Chapter 6 - BOX 317
By midnight, Luciano had called the three people he still trusted: Rachel, his attorney Daniel Price, and Elena’s sister, Sofia.
Daniel arrived first.
He read the forged boarding-school papers, photographed the locomotive, and listened without interrupting as Theo described the missing phone and the punishments.
When the boy finished, Daniel’s face had changed.
“Luciano, take Theo somewhere else tonight.”
“This is my home.”
“Then make sure Marcus and Bernadette can’t reach him.”
Luciano looked toward the hall. “They won’t.”
Daniel lowered his voice. “You also need to understand something. If that guardianship amendment is real, they were building a paper trail.”
“For what?”
“To argue that you were absent, unstable, and financially reckless after Elena died.”
Luciano stared at him.
“They were trying to take Theo?”
“I’m saying it could have been the next step.”
A car pulled into the driveway.
Sofia entered minutes later and ran straight to Theo. He buried his face in her coat.
She looked over his head at Luciano.
“How long has this been happening?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.”
The shame in his voice stopped her.
After Elena’s death, Luciano had buried himself in work and told himself Theo was safe with family. He had been wrong.
Before dawn, Daniel secured the house while Rachel sent the financial records.
At 6:15 the next morning, he and Daniel drove to First Atlantic Bank.
Box 317 required two keys.
The bank had one.
The second was the tiny key Marcus had taken from Theo.
Luciano looked at Daniel.
“So we can’t open it.”
The banker hesitated. “There is another option.”
“What?”
“Your father filed a sealed access instruction.”
She turned her monitor toward them.
“The secondary key can be overridden if the beneficiary provides a specific object listed in the instruction.”
Luciano read the line.
His heartbeat stopped.
May you like
AUTHORIZED OBJECT: HANDMADE WOODEN LOCOMOTIVE, MARKED ‘THEO.’
* * *
