Chapter 13 - The Second Traitor
"Who helped him?" Gabriel demanded.
Beatrice stared at Mateo.
The room turned silent.
Mateo slowly lowered his eyes.
Gabriel's hand moved toward his gun.
Beatrice shook her head sharply.
Not Mateo.
She signed a name.
Marco Bellini.
Chloe stepped back.
"No."
Beatrice repeated it.
Gabriel looked at Chloe. "Translate."
"She says Marco was at the house the night Carlo died."
Chloe felt sick.
"He was catering a private dinner," Beatrice continued through Chloe. "He carried a tray into the study. Vincent followed him. Ten minutes later, Marco came out crying."
Gabriel called Il Canto.
No answer.
They drove there immediately.
Marco was gone.
His office had been cleaned out.
Inside the trash, Mateo found a torn train ticket to Philadelphia and a burner phone.
Chloe stared at the empty desk.
"He protected me."
Gabriel said quietly, "People can protect you and still be guilty of something else."
The burner phone rang.
Chloe answered.
Marco was whispering.
"I am sorry."
"Where are you?"
"I did not know Vincent was going to kill Carlo. He told me to switch one bottle on a serving tray. He said it was a prank between brothers. I believed him because I needed money."
Chloe closed her eyes.
"Then why run?"
"Because Vincent called me an hour ago. He knows Beatrice remembered me."
A train announcement echoed behind him.
"Marco, go to the police."
"I am trying."
A sharp sound hit the phone.
Marco gasped.
Then the line filled with footsteps.
"Marco?"
A different voice answered.
Vincent.
"Noon, Gabriel. Do not be late."
The call ended.
Mateo checked the time.
11:18 a.m.
May you like
Forty-two minutes.
And Vincent now had Marco.
