Dante wanted to go after Rafe immediately.
I refused to let him.
That might have been the stupidest thing I had done all month, which was an impressive accomplishment considering I had recently cursed a mob boss in his own basement.
“He has Finn,” Dante said.
“I know.”
“Then we move.”
“With what?”
“My people.”
“The same people who failed to notice one of your senior executives stealing for eighteen months?”
Carmine winced.
Dante’s stare could have cracked glass.
I kept going.
“Rafe knows how you react. That is the entire reason he took Finn.”
“You think I’m predictable?”
“When someone threatens people you consider family? Completely.”
His expression changed.
Neither of us addressed the implication.
Instead, I opened my laptop.
“We give him what he thinks he wants.”
“What?”
“Confidence.”
Dante folded his arms.
I explained what I had found.
Rafe had not simply stolen through fake vendors.
He had manipulated approval routes.
He had positioned people underneath him who signed documents without realizing the pattern.
Some were careless.
Some incompetent.
Some frightened.
But the structure itself pointed upward.
Then I showed Dante something worse.
Over eighteen months, the fraudulent charges totaled nearly $2.4 million.
Dante stared at the number.
“That much?”
“That’s only what I’ve verified.”
Carmine swore.
“It gets worse,” I said.
“Of course it does,” Dante replied.
“The money didn’t stay in the shell companies.”
I pulled up another chart.
“It moved.”
I was careful with the explanation.
I had no intention of becoming an expert in criminal finance, and I had no desire to help anyone else become one.
But the pattern was obvious enough.
Funds had been transferred through legitimate-looking business relationships and ultimately disappeared into foreign-controlled accounts.
Rafe had been building an exit.
“This isn’t skimming,” I said.
“He’s preparing to run.”
Dante stared at the chart.
“Why take Finn?”
“Because he knows I’m close.”
The phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Rafe’s voice was warm.
Almost friendly.
“Nora.”
“Where is my brother?”
“Safe.”
“That word means very little coming from your organization.”
Dante reached for the phone.
I moved away.
Rafe chuckled.
“You are much more interesting than the previous accountants.”
“Where is Finn?”
“Your brother has a talent for being useful without understanding why.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The audit ends.”
“No.”
Silence.
Even Dante looked at me.
Rafe laughed.
“You should think about your answer.”
“I did.”
“Then perhaps you don’t understand your position.”
“I understand it perfectly. You stole millions from your employer, fabricated vendor payments, and now kidnapped the brother of the accountant who found you.”
Dante raised an eyebrow.
I continued.
“That is not a strong negotiating position.”
“You really have been spending too much time with Dante.”
“No. Dante threatens people more efficiently.”
Carmine covered his mouth.
Rafe stopped laughing.
“Delete your files.”
“No.”
“Withdraw your conclusions.”
“No.”
“Tell Dante you made a mistake.”
“No.”
“Nora.”
“Yes?”
“You are not bulletproof.”
My hands went cold.
My voice did not.
“Neither are spreadsheets.”
I ended the call.
Dante stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“Remind me never to negotiate against you.”
I sat down because my knees had begun trembling again.
Dante noticed.
This time, he did not mention it.
He simply placed a glass of water beside me.
Then he crouched until we were eye level.
“I will get Finn back.”
“That sounds like a promise you can’t guarantee.”
His gaze held mine.
“I don’t make promises I can’t guarantee.”
“You promised I’d be safe while doing this.”
Pain crossed his face.
Briefly.
Real enough that I regretted the words.
“I know,” he said.
I looked away.
“Then help me beat him with something he doesn’t expect.”
“What?”
“Accounting.”
Dante almost smiled.
Over the next several hours, Vincent Moretti joined us.
I had initially distrusted him because his name appeared on several corporate filings connected to the shell companies.
But when I showed him the documents, he became furious.
“My electronic filing credentials.”
“What about them?” I asked.
“Someone used archived authorization.”
“Could Rafe access it?”
Vincent stared at Dante.
“Years ago, yes.”
Another piece.
Another betrayal.
The circle tightened.
By late afternoon, we had enough documentation for the company’s legitimate banks and counsel to treat several transfers as suspected internal fraud.
Vincent contacted the appropriate compliance departments.
