Chapter 16 - The Notebook Comes BackMarco's notebook had disappeared from Emma's diaper bag inside St. Catherine's Hospital.
Now it was lying beneath a nursery window thirty miles away.
Detective Hayes ordered everyone out of the room.
Fingerprint technicians arrived.
The notebook contained no obvious new writing.
But several pages had been torn out.
Emma recognized one missing section.
"The CJM pages."
Luca looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"They were near the middle."
Hayes examined the binding.
"Recently removed."
Emma stared at the open window.
"Someone was inside."
One officer shook his head.
"The window sensor never triggered."
Luca looked at Daniel.
Daniel was already checking the system.
"Sensor was bypassed remotely."
Hayes sighed.
"Again."
Luca's frustration boiled over.
"Then stop telling me this house is secure."
Daniel looked at him.
"No house is secure if someone has administrator credentials."
"Who does?"
Daniel turned the tablet around.
"According to the system, only one active master account."
Vincent stepped closer.
"Whose?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Michael Grant."
Silence.
Luca called Michael.
No answer.
Hayes called officers stationed near Michael's home.
Within minutes, they reported his car was gone.
His house was empty.
Emma felt the final piece slide into place.
"Michael knew about Marco's envelope."
"He knew the hospital."
"He knew the family properties."
"He had access to security."
"He was talking to Connor."
Luca shook his head.
"He also got attacked."
Hayes looked at him.
"Or staged it."
Vincent sat down.
"I gave Michael access to everything."
Luca stared at his father.
"Why?"
"Because I trusted him."
Emma thought about Adrian's message.
Luca is trusting the wrong person.
Perhaps Adrian had not meant Daniel.
Perhaps he meant Michael.
Hayes's phone rang.
She answered.
Her eyes hardened.
"Where?"
She ended the call.
"Michael's car was found near the river."
"Any sign of him?"
"No."
Luca looked exhausted.
Emma stepped closer.
"What if he's running?"
"Then we'll find him."
"What if he's not?"
Luca understood.
"If Connor and Adrian were taking orders from him..."
Hayes interrupted.
"We don't know that."
Emma pointed toward Marco's notebook.
"Then why return this?"
No one answered.
She looked closer at the notebook.
Something felt wrong.
The cover seemed thicker than she remembered.
Emma picked it up carefully with gloves.
"Can I?"
Hayes nodded.
Emma pressed along the back cover.
A small slit opened near the binding.
Inside was a microSD card.
Luca stared.
"Marco hid that?"
Emma shook her head.
"I don't remember this pocket."
Hayes took the card.
"Could have been there the whole time."
"Or whoever returned it wanted us to find it."
Within an hour, investigators opened the card.
It contained a single video.
Marco.
Sitting in the Blue Harbor cabin.
Alive.
Nervous.
Looking directly into the camera.
Emma covered her mouth.
Marco began speaking.
If you're watching this, then I either got brave enough to tell the truth or something happened before I could.
He looked exhausted.
Connor is involved.
Adrian is involved.
But neither of them built this.
Luca leaned closer to the screen.
Marco continued.
Michael did.
Vincent closed his eyes.
Michael Grant created the shell companies.
He moved the payments.
He convinced Adrian they were protecting political relationships.
He convinced Connor he could get rich.
And when I found out, he told me something I still can't prove.
Marco looked directly into the camera.
He said Luca knew.
Emma looked at Luca.
His face went blank.
Marco continued.
I don't believe him.
Luca exhaled.
But I need proof before I bring this to my brother.
Because once Luca knows, he'll burn down everything our father built to protect the truth.
Vincent looked toward Luca.
Marco gave a sad smile on screen.
That's why Michael is afraid of him.
The video ended.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Hayes's phone rang again.
She answered.
Her expression changed completely.
"We found Michael."
Luca stepped forward.
"Where?"
Hayes stared at him.
"St. Catherine's Hospital."
Emma's blood went cold.
"Why would he go back there?"
May you like
Hayes looked at Grace.
"We don't know."
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