Chapter 3 - ECHOES IN THE DARK
The study was my sanctuary. It smelled of aged leather, Cuban cigars, and old money. I poured myself three fingers of scotch and drank it neat, letting the burn ground me to reality.
I pulled out my encrypted phone and made a call. Within ten minutes, Marcus, my chief intelligence gatherer, was sitting across from my mahogany desk. I had bypassed Julian entirely for this. If Julian was involved, I couldn't risk him knowing I was digging.
“I need everything you have on a man named David Bennett,” I said, sliding a piece of paper across the desk. “He died roughly two to three years ago. Married to Maya Bennett. One daughter, Sophie.”
Marcus adjusted his glasses, opening his heavily modified laptop. His fingers flew across the keys. The room was silent except for the frantic clicking.
“Give me a minute, boss,” Marcus muttered. “Bennett… Bennett. Here we go. David Bennett. Died twenty-three months ago.”
My blood ran cold. Twenty-three months ago. Exactly one month after the car crash that took Elena and Sophia.
“Cause of death?” I asked, leaning forward into the shadows.
“Official report says accidental drowning,” Marcus read, his brow furrowing. “Found in the harbor. Toxicology report showed high levels of alcohol. Ruled a tragic accident.”
> "There are no tragic accidents in our world, Marcus. Only poorly executed hits."
“Pull up the police report. Look for anomalies.”
Marcus clicked a few more times. He let out a low whistle. “The autopsy report was signed off by Dr. Aris. We both know Aris is on our payroll, boss. He rubber-stamps whatever Julian tells him to.”
Julian.
The name hung in the air like a poisonous cloud. I stood up and paced the length of the study. Ten years. Julian had been beside me for ten years. He had fought back-to-back with me against the Cartels. He had been the godfather to my Sophia. He had wept at their funeral, his hand firmly gripping my shoulder as the caskets were lowered into the earth.
Could the man I considered a brother have orchestrated the destruction of my family?
“Marcus, I need you to build a timeline,” I ordered, grabbing a chalk marker and walking over to the glass partition wall I used for planning operations.
TIMELINE OF TRAGEDY
| Date | Event | Key Personnel Involved |
| --- | --- | --- |
| October 12th | Romano family car crashes on Route 9. Brakes failed. | Elena (Deceased), Sophia (Deceased), Driver (Deceased). |
| October 13th | Julian takes over security protocols. | Julian, Dr. Aris. |
| November 10th | David Bennett is found drowned in the harbor. | Dr. Aris signs autopsy. |
| November 12th | Julian suddenly acquires the Southside port contracts. | Julian, Mayor's Office. |
I stared at the glass. The Southside ports. I had always refused to take them over; it involved human trafficking, a line I swore the Romano family would never cross. But a month after my wife died, while I was blinded by grief and locked in my estate, Julian had quietly secured those contracts 'to keep the family strong.'
“Boss,” Marcus said softly, breaking my train of thought. “I found something else. A bank transfer. A shadow account linked to David Bennett received half a million dollars two days before your wife’s crash. The money came from an offshore shell company.”
“Trace the shell company.”
“I already did. The holding company is registered in Cyprus under the name Lupo D'Argento.”
Silver Wolf.
The glass in my hand shattered. The scotch dripped down my knuckles, mixing with a thin line of my own blood. Julian. It was Julian. David Bennett was the mechanic who cut the brakes on my wife’s car. Julian paid him, gave him the pendant as a mark of protection, and then murdered him a month later to tie up loose ends.
May you like
And now, the mechanic's widow was making my bed, and his daughter was eating my dead child’s peas.
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