Chapter 5 - Ghost AccountsHarper did not sleep.
By sunrise, Dominic’s study had become an improvised forensic accounting office.
Boxes arrived from warehouses, private offices, casinos, restaurants, shell corporations, and accountants who had suddenly discovered an intense willingness to cooperate after Enzo visited them personally.
Harper refused to ask exactly how he achieved that cooperation.
She suspected she would sleep better without knowing.
Three laptops occupied Dominic’s enormous desk.
Paper records covered the carpet.
Harper had removed her shoes around three in the morning and tied her hair into a loose knot.
Dominic entered at seven carrying coffee.
She looked toward the cup suspiciously.
“Did you make that?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Dominic set it beside her.
“What have you found?”
“Your organization is a nightmare.”
“I require greater specificity.”
“You have legitimate hotels owned by holding companies controlled by trusts that lease property to management corporations that borrow money from investment partnerships whose directors are dead.”
“Efficient.”
“It is horrifying.”
Dominic sat across from her.
“But?”
Harper rotated a laptop.
“But somebody was very deliberate.”
A network diagram filled the screen.
She had spent hours tracing transaction relationships.
“At first I thought the hidden transfers were simply ordinary laundering.”
“Ordinary laundering.”
Dominic repeated the phrase with amusement.
“You understand what I mean.”
“I enjoy hearing you normalize felonies.”
“Focus.”
He leaned closer.
Harper pointed toward a cluster of companies.
“Victor had eight businesses transferring small amounts toward three intermediary firms.”
“Names?”
“Great Lakes Equipment Leasing, Redfield Consulting, and a property company called Meridian Holdings.”
Dominic’s expression changed at the final name.
“You know it.”
“My father used Meridian.”
Harper nodded.
“It appears in his old records.”
Dominic stood.
“That company was dissolved twelve years ago.”
“Legally.”
He looked toward her.
“Explain.”
“Someone recreated it.”
Harper opened incorporation records Enzo’s people had obtained.
“Same name. Different jurisdiction. Registered in Delaware six years ago.”
“Owner?”
“Another company.”
“Owner of that?”
“Trust.”
“Beneficiary?”
“That is where it becomes interesting.”
Harper opened another document.
“The trust administrator is a lawyer named Martin Vescari.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“My uncle’s attorney.”
There it was.
The first direct connection.
“Could be coincidence.”
“It is not.”
Harper showed another file.
“Vescari also formed two companies receiving Romano money.”
Dominic stared.
“How much?”
“Over the last six years?”
She turned the screen.
“Eighty-seven million dollars.”
Dominic became very still.
Even in his world, the number mattered.
“That does not include cash.”
“No.”
“Where did it go?”
“Mostly overseas.”
“Where?”
“Switzerland, Malta, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands.”
Dominic rubbed one hand across his jaw.
“Can you trace the final accounts?”
“Not without banking access.”
“I can obtain it.”
Harper looked at him.
“Legally?”
Dominic looked back.
She sighed.
“Forget I asked.”
He walked toward the window.
“If Lorenzo received eighty-seven million from Victor, he financed the war.”
“Or Victor paid him for something.”
“Information.”
“Possibly.”
Dominic turned.
“What else?”
Harper hesitated.
“There is one thing.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“I found payments beginning much earlier.”
“How much earlier?”
“Twenty years.”
Dominic stopped.
“My father was alive.”
“Yes.”
Harper opened scans from the old ledgers.
“The account names changed repeatedly, but the pattern is consistent.”
“Pattern?”
“Every quarter, money left companies controlled by your father and entered entities associated with Lorenzo.”
“How much?”
“Small enough not to trigger immediate suspicion.”
She swallowed.
“Over fourteen years, approximately thirty-one million dollars.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“He stole from my father.”
“Yes.”
“And my father discovered it.”
“Probably.”
Dominic’s expression became distant.
Harper watched the muscles inside his jaw tighten.
