CHAPTER TEN #2
Nora closes her eyes briefly.
“Someone copied the event communications.”
“Yes.”
“Who had the frequency list?”
“Security command. Hotel operations. Nora’s master file.”
Tommaso’s gaze returns to her. She opens her eyes.
“My master file was accessed from the Carbone estate Thursday night.”
No one speaks.
Malik adds, “The device has been identified.”
I turn.
“Whose?”
“A guest tablet registered to the legacy finance floor.”
Tommaso’s floor.
His expression hardens.
“That area contains twelve offices.”
“Which device?” I ask.
Malik checks the report.
“Asset number L-17.”
Tommaso knows it. I see recognition before he controls it.
“What?” I ask.
He looks at Malik.
“That tablet belonged to Lucas Ferraro.”
Nora goes very still. The dead accountant. The missing bride. The copied security files. All connected inside Tommaso’s division. Tommaso steps back.
“If Lucas betrayed us, he may have taken Celeste.”
“Then why leave his ring?” Nora asks.
“To misdirect you.”
“Or because Celeste wanted us to find him.”
Tommaso looks at me.
“You cannot allow her to direct this investigation based on sentiment.”
Nora stands from the examination table. Pain tightens her mouth. She does not show it in her voice.
“I identified the false credential, the delivery truck, the payment code, the maintenance vehicle, and the copied route.”
Tommaso says nothing. She steps toward him.
“You have identified reasons none of it should matter.”
The physician begins to object to her movement. I lift a hand.
He stops.
Nora holds Tommaso’s gaze.
“If you are innocent, help us find Lucas.”
“And if he is dead?”
“Then help us find who needed his device.”
Tommaso’s eyes move to me.
“Control your wife.”
The room changes. Nora does not react outwardly. She has heard the phrase before. Perhaps from Enzo. Perhaps from other men. I remove the Carbone ring from my finger. Place it on the physician’s desk. The action is small. Tommaso understands it.
“This is not a family order,” I say. “It is a personal warning.”
His face loses color.
“Do not speak about her as property again.”
Nora turns toward me. I do not look at her. Tommaso leaves without another word. Malik waits until the door closes.
“That may complicate the audit.”
“It was already complicated.”
Nora picks up my ring. She studies the old crest pressed into the metal. Then holds it out. I take it.
“You removed it,” she says.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he spoke to me as head of the family.”
“And?”
“I answered as your husband.”
The word sits between us. Not tactical this time.
Not entirely.
She looks down at the bandage on her arm. Then at the wedding ring on her hand.
“We still need the route records.”
“You need rest.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
“They are tonight.”
She starts to argue. Malik’s phone vibrates. He reads the message.
“We traced the scheduled payment from North Shore Transit.”
“To where?” Nora asks.
“A storage property outside the city.”
“Address?”
He gives it. I know the location.
Warehouse Seventeen.
Decommissioned eighteen months ago. Owned by Carbone Maritime.
Nora meets my eyes. “Do you use it?”
“No.”
“Does Tommaso?”
“I do not know.”
She moves toward the door. I block the path without touching her.
“No.”
“Bride delivery is scheduled tonight.”
“The property is under surveillance.”
“Then I’m going.”
“You have six new stitches.”
“You have six in your hand.”
“I am not asking permission.”
“Neither am I.”
We stand close enough that I can see the pulse in her throat. She is pale.
Exhausted.
Injured.
Still prepared to enter an unknown warehouse because her sister may be inside. I understand the impulse. That is why I cannot permit it.
“You will remain at the estate,” I say.
Her face shuts me out.
There.
The moment protection becomes control. I see it happen and continue anyway.
“Malik will lead the operation.”
“I can identify event equipment.”
“You can identify photographs afterward.”
“If Celeste left another code—”
“You will examine it afterward.”
Nora looks at the door behind me.
Calculating distance.
I move aside before she can accuse me of trapping her.
“I will not physically stop you,” I say. “But I will not take you into an unsecured location while you are injured.”
“That is a decision about me.”
“Yes.”
“You do not have that right.”
“No.”
The answer interrupts her.
I continue.
“I have the ability. That is different.”
She stares at me. Honesty does not improve the decision. It only prevents me from pretending it is something else. Her voice lowers.
“If Celeste is there and you miss what she left, I will never forgive you.”
“I know.”
“And if she is moved because you wait?”
“I know.”
She studies Malik. He does not contradict me. Finally, she turns toward the stairs. At the door, she stops.
“You said you wanted me to show you how she thinks.”
“Yes.”
“You cannot use my mind and then remove the rest of me when it becomes inconvenient.”
The door closes behind her.
Malik waits.
“You want my opinion?” he asks.
“No.”
“You are going to receive it.”
“Then be brief.”
“She is right.”
I put the family ring back on my finger.
“I know.”
Outside, sirens approach the restaurant. Inside my pocket, my phone vibrates with surveillance confirmation.
Movement at Warehouse Seventeen.
The operation begins in twenty-three minutes.
And for the first time since the wedding, Nora will not be beside me when we follow the next clue.
The absence feels operationally unsound.
That is what I tell myself.