Chapter 5 - The Name Under the Villa
The caller identified himself as Luca Ferri.
He had served as the caretaker of Villa Belladonna for twenty-seven years. Helen trusted him enough to monitor the property after Victor’s disappearance.
Luca spoke quickly.
Bradley had arrived in Italy that morning with Martin Sloane and representatives from the hotel company. They intended to sign the final documents before the weekend.
“Why move the date?” Carol asked.
“Because someone accessed Helen’s drive.”
Eugene looked at the laptop.
“That’s impossible,” he said. “We opened it ten minutes ago.”
Luca heard him.
“Mr. Vale?”
“Yes.”
There was a long pause.
“Helen said you might be there.”
“How did Bradley know?”
“The files contain a monitoring program. When they opened, a signal was sent to three places.”
“Why would Helen alert Bradley?”
“She didn’t. Martin added the program when he prepared her digital estate.”
Carol disconnected the laptop from the internet.
The countdown continued.
“Can Bradley access the files?” she asked.
“No,” Luca replied. “But he knows the cabin has been activated.”
Headlights appeared between the trees outside.
Eugene walked to the window.
A delivery van had turned onto the private road.
“Someone’s here.”
Carol ended the call and moved the laptop into a wooden cabinet.
The van stopped beside Eugene’s car.
A young man in a blue jacket approached carrying a flat cardboard package.
Eugene opened the door only as far as the security chain allowed.
“Delivery for Carol Mercer.”
“Leave it on the porch.”
“I need a signature.”
Carol remained out of sight.
Eugene studied the driver. His jacket had no company name. The van carried no logo.
“No signature.”
The man’s eyes moved past Eugene into the cabin.
“I was told to place it directly in her hands.”
“You were told wrong.”
Eugene closed the door.
The driver stood on the porch for several seconds before returning to the van.
He did not leave immediately.
Carol watched from beside the curtain.
“He photographed your car.”
“Bradley already knows I’m here.”
“He knows someone is here. There’s a difference.”
The van finally reversed down the road.
The cardboard package remained on the porch.
They waited ten minutes before bringing it inside.
Carol examined the edges.
“No wires. No unusual weight.”
Eugene opened it carefully.
Inside was a copy of the contract for the villa sale.
A yellow note had been attached to the first page.
Take the settlement and walk away.
Beneath the note was a cashier’s check for $2 million made payable to Eugene.
Carol looked at him.
“That was fast.”
“He wants the deed.”
“He wants the cabin.”
Eugene turned through the contract.
The hotel company purchasing the villa was called Marengo International. The sale price was listed as $18 million.
On the final page, Bradley’s signature appeared beside Martin Sloane’s.
A third signature line belonged to a representative of Belladonna Holdings.
“Who is Belladonna Holdings?” Eugene asked.
Carol searched the company on the disconnected files.
She found a corporate registration from Luxembourg.
The company had been formed in 1971.
Its original director was Alden Vale.
“The villa isn’t directly owned by Bradley,” Carol said.
“But Helen left it to him.”
“She left him the shares of a company that controls the property.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Properties can be seized. Companies can hide obligations.”
Carol studied the corporate registration.
A clause at the bottom required approval from the founding beneficiary before any sale.
“The founding beneficiary is my father?”
“Not exactly.”
She enlarged the page.
Alden Vale had been the director.
The beneficiary’s name had been covered by a black rectangle.
Eugene held the page toward the light.
Faint letters appeared beneath the ink.
MARGARET VALE.
His mother had not merely known about the villa.
She had owned the trust beneath it.
“Why would Helen leave Bradley something my mother controlled?”
“Because Margaret’s shares disappeared when she died.”
“She died twenty-four years ago.”
“Did you handle her estate?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see the shares?”
Eugene shook his head.
Margaret’s estate had been simple. A house, a savings account, jewelry, and several boxes of family papers.
Martin Sloane had handled the final transfer.
Eugene looked at the attorney’s signature on the sale contract.
The same man had managed Margaret’s estate, Helen’s estate, and Bradley’s inheritance.
“He took them,” Eugene said.
“Or he changed them.”
Carol searched Helen’s drive for Margaret’s name.
A scanned legal document appeared.
It was supposedly signed by Margaret two days before her death. It transferred all foreign holdings to Victor Kessler.
Eugene recognized his mother’s signature.
Then he noticed the date.
Margaret had been unconscious in the hospital that entire week.
“This is forged.”
Carol nodded.
“And if the sale closes, the forgery becomes almost impossible to challenge.”
Eugene picked up the $2 million check.
Bradley was not offering a settlement.
He was purchasing silence.
On the back of the yellow note, Eugene noticed a second message written in smaller letters.
May you like
Carol saw it at the same time.
You survived once. Do not make me regret allowing it.
