Chapter 5 - Isabel’s Warning
Nora did not comfort Dante.
She made him work.
By noon they were in Isabel's old sitting room surrounded by banker boxes.
"You don't get to rage your way through this," Nora said.
"I understand."
"You said that before the board meeting."
Dante looked at her.
"I understand now."
"Good."
She handed him a folder.
"Then start reading."
Isabel had been a corporate attorney before she married Dante. She had helped restructure Moretti Meridian after Lorenzo Moretti's first heart attack.
Dante knew she was meticulous.
He had forgotten how meticulous.
Every document carried notes.
Dates.
Cross-references.
Questions.
On one yellow legal pad, Isabel had written:
Celeste says the legal fees are legitimate. Victor says cash flow is temporary. Their numbers do not reconcile.
Dante read it twice.
Nora watched him.
"That was written eleven months before she died."
"Why didn't she show me?"
"She did."
Dante looked up.
Nora held his gaze.
"She told me you said finance was Victor's responsibility."
The shame landed quietly.
Dante remembered the conversation.
He had been rushing to a lender meeting.
Isabel had said, "Something isn't right with Northstar."
He had kissed her forehead.
"Send it to Victor."
He had thought he was reassuring her.
Instead he had sent her concern directly to the man she suspected.
"Northstar," Dante said.
Nora opened another box.
"Northstar Advisory."
They found invoices totaling $6.4 million over three years.
Strategic consulting.
Transaction review.
Regulatory analysis.
Most invoices were approved by Celeste's legal department.
Payments were authorized through Victor's office.
Dante found his own electronic signature on six batch approvals.
He swore.
Nora looked over.
"You signed these."
"They were omnibus payables."
"So?"
"I trusted my CFO."
"That's going to be Celeste's defense too."
Dante pushed the papers away.
"My signature makes me responsible."
"It makes you negligent. It doesn't prove you knew what they were."
"Investors won't care about the distinction."
"No. But a court will."
Dante walked to the window.
Below them, Lake Michigan was gray beneath a low sky.
"Isabel knew."
"She suspected."
"And I ignored her."
Nora's voice softened slightly.
"You were watching your wife die."
"That's not an excuse."
"No."
He appreciated that she didn't offer one.
A knock sounded downstairs.
Rosa called up.
"Mr. Moretti? Detective Reeves is here."
Dante and Nora exchanged a look.
Reeves met them in the library.
"We've made contact with Sloane Mercer."
"Does she have Leo's tablet?" Dante asked.
"She denies taking it."
"Mia saw her."
"She says she carried a silver catering case to her vehicle."
Nora asked, "Did she consent to a search?"
"No."
"Then get a warrant."
Reeves gave her a dry look.
"Thank you, counselor."
Nora did not smile.
Reeves turned to Dante.
"Javier made bond."
Dante's expression tightened.
"Already?"
"Fifty thousand dollars."
"Who paid?"
"We don't know yet."
"Celeste?"
"Maybe."
"Can you find out?"
"Eventually."
Reeves paused.
"There's something else."
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Javier's black phone.
"The lock-screen message you saw was real. Our preliminary extraction also confirms the incoming call from Celeste's personal number."
Dante exhaled.
"Then arrest her."
"Calling someone isn't a crime."
"She asked him to remove my son."
"Context matters."
"Leo was face-down on the ground."
"And we're investigating."
Dante looked away.
Reeves continued.
"We also recovered a deleted message fragment."
Nora leaned forward.
"What did it say?"
Reeves consulted her notebook.
"'Don't let him get back to D with it.'"
Dante looked up.
"Leo."
"Possibly."
"The tablet."
"Possibly."
"Who sent it?"
"Deleted contact identifier. We need more work."
Dante gave a bitter laugh.
"You have a remarkable ability to make evidence sound hypothetical."
"I have a remarkable desire not to destroy a criminal case because an angry billionaire wants immediate answers."
The words stopped him.
Nora glanced at Dante.
"She's right."
Dante nodded once.
"Fine."
Reeves closed her notebook.
"There's another thing you should know. Javier's bond was posted through a company."
"What company?"
"Arbor Ridge Consulting LLC."
Nora went still.
Dante noticed.
"What?"
She walked back to Isabel's documents and pulled out one page.
At the bottom of a Northstar invoice was a remittance instruction.
Payment processing affiliate: Arbor Ridge Consulting LLC.
Dante stared at it.
The company paying Javier's criminal bond was tied to the same consulting network Isabel had questioned before her death.
Reeves said, "Where did you get that?"
"My wife kept it."
"Your late wife?"
"Yes."
Reeves looked toward the boxes.
"This investigation just became bigger."
After she left, Dante found a sealed envelope at the bottom of the same file.
His name was written on it in Isabel's handwriting.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a single page.
Dante,
If you're reading this because something has happened with the children's trust, do not assume the copy at Moretti Meridian is complete.
His heartbeat changed.
Below that:
Ask Nora about Section Twelve. She knows where I sent the original.
Dante slowly looked up.
Nora had gone pale.
"You knew?"
She shook her head.
"I knew she sent something away."
May you like
"Where?"
Nora whispered, "To a lawyer Celeste never knew about."
