Page 57 of The Voicemail

“Who had Maya’s address before the attack?” I ask him.

“You, me, Marco, who followed them, Nico, and Elena, I assume.”

I nod. “That’s a pretty small fucking list.”

“It is,” Luca agrees. “And we can probably rule three of them out.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Only three?”

He shrugs. “Well, you know it wasn’t me, you, or Elena. We can start there.”

I turn away from the window and look at the footage still paused on my screen. Elena is still frozen there, still braced against Maya’s car. Her body is twisted away from where Tomaso disappeared. DeSantis has one hand out like he’s afraid she’ll fall. Maya is on the other side of the car with her mouth open, clearly screaming.

“There’s also the possibility that Tomaso already knew Maya’s address. He’s been stalking her for months. He could’ve seen her go there.”

“Maybe,” I agree. “One more thing we can’t rule out. This asshole is a ghost. We can’t pin him down. He’s always at least two steps ahead of us. I’m going insane trying to keep Elena safe from a threat I don’t fully understand.”

“Then let’s rule out a few factors,” he says calmly. “We can figure out pretty quickly if anyone in our camp leaked information.”

“Pull the phone records,” I agree. “Even Nico’s.”

He nods. “I’m also happy to submit my own phone records. If it helps.”

I roll my eyