Chapter 17 - THE LAKE HOUSE
Carmine reached the lake house with police.
The front door was open.
Anthony lay in the kitchen holding his shoulder.
Alive.
Carmine dropped beside him.
"Who shot you?"
Anthony gritted his teeth.
"Paul."
"Paul Danner is in custody."
Anthony shook his head.
"Not Paul Danner."
"Then who?"
"Paul's son."
A man ran through the back trees.
Police chased him.
Anthony gasped.
"He came for the ledger."
"What ledger?"
"Dad kept a second one."
Of course he did.
Vincent Moretti trusted no one.
Anthony had come to retrieve it before Helena or investigators could destroy it.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because every time I tell the truth, it gets worse."
"That's because you waited years."
Police caught the man near the boat dock.
His name was Eric Danner.
He claimed Helena had contacted him months ago.
She promised money if he recovered Vincent's records.
That explained the forged trust amendment.
Helena had wanted suspicion pointed at Anthony.
If Carmine died or Leo was discredited, the corporate structure would fracture.
Helena planned to negotiate control using evidence against everyone.
A family war as business strategy.
"I changed nothing in Leo's trust."
"I believe you."
Those three words hit him harder than accusation.
Carmine continued.
"But I don't forgive you."
"I know."
Police found the ledger under a floorboard.
It documented decades of bribery.
Names.
Officials.
Contractors.
Judges.
The Moretti empire was built partly on crime.
Carmine read until dawn.
Then he called an emergency board meeting.
Nora warned him.
"If you disclose this, the company could lose projects. Investors could run. You could lose hundreds of millions."
Carmine looked at Leo sleeping on a couch under a blanket.
"Then we lose it."
Nora studied him.
"You're sure?"
"No."
"But I know what happens when men protect a name instead of people."
At nine a.m., Carmine walked into the Moretti boardroom carrying his father's ledger.
Every director stood.
He placed it on the table.
May you like
"We're going to tell the truth."
And half the board immediately tried to stop him.