“What happened after your father discovered the missing money?”
“He confronted Lorenzo.”
“You were there?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“My father told Enzo’s father.”
Harper turned toward the doorway.
Enzo stood there.
He had entered quietly.
“My father was Dominic’s father’s consigliere.”
Harper looked between them.
“What did he say?”
Enzo closed the door.
“Antonio Russo intended to remove Lorenzo permanently.”
“Kill him?”
Enzo did not answer.
That was answer enough.
“When?”
“Two weeks before Antonio died.”
Harper felt cold.
Dominic’s father had discovered theft.
He planned to punish Lorenzo.
Then he died from a supposed heart attack.
“Was there an autopsy?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Family physician certified natural causes.”
“Who?”
Enzo and Dominic exchanged a look.
Harper understood before they spoke.
“The physician worked for Lorenzo.”
Dominic walked away from the desk.
A dangerous silence entered the room.
Harper stood.
“Dominic.”
He opened a drawer and removed a pistol.
Her stomach dropped.
“No.”
He checked the magazine.
“Dominic.”
“I am going to speak with my uncle.”
“You are going to kill your uncle.”
“He killed my father.”
“We do not know that.”
“He stole from him.”
“Yes.”
“He worked with Victor.”
“We have financial links.”
“He had access to my mother’s security.”
Harper stopped.
That was new.
“What?”
Dominic looked toward Enzo.
Enzo reluctantly explained.
“When Dominic’s mother died, Lorenzo managed transportation security for the family.”
Harper felt sick.
“You think he placed the bomb.”
“I have thought it since I was fourteen,” Dominic said.
“But you could never prove it.”
“No.”
“And now you still cannot.”
“I no longer require proof.”
Harper stepped between him and the door.
Dominic stared at her.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“This is not your decision.”
“You brought me into this because you needed someone convincing.”
“That arrangement ended.”
“Apparently not.”
“Move.”
She crossed her arms.
“You kill Lorenzo now, what happens?”
“He stops breathing.”
“That was not what I meant.”
“It is what I mean.”
Harper refused to move.
“You kill him without exposing the financial network, and every account disappears.”
Dominic’s eyes changed.
Good.
She had reached the strategist beneath the rage.
“His lawyers move the money.”
She continued.
“His captains choose sides. The Commission hears that you murdered your uncle after accusing him without evidence.”
“I do not care what the Commission believes.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I do not.”
“You spent half of yesterday proving stability.”
Dominic said nothing.
“And there is the FBI.”
That stopped him.
“If Lorenzo has been feeding them information, killing him eliminates the one person who could tell us what they have.”
Enzo stepped forward.
“She is correct.”
Dominic looked toward him.
“You are both becoming irritating.”
Harper took the pistol from Dominic’s hand.
To her surprise, he allowed it.
She placed it on the desk.
“We audit him.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“You intend to destroy Lorenzo Russo with accounting?”
“Yes.”
“That is extremely insulting.”
“Good.”
A slow, dangerous smile appeared.
Harper recognized it.
He liked the idea.
Within two hours, they created a plan.
Lorenzo controlled more legitimate infrastructure than criminal crews.
Construction companies.
Commercial real estate.
Shipping.
Private lending.
Political consulting.
His apparent wealth made him difficult to attack.
His hidden wealth made him vulnerable.
Harper began following the money.
Dominic followed the people.
By afternoon, Enzo identified Martin Vescari’s regular movements.
The lawyer maintained an office downtown but visited a private bank every Thursday.
Today was Thursday.
Dominic wanted to intercept him.
Harper objected.
“You cannot threaten every accountant.”
“He is a lawyer.”
“You cannot threaten every lawyer.”
“I disagree.”
“Dominic.”
Eventually they compromised.
Enzo would follow Vescari.
No confrontation.
No kidnapping.
No violence.
Harper made Dominic repeat the final condition.
“No violence.”
“Yes.”
“Promise.”
