Chapter 5: The Man With the Photo
My friend Diane had been a corporate attorney for twenty-two years.
She had the kind of face that made opposing counsel nervous before she said a word.
When I called her from the car, Maya and Leo asleep in the back seat, she listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she said: "Send me a photo of the letter."
"Already done."
"The postmark is the key.
If it was delivered to the marital address before the divorce petition was filed, and Luca withheld it — "
"He admitted it."
A pause.
"In front of witnesses?"
"Evelyn Shaw was standing three feet away."
Another pause, longer.
"Nia.
Do you want to pursue this legally or personally?"
"Both," I said.
"But Marcus Hale first."
"Why Hale?"
"Because Luca was manipulated into believing something false about me.
That manipulation ended my marriage and separated two children from their father for six years.
I want to know who Marcus Hale was protecting.
And I want to know what he got for it."
Diane was quiet for a moment.
"I'll make some calls in the morning."
"Thank you."
"Nia." Her voice changed slightly.
"How are you?"
I looked in the rearview mirror.
Leo had his cheek pressed against the window.
Maya had her head on his shoulder.
"I'm fine," I said.
"I've been fine for six years.
I know how to do this."
I didn't sleep that night.
By seven the next morning, I had pulled every public filing connected to Marcus Hale and Moretti Global going back eight years.
Diane called at nine.
"Your instinct was right," she said.
"Hale has been quietly moving money.
Shell companies.
Three of them connected to a real estate development in Miami that Moretti Global passed on six years ago." She paused.
"The same year your marriage ended."
"Luca passed on the Miami deal?"
"Correct.
But the deal went through anyway — through a private investor group.
Hale is listed as a silent partner."
I sat with that for a moment.
"Luca would have approved that deal," I said slowly.
"If he hadn't been distracted.
If his marriage hadn't been falling apart."
"That's my read too."
"Marcus Hale destroyed my marriage so Luca would miss a deal.
So Hale could take it himself."
"That's what the paper trail suggests."
I stood up from my kitchen table.
"Diane.
I need everything.
Every document.
Every filing.
Every shell company name."
"I'm already pulling it."
"And I need you to find out who else Hale brought into that deal.
Because a man like that doesn't work alone."
There was a knock at my front door.
I looked through the peephole.
Luca Moretti was standing on my doorstep.
Alone.
No driver.
No assistant.
His tie was gone and his jacket was open and he looked like a man who had not slept either.
I opened the door.
"I need to talk to you," he said.
"I know," I said.
"Come in.
But understand something before you sit down." I stepped back to let him enter.
May you like
"I already know about Miami."
The color left his face for the second time in two days.