I provided supporting records.
We did not know whether it would work quickly enough.
Then at 5:42 p.m., my laptop refreshed.
An outgoing transfer had been rejected.
I stared.
Refresh.
Another account placed under review.
Then another.
The money Rafe had planned to move was no longer moving.
Dante leaned over my shoulder.
“What happened?”
“I think we just closed the door.”
“How much?”
I checked.
“Just over nine hundred thousand that was still accessible through the business accounts.”
Carmine whispered something deeply religious.
My phone rang immediately.
Rafe.
I smiled for the first time that day.
Dante noticed.
“Put it on speaker.”
I answered.
Rafe did not sound friendly anymore.
“What did you do?”
“Hello, Rafe.”
“You froze the accounts.”
“I didn’t do anything improper. Your banks received documentation of suspected corporate fraud.”
“Undo it.”
“That isn’t how bank compliance works.”
“Nora, listen to me.”
“No, you listen to me. I want proof Finn is alive.”
A long pause.
Then Finn’s voice.
“Nora?”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m here.”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Rafe returned.
“You have thirty minutes.”
“For what?”
“Restore access.”
“I can’t.”
“Then your brother—”
Dante took the phone.
“Rafe.”
Silence.
Dante’s voice became very quiet.
“Whatever loyalty I once believed existed between us is finished. But if Finn Gallagher is harmed, you will spend every remaining day of your life wishing Nora had been the person who found you.”
Rafe breathed into the phone.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You taught me.”
Then Rafe hung up.
Something about that exchange bothered me.
Not the threat.
The familiarity.
The sadness underneath it.
Dante poured himself a drink.
“You loved him.”
It came out before I could stop it.
He looked at me.
“He taught me to drive.”
I said nothing.
“He was at my father’s funeral. He carried my sister’s coffin.”
“And he stole from you.”
“Yes.”
“How can both be true?”
Dante looked toward the window.
“That’s the question people ask when betrayal comes from family.”
I thought of Finn.
Of every lie I had forgiven because he was my brother.
Maybe Dante and I were more alike than I wanted to admit.
At 7:20, Carmine got a location.
An abandoned printing facility outside the central business district.
Dante immediately moved.
I grabbed my coat.
“No.”
I kept moving.
“Nora.”
“He took Finn because of me.”
“He took Finn because he’s desperate.”
“I’m coming.”
“This isn’t one of your audits.”
“Exactly. You people keep ruining the profession for me.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You stay here.”
“I can identify records, accounts, documents, and Rafe’s financial trail. If he has evidence there, you need me.”
“I need you alive.”
The words stopped both of us.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then I said quietly, “Get Finn alive too.”
Dante closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the anger was gone.
“Stay with Carmine.”
Carmine frowned.
“I was going with you.”
“Not anymore.”
That was how the three of us went.
The building was mostly dark.
I remained well behind Dante and Carmine while other security personnel moved around the perimeter.
No heroic charge.
No glamorous gunfight.
Just fear.
Real fear.
The kind that makes every shadow look occupied.
Inside, we found evidence Rafe had already moved.
Boxes.
Burned documents.
Two computers stripped of drives.
But on the second floor, Carmine heard something.
A pounding noise.
We followed it to a locked storage room.
Finn was inside.
Alive.
Bruised.
Furious.
He threw his arms around me.
I nearly collapsed.
“You idiot.”
“I know.”
“You unbelievable idiot.”
“I know.”
I hit his shoulder.
Then hugged him harder.
Behind us, Dante turned away to give us privacy.
That was when Finn whispered something.
“Nora.”
“What?”
“Rafe kept asking about the money.”
“I know.”
“No. Not his money.”
I pulled back.
“What do you mean?”
“He said Dante was never supposed to discover the other account.”
My stomach dropped.
“What other account?”
Finn swallowed.
“The one in your name.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“My name?”
Finn nodded.
“He said this whole thing started before I ever placed the first bet.”
I looked across the room at Dante.
He was already watching me.
My brother’s debt had been the first lie.
But it was not the biggest.
Someone had created a financial trail that led directly to me.
And suddenly I understood why Rafe had been so frightened of the audit.
He wasn’t only stealing from Dante Russo.
He was building a person to blame.
Me.
---