He looked insulted.
“I am not twelve.”
“Promise.”
“No violence unless necessary.”
“That is not a promise.”
“It is the only promise you receive.”
At three in the afternoon, Enzo called.
Vescari had not gone to the bank.
He had gone to O’Hare.
“He is leaving.”
Dominic stood immediately.
“Destination?”
“Zurich.”
Harper looked up.
“He knows.”
Dominic reached for his coat.
“How?”
“Lorenzo realized we found the accounts.”
Enzo’s voice came through the speaker.
“Flight departs in fifty minutes.”
Dominic looked toward Harper.
“You wanted no violence.”
She closed the laptop.
“I also dislike people destroying evidence.”
His eyebrows rose.
“Are you suggesting something?”
“I am suggesting we stop him.”
A black sedan reached the private aviation terminal twenty-seven minutes later.
Harper remained inside the vehicle.
Dominic insisted.
She argued for ten minutes and lost.
Enzo entered the terminal with four men.
Dominic stayed beside Harper.
“You could have gone.”
“I am not leaving you alone in an unsecured vehicle.”
“This vehicle has armored glass.”
“Armored glass does not make you invincible.”
Harper looked at him.
“You are becoming protective.”
“I have always been protective.”
“You were terrifying when we met.”
“You kissed me.”
“I was under stress.”
“You climbed onto me.”
“I did not climb.”
“You seized my jacket.”
“That is inaccurate.”
Dominic’s mouth moved slightly.
Harper pointed.
“You are smiling again.”
“I am not.”
Before she could continue, gunshots sounded inside the terminal.
Dominic’s humor vanished.
He reached across Harper and pushed her downward behind the seat.
“Stay.”
He opened the door.
Harper grabbed his sleeve.
“You promised.”
“No violence unless necessary.”
“Dominic!”
He disappeared outside.
Harper cursed.
More shots.
People screamed.
A security alarm began.
Harper remained crouched for exactly seventeen seconds.
Then she opened the opposite door.
She moved behind the vehicle.
A man in a dark suit ran from the terminal.
Not Enzo.
He carried a laptop case.
Vescari.
Harper recognized him from photographs.
He looked toward the sedan.
Then toward her.
His expression changed.
“Harper Hayes.”
That was bad.
Very bad.
He pulled a pistol.
Harper froze.
Vescari approached.
“So this is the accountant.”
She slowly raised her hands.
“You seem disappointed.”
“You should have taken the plane Dominic offered you.”
Harper’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“How do you know about that?”
Vescari smiled.
“Because Lorenzo knows everything Dominic does.”
The statement mattered.
Harper forced herself to remain calm.
“Then Lorenzo knows we found Meridian.”
Vescari’s smile disappeared.
Good.
Confirmation.
“You should not have opened those records.”
“You should have hidden them better.”
He lifted the gun.
“Get inside the vehicle.”
“Why?”
“Because you are coming with me.”
Harper looked beyond him.
Dominic was not visible.
Enzo was not visible.
No help.
She needed time.
“Zurich?”
“What?”
“You were flying to Zurich.”
Vescari became impatient.
“Move.”
“To destroy account records?”
“Move!”
“Or meet someone?”
His finger tightened around the trigger.
Harper opened the rear door.
Then stopped.
“You made one accounting mistake.”
Vescari stared.
She had no idea what she was saying.
She only needed him distracted.
“The Meridian transfers.”
“What mistake?”
His ego caught him.
Harper saw it.
“You reused the same depreciation pattern.”
Confusion became anger.
“No, I did not.”
“Yes.”
“That structure was—”
He stopped.
Too late.
Harper smiled.
“That structure was what?”
Vescari realized the trap.
His expression twisted.
“You little—”
A gunshot cracked.
Harper flinched.
Vescari’s weapon fell.
Blood appeared across his hand.
Dominic stood twenty feet away with his pistol raised.
He crossed the distance quickly.
Vescari dropped to his knees.
