Accountant Sold By Her Stepbrother—Then 3 Mafia Bosses Claimed Her As Their Own
Chapter 9
They moved to a remote safe house in Wisconsin.
No phones.
No internet.
No outside communication.
Clara spent the night analyzing the security footage.
The explosion had been triggered remotely.
Someone had accessed their location through an encrypted channel.
She traced the signal.
It came from a phone registered to…
Dante Russo.
Clara stared at the screen.
Dante walked in.
“What did you find?”
She turned the laptop toward him.
“Your phone.”
His face changed.
“I lost that phone yesterday.”
“When?”
“After we left the station.”
Clara studied him.
“You never told us.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“It matters now.”
Dante looked at her.
“I didn’t betray you.”
“Prove it.”
He pulled out another phone.
“This is the only one I’ve used since.”
Luca entered.
“What happened?”
Clara explained.
Luca looked at Dante.
“Where was the old phone?”
“In my car.”
“Who had access?”
Dante thought.
“Marcus.”
Clara froze.
Marcus.
Her stepbrother.
But he was in the hospital.
Unless…
She called the hospital.
The nurse answered.
“Mr. Bennett is gone.”
Clara’s blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He left two hours ago.”
Marcus had escaped.
And he had taken Dante’s phone.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Marcus wasn’t just desperate.
He was working with Black Meridian.
Clara remembered his final warning.
“Don’t trust…”
He hadn’t finished.
But perhaps he had meant Dante.
Or perhaps he had been trying to deceive her.
They drove back toward Chicago.
At the hospital, they found a hidden room.
Marcus had left another message.
You were always the smart one, Clara.
She read the rest.
That’s why I needed you alive.
Clara’s stomach tightened.
The money was never the goal.
She looked at Luca.
“What was?”
Luca read the final line.
You are.
Silence.
Clara suddenly understood.
The organization didn’t need the $147 million.
They needed Clara because she was the only person who could decode the entire financial network.
She wasn’t the key to the treasure.
She was the key to exposing the organization.
And Marcus had known that all along.
Then the lights went out.
Someone locked the doors.
A voice came through the speakers.
“Hello, Clara.”
Marcus.
