Luca did not ask again until they reached the estate.
Hope expected anger.
Instead, he became frighteningly quiet.
Marta had been taken to the hospital. Police had removed the attackers. Workers were boarding the shattered side entrance.
Dominic stood in the foyer when Hope returned.
His expression changed the moment he saw her.
Only slightly.
But Hope noticed.
So did Luca.
“You’re back,” Dominic said.
“Apparently.”
Luca handed Teddy the photograph.
“Lock the property down.”
Then he turned to Dominic.
“And nobody leaves.”
Dominic’s eyebrows rose.
“Am I included?”
“Especially you.”
Hope looked between them.
“Whatever family argument is about to happen, I don’t need to be here for it.”
“Yes,” Luca said. “You do.”
He led her into his study.
She remained standing.
Luca poured two glasses of whiskey, offered one to her, and received a shake of the head.
He did not drink his either.
“My brother was twenty-nine when he died.”
“I know.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Hope said nothing.
“He told me he was doing security consulting in Europe.”
“He lied.”
“I know that now.”
Luca stared at the untouched glass.
“Why?”
Hope’s face tightened.
“You really don’t know?”
“No.”
That answer seemed to surprise her.
She studied him for several seconds.
“Elias believed someone inside your organization was using humanitarian shipments to move weapons and stolen medical supplies overseas.”
Luca’s eyes lifted.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then your brother died investigating something impossible.”
Luca walked toward her.
“Be careful.”
Hope did not move.
“I watched your brother die. You don’t get to intimidate me into making his last eleven minutes easier for you.”
Silence.
Then Luca stepped back.
Hope rubbed her scarred forearm through her sleeve.
“The convoy was supposed to carry trauma supplies. Antibiotics, blood products, surgical kits. Elias discovered several crates had been switched before they reached us.”
“Switched with what?”
“Military hardware.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who arranged it?”
Hope looked toward the study door.
“I don’t know that either.”
“But Elias did.”
“He suspected someone.”
“Who?”
Hope shook her head.
“He never said the name.”
Luca’s frustration flashed.
“Then what exactly did he tell you?”
Hope’s eyes met his.
“That if he died, I was supposed to disappear.”
Luca stopped.
“He said someone would come looking for what he gave me.”
“What did he give you?”
Hope reached beneath her shirt.
Luca’s shoulders tightened.
She pulled out a thin chain.
A small brass key hung from it.
Luca stared.
“I’ve carried this for three years.”
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
“Elias didn’t tell you?”
“He didn’t have time.”
Hope closed her fist around the key.
“He was trapped inside the vehicle when I reached him. Fuel was everywhere. There were two other casualties still alive. I got them out first.”
Her voice became quieter.
“When I went back, Elias was conscious.”
The study disappeared for Luca.
Suddenly there was only Hope’s voice.
“He asked my name. I told him.”
Luca sank into the chair behind his desk.
Hope continued.
“He said, ‘Hope. That’s convenient.’”
Luca laughed once despite himself.
“That sounds like him.”
“He was scared.”
The smile vanished.
“But he kept making jokes because the younger soldier beside him was panicking. Elias kept talking until we got the kid free.”
Hope stared at her hands.
“Then the fire spread.”
Luca understood.
“The scars.”
She nodded.
“I went back.”
“You should have left him.”
Hope looked sharply at him.
“No medic leaves someone behind because the fire is inconvenient.”
“You nearly died.”
“So did everyone there.”
Luca’s voice cracked.
“He did die.”
“Yes.”
Hope allowed the silence to settle.
“When I finally pulled him clear, he already knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That he wasn’t leaving.”
Luca turned away.
He had imagined his brother’s death a thousand times.
Never like this.
Never with Elias conscious.
Never with a stranger holding his hand.
“What were his last words?”
Hope’s expression changed again.
“They weren’t about you.”
Luca flinched.
“They were about stopping whoever caused it.”
Then she opened her palm.
“He pushed this key into my hand and told me not to trust anyone named Ferretti.”
Luca looked at her.
“Including me?”
“Especially you.”
---
The following morning, Luca learned exactly how broke Hope Whitaker was.
Not from Hope.
From Teddy.
Her apartment lease was four months from expiration. She had two jobs until the previous night. Her military disability settlement had been largely consumed by medical expenses and debts she had inherited after her mother’s death.
Her father had died when she was twelve.
No siblings.
No husband.
No boyfriend.
No criminal record.
And no explanation for why someone had suddenly begun following her three years after Elias died.
Teddy placed the folder on Luca’s desk.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Her apartment was hit last night.”
Luca stood.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“She wasn’t there.”
“What was taken?”
“Nothing obvious.”
Luca understood immediately.
“They were searching.”
“For the key?”
“Or whatever it opens.”
The study door opened.
Hope walked in wearing borrowed clothing Marta kept at the estate.
“I’m going home.”
“No.”
She stopped.
“Excuse me?”
“Your apartment was broken into.”
Her face changed.
“How do you know?”
“Teddy.”
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
Hope laughed without humor.
“Of course you did.”
She headed for the door.
Luca caught her wrist.
Hope reacted instantly.
His arm twisted.
His shoulder turned.
A second later, Luca found himself pressed against his own desk with Hope controlling his wrist.
Teddy, standing outside, almost drew his weapon.
Luca lifted his free hand.
“Don’t.”
Hope released him.
“Don’t grab me.”
Luca straightened his jacket.
“Understood.”
“You don’t own me because your brother knew me.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to investigate my finances.”
“I already did.”
“That’s not an apology.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
Luca sighed.
“I’m sorry.”
Teddy looked stunned.
Hope seemed equally surprised.
Luca Ferretti did not apologize.
Not publicly.
Not privately.
Hope looked away first.
“I need my things.”
“I’ll have them collected.”
“No. I’m going.”
“Then I’m coming.”
She opened her mouth.
Luca raised a hand.
“That part is not negotiable.”
“Everything is negotiable.”
“Not getting murdered before you tell me what my brother died trying to expose.”
Hope’s anger faded slightly.
“Fine.”
---
Her apartment had been destroyed.
Mattress cut open.
Cupboards emptied.
Floorboards pried up.
Photographs torn from frames.
Hope stood in the doorway.
She did not cry.
That somehow made Luca angrier.
“What kind of animal does this?” she whispered.
Luca walked through the wreckage.
On the kitchen counter lay a photograph of Elias.
Luca picked it up.
Hope immediately took it from him.
“You had his picture.”
“He saved my life.”
Luca stared at her.
“I thought you saved his.”
“We saved each other.”
Hope turned the frame over.
Something had been written on the back.
A single line.
WHEN HOPE RUNS OUT, ASK THE BROTHER.
Luca read it.
“That wasn’t there before?”
“No.”
His phone rang.
Dominic.
Luca answered.
“Speak.”
Dominic’s voice was unusually tense.
“You need to return immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because one of the attackers from last night just died in police custody.”
Luca looked at Hope.
“And?”
“He spoke before he died.”
“What did he say?”
Dominic paused.
“He said Elias Ferretti was murdered.”
Hope’s hand tightened around the photograph.
Dominic continued.
“And he said the person who ordered it is still inside your house.”
---