.
For two hours.
The longest two hours of my life.
Marco bought coffee.
I did not drink it.
At 9:43, Rachel came out.
Her face was different.
Harder.
“What?”
“She disclosed physical abuse.”
I stared at the wall.
“By Hale?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“I’m not giving you details.”
I looked at her.
“Rachel.”
“No.”
I hated that she was right.
“What else?”
“She says her mother became sick after confronting Hale about money.”
My stomach tightened.
“She remembers Hale bringing medication.”
“Medication?”
“Bottles. Sometimes pills. Sometimes liquid.”
“Was he a caregiver?”
“He told Lily he was helping.”
I felt cold.
“Doctor?”
“Samuel Knox visited twice.”
The doctor from the death certificate.
Rachel continued.
“I’m opening a formal case. Emergency protective placement will be requested.”
“With whom?”
“We’ll find a licensed placement.”
“No.”
Her eyes hardened.
“Dominic.”
“She won’t go.”
“She cannot stay in your private residence because you decided so.”
“She can stay with Rosa.”
Rachel blinked.
Rosa, sitting down the hall, looked up.
“What?”
I turned.
“You have a guest room.”
Rosa stared.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“I have three cats.”
“Lily likes cats.”
Lily, from behind the interview room door, called, “I do.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Everyone stop listening through doors.”
Marco smiled.
Rachel pointed at me.
“This is not your family.”
I answered before thinking.
“Someone has to act like it is.”
That silenced her.
It silenced me too.
Rachel studied my face.
Then lowered her voice.
“Temporary kinship-style placement requires screening. Rosa is not kin. You are definitely not kin.”
“Then screen her.”
“That takes time.”
“You have phones.”
She stared.
“Do not mafia-boss the child welfare system.”
“I am asking you to follow it quickly.”
“That sentence should be engraved somewhere.”
Before I could answer, her phone rang.
She checked the number.
Her expression changed.
“Excuse me.”
She stepped away.
A minute later, she came back fast.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Raymond Hale just reported Lily kidnapped.”
“By me?”
“Yes.”
Marco muttered, “Predictable.”
Rachel continued.
“He named you personally.”
“Also predictable.”
“Not the problem.”
“What is?”
“He also claimed the red notebook was stolen property containing confidential company records.”
I looked at her.
“So?”
“So Halpern Infrastructure’s attorneys just contacted my office demanding its return.”
My stomach went cold.
“How would they know she had it?”
Exactly.
Rachel did not answer because she did not need to.
Somebody inside the government building had already talked.
We had been here less than three hours.
I looked toward the interview room.
Lily sat inside with Ben.
Supposedly safe.
Supposedly neutral.
And already, information had leaked.
Rachel’s face hardened.
“Give me the notebook.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“No.”
“If it’s evidence—”
“I’ll give you a copy.”
“I need the original.”
“Not until I know who called Halpern.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t get to dictate chain of custody.”
“And you don’t get to pretend your office is airtight when somebody just repeated confidential information to a corporation under investigation.”
She stared at me.
I expected anger.
Instead, she nodded once.
“Fair.”
That surprised me more than an argument.
She lowered her voice.
“Take Lily out the back.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“You’re telling me to remove a child from a government interview?”
“I’m telling you the protective order isn’t filed yet, and someone knows she’s here.”
I looked at Marco.
He was already standing.
Rachel continued.
“I’ll call you when I have a judge.”
“Where should we go?”
She looked directly at me.
“Somewhere even a police lieutenant would think twice before entering.”
I almost smiled.
She regretted the sentence immediately.
“Do not enjoy this.”
“I’m not.”
But I knew exactly where we were going.
My house on Astor Street had steel gates, private security, independent cameras, and one rule everyone in Chicago understood.
Nobody entered without my permission.
May you like
For the first time in years, that house was not going to be used to keep people out.
It was going to keep two children safe.