Dominic struck him once across the face with the pistol.
Harper stepped forward.
“Dominic.”
He stopped before striking again.
She looked toward Vescari.
“What structure?”
Vescari spat blood.
“Go to hell.”
Dominic lifted the gun.
Harper caught his wrist.
“No.”
“He aimed at you.”
“And now he is useful.”
Dominic looked toward her.
She recognized the fury from St. Regis.
Different target.
Same fear.
Harper lowered his arm.
“Useful,” she repeated.
Enzo appeared from the terminal.
One of his men had been wounded, but no one was dead.
Vescari was placed inside another vehicle.
Harper returned to the estate with Dominic.
Neither spoke until the gates closed.
Then Dominic turned toward her.
“What part of stay inside the vehicle was unclear?”
“The part where someone pointed a gun at me.”
“You exited first.”
“I was trying to see what happened.”
“I told you what to do.”
“I am not one of your soldiers.”
“No. Soldiers follow orders.”
Harper glared.
“Then perhaps find a soldier to pretend to marry.”
The words struck both of them.
Dominic’s expression became dark.
“You think this is amusing?”
“No.”
“He could have killed you.”
“But he did not.”
“Because I shot him.”
“And you promised no violence.”
“He pointed a gun at you!”
“Yes!”
Harper shouted back.
The vehicle became silent.
Enzo raised the partition without being asked.
Harper’s hands shook.
“I know.”
Her voice became quieter.
“I know he could have killed me.”
Dominic’s anger weakened.
“I am frightened too.”
That stopped him.
She looked out the window.
“Every time you disappear through a door with a gun, I wonder whether you are coming back.”
Dominic stared at her.
Harper wiped angrily at her eyes.
“This is not only difficult for you.”
He said nothing for a long moment.
Then he reached toward her.
Harper resisted for half a second.
After that, she allowed Dominic to pull her against him.
His forehead rested against hers.
“I do not know how to do this.”
She knew what he meant.
Not war.
Not power.
Them.
“Neither do I.”
“I know how to protect territory.”
“I am not territory.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
His hand touched her cheek.
“I am learning.”
Harper closed her eyes.
Dominic kissed her forehead.
The gesture was gentler than anything she expected from him.
When they reached the estate, Vescari was placed inside a secure room.
Harper insisted on being present when they questioned him.
Dominic resisted.
Harper won.
No torture.
That condition required a significantly longer argument.
Vescari sat across from them with his wounded hand bandaged.
Harper placed the financial records on the table.
“Meridian Holdings.”
Silence.
“Eighty-seven million dollars.”
Silence.
“Your Zurich account.”
Nothing.
Dominic leaned forward.
“Martin.”
Vescari looked at him.
“You have worked for my family for twenty-three years.”
“That is correct.”
“Then you understand that Harper is currently the only reason you remain capable of breathing without assistance.”
Vescari glanced toward her.
Harper disliked the statement.
But she did not contradict it.
“Tell us what Lorenzo purchased from Victor.”
Vescari laughed.
“You think Victor worked for Lorenzo?”
Dominic became still.
Vescari smiled.
“No.”
Harper leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
“Victor was never the important one.”
“Who was?”
Vescari looked directly toward Dominic.
“Your father.”
Dominic’s eyes became ice.
“My father has been dead for thirteen years.”
“Yes.”
“And some men remain useful long after death.”
Harper felt a chill.
Vescari leaned back.
“Antonio Russo hid something before he died.”
“What?”
Dominic asked.
“I do not know.”
“Lie.”
“I do not.”
Vescari looked frightened now.
“Lorenzo has searched for it for thirteen years.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Harper looked toward the financial boxes.
“What kind of ledger?”
“One that proves who paid for Isabella Russo’s death.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
His mother.
May you like
Vescari smiled despite the blood drying at his lip.
“And if Lorenzo finds it before you do, Dominic, you will never learn who murdered your mother.”
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