Chapter 9
Carlo changed the warehouse guard rotation.
That was his part.
He moved two men loyal to me and replaced them with north crew soldiers who were supposed to “cover inventory.”
Marcus noticed.
That was why he tried to reach me.
That was why he entered the warehouse already afraid.
And that was why he was standing close enough to take the bullets meant for me.
I sat alone for several minutes after Diana admitted it.
Grace remained nearby.
She did not interrupt.
Eventually I asked:
“Did Marcus know Carlo was involved?”
“Yes.”
Diana’s answer came quietly.
“Then why save me instead of exposing him?”
“Maybe because bullets move faster than explanations.”
Grace looked away.
That was probably true.
Marcus chose the immediate life in front of him.
Mine.
Then trusted whatever he left behind to handle the rest.
I had failed that part for fourteen years.
Not because I knew.
Because I never asked hard enough why Marcus was there.
Why the guard rotation changed.
Why his family disappeared afterward.
Diana saw the guilt.
She used it instantly.
“Exactly. You were boss. You had every resource. Don’t blame me because you preferred the heroic story.”
I looked at her.
The accusation hurt because part of it was true.
I had turned Marcus into a legend.
The loyal man who sacrificed himself.
Legends are easier than investigations.
They do not ask uncomfortable questions.
Grace spoke before I could.
“My father wouldn’t want you blaming yourself for trusting him to save you.”
I looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
Her voice remained steady.
“But I know he spent his life trying to keep other people from carrying everything alone.”
Marcus had done that.
Too much.
Maybe that was why he died.
Rafe entered.
He carried Lorenzo’s old winter coat.
I stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Estate storage.”
I had not seen it since my brother died.
Rafe turned one sleeve inside out.
A hand-stitched blue star.
Hidden beneath the cuff.
Grace’s face changed.
Diana went pale.
I stepped closer.
Under the patch was a small brass key.
Not a recording.
Not a card.
A key.
Lorenzo had found Marcus’s method and copied it.
My brother had left something for me too.
Diana whispered, “Don’t.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
Her mouth closed.
Rafe studied the key.
“I know what this opens.”
The old chapel cabinet beneath the family mausoleum.
May you like
A place nobody had touched since Lorenzo’s funeral.
And whatever he hid there had frightened Diana more than anything Marcus left behind.
