CHAPTER 4 — THE SECRET INSIDE THE LEDGER
CHAPTER 4 — THE SECRET INSIDE THE LEDGER
Rain began just after sunset.
Heavy tropical rain.
Water poured over the mouth of the cave like a curtain, hiding them from anyone outside.
For the first time since the crash...
They were alone.
Elena sat across from Luca, unable to stop staring at him.
"I've hated you for a year."
"I know."
"And you let me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Luca looked toward the rain.
"Because hatred kept you alive."
She frowned.
"I don't understand."
"My father watches everything."
His voice remained calm.
"If he'd believed you mattered to me..."
He didn't finish.
He didn't have to.
Elena suddenly understood.
The anonymous hospital payment.
The coldness.
The impossible distance.
Not cruelty.
Protection.
She wanted to reject the idea.
Wanted to call him a liar.
But every piece fit.
Too perfectly.
Near midnight Luca's fever worsened.
He drifted in and out of consciousness.
Sometimes speaking Italian.
Sometimes calling names she didn't recognize.
Then one name repeated again and again.
"Sofia..."
Elena leaned closer.
"Who's Sofia?"
Luca whispered without opening his eyes.
"My sister."
"I thought you didn't have family."
"They killed her."
His breathing hitched.
"I couldn't save her."
Then silence.
The words haunted Elena long after he slept.
She searched the emergency supplies for more bandages.
Instead...
She found something unexpected.
A waterproof black case hidden beneath the medical equipment.
Locked.
Military-grade.
Across the front was a silver Roman "R."
Romano.
She looked toward Luca.
Still unconscious.
The case must have been what Marco wanted.
The ledger.
She found a small emergency axe from the crash kit and struck the lock.
Once.
Twice.
The third blow broke it.
Inside...
There wasn't money.
Or diamonds.
Or weapons.
There was a leather notebook.
A satellite phone.
Several encrypted flash drives.
And hundreds of photographs.
Elena picked one up.
Children.
Dozens of them.
Some smiling.
Some terrified.
Each photograph had dates.
Port numbers.
Shipping container codes.
She turned another page.
Names.
Payments.
Government officials.
Police commanders.
International shipping routes.
Human trafficking.
Her blood turned to ice.
Romano Maritime...
Had never been transporting luxury goods.
Someone had been using its cargo network to move children across continents.
Tears filled her eyes.
"This..."
She whispered.
"My God..."
A weak voice answered from behind her.
"That's why they want me dead."
Luca was awake.
He slowly sat up despite the pain.
"My father built an empire."
He looked at the photographs with visible disgust.
"I spent six years collecting evidence to destroy it."
Elena looked at him.
"You've been pretending to be the head of the mafia..."
"So I could cut it out from the inside."
"And nobody knows?"
"If they knew..."
He gave a tired smile.
"I'd already be dead."
Before Elena could speak...
The satellite phone inside the case vibrated.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The screen displayed only two words:
UNKNOWN SIGNAL
Luca answered.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then a woman's calm voice broke the silence.
"Luca..."
His face drained of color.
"I warned you never to fly."
Elena saw something she had never imagined possible.
The unshakable Luca Romano...
Looked afraid.
Very afraid.
"How are you alive?" he whispered.
The woman laughed softly.
"I could ask you the same question."
A pause.
Then she delivered the sentence that changed everything.
"You've been hunting the wrong monster."
Luca's grip tightened on the phone.
"My father isn't giving the orders anymore."
Another pause.
Then—
"He works for someone now."
The call disconnected.
Outside the cave...
A red laser sight slowly appeared on the stone wall.
Then another.
May you like
Then another.
Someone had found them.
