Chapter 19 - The Last Account
The search for Victor began with a company that no longer existed.
Paul Danner's arrest gave the investigators access to a storage unit outside Detroit. Inside, they found boxes of financial records, several passports, and a laptop that had been wiped. The passports carried different names, but each contained a photograph of the same man.
Victor Moretti.
He had not died in the accident. He had used the false death record to disappear, then continued directing parts of the family business through intermediaries.
Lucas studied the photographs in Collins's office.
“How long has he been using these identities?”
“Since before the fire,” Collins said. “We believe he traveled under at least three names.”
“Where is he now?”
“We have a possible location near the Canadian border. The authorities are coordinating with federal investigators.”
Lucas wanted to go with them. Collins told him no.
“You are not a police officer,” she said. “And Victor knows how to use your anger.”
“He almost killed my family.”
“Which is why you let us do this correctly.”
Lucas left the office furious, but he did not argue.
At home, Isabella had arranged a meeting with Henry through the prosecutor. She wanted to hear his explanation directly. Lucas offered to sit beside her, but she asked to speak with Henry alone for the first part.
“I need to ask my own questions,” she said.
Lucas respected that.
The meeting took place in a neutral conference room. Henry arrived with his attorney and sat across from Isabella. Lucas waited outside with Nina.
Through the glass, he could see Isabella's hands folded on the table. Henry spoke for several minutes. She listened without interrupting.
When she finally answered, she leaned forward.
“You knew the door had been locked.”
Henry nodded.
“You knew I was inside.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the children were inside.”
His face crumpled. “Yes.”
“And you left.”
“I was dragged away, and I was injured.”
“But you did not come back.”
Henry lowered his eyes.
Isabella stood. “I spent three years thinking I had failed to get my children out quickly enough. I thought the door had broken. I thought I should have known how to open it. You let me blame myself.”
Henry whispered, “I'm sorry.”
“I'm not ready to accept that.”
She walked out.
Lucas rose to meet her. He did not ask what she had said. He simply held the door while she passed.
In the car, Isabella stared through the windshield.
“I don't hate him,” she said. “I don't know if I can. But I don't trust him.”
“You don't have to.”
“I want him to testify. I want the truth in court. After that, I don't know.”
Lucas nodded.
The next morning, the forensic team recovered part of the storage device from Henry's ledger. The files included a series of emails between Victor and Danner. They showed that Victor had ordered the east door locked to keep the service corridor clear while the shipment was moved. He had also instructed Danner to disable the sprinkler system.
One email was sent after the fire.
Victor wrote: The family survived. The records did not. Keep the second account active.
Lucas read the line twice.
The records had not all been destroyed. The second account was the one tied to the insurance amendment and the hidden holding company.
The investigators traced it to a bank in Montreal. It had been used to pay for Victor's travel, properties, and legal support. More importantly, it contained a transfer made three days after the fire.
The recipient was a charity established in Lily's name.
Lucas felt sick.
“Did the charity receive the money?” he asked.
“No,” Nina said. “The account was created in the name of a charity that never existed. The paperwork used Lily's personal details.”
“Someone used my daughter's name.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Collins. “Can we freeze it?”
“The bank has been notified. The account is under review.”
That evening, Lucas told Isabella. She was furious, but her anger was controlled.
“He used Lily's name as a cover.”
“Yes.”
“Then this ends. No more private deals. No more quiet arrangements. I want every record given to the prosecutor.”
Lucas nodded.
The children were in the garden when he went outside. Lily was showing Daniel how to water the sunflowers without bending their stems. Daniel had spilled half the can, but Lily was patient.
Lucas watched them and thought about the account bearing his daughter's name. Victor had treated her as a line on a document, a way to move money without attracting attention.
He would never allow that again.
At nine that night, Collins called.
The Canadian authorities had located Victor at a private residence near the border. He had been arrested while attempting to leave the country.
Lucas closed his eyes.
“Is he in custody?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know we have the ledger?”
“He knows enough to understand the case has changed.”
Collins paused.
“He asked to speak to you.”
Lucas looked toward the staircase.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure.”
He ended the call.
For years, Victor had controlled the story by deciding who could speak, which records could survive, and which doors could open. Lucas would not give him one more private conversation.
The truth would be told in court.
And this time, the door would stay open.
The day after Victor's arrest, Lucas met with the independent auditor to review the second account. The bank had frozen the remaining balance, but the auditor found that several transfers had been made through charities and consulting firms using names copied from real family records.
One transfer carried Lily's birth date. Another used Daniel's school identification number.
Lucas felt sick as he read the entries.
“They used the children's information to make the accounts look legitimate.”
Nina nodded. “The records were stolen from the family office. The prosecutor will add identity fraud to the case.”
“Can we make sure the children's records are protected?”
“We've already arranged new monitoring and notified the relevant institutions. The school has also changed its internal access procedures.”
Lucas signed the authorization for the remaining funds to be placed in a protected account under independent oversight. He insisted that no family member, including himself, could move the money without a documented reason and outside approval.
That evening, he told Isabella about the transfers. She was angry, but she did not let the anger spill into the children's dinner.
After they were asleep, she asked Lucas whether he wanted to visit Victor in custody.
“No.”
“Not even to ask why?”
“He has spent years deciding what I should know. I won't let him decide when I listen to him.”
Isabella nodded. “Then let the court hear him.”
The next day, Collins confirmed that Victor had waived his right to challenge extradition. He would be returned to the United States to face the charges. The authorities had also recovered the original storage device from a hidden compartment in the metal case. It contained a spreadsheet listing every payment made to disable the safety systems, along with the names of the people who had approved them.
One name appeared repeatedly: Victor Moretti.
Another appeared beside the final payment: Henry Moretti.
Lucas stared at it for a long time.
His father had not merely been nearby. He had signed off on part of the operation before trying to stop it.
The evidence did not make Henry innocent because he later tried to help. It made the truth more complicated, and more painful.
Lucas forwarded the document to Nina and asked her to give it to the prosecutor without removing a single line.
That night, he sat beside Isabella on the terrace.
“I wanted the answer to be simple,” he said.
“So did I.”
“I wanted Victor to be the only person responsible.”
“But the truth doesn't always give us one person to blame.”
Lucas looked at the garden. “No. It gives us choices we have to live with.”
Isabella took his hand. “Then make the next ones better.”
Before the hearing, Victor's attorney requested a delay, arguing that the recovered files had not been authenticated. The judge granted a short review period but refused to release Victor on bail. Lucas attended the hearing and watched Victor turn toward him as the officers led him away.
For the first time, Victor did not smile.
Outside, reporters asked Lucas whether he felt that justice had finally been served. He answered carefully.
“Justice is a process. My family still has work to do, and the court still has decisions to make. We are not confusing an arrest with healing.”
The statement was brief, but it was the first time Lucas had spoken publicly without trying to defend the Moretti name. He was speaking for the people who had lived through the fire, not for the company that had helped hide it.
When he returned home, Isabella told him the children had made a banner for the garden party. It showed a yellow sun over a house with every window open.
May you like
Lucas smiled. “They understand more than we think.”
“They understand what matters,” she said.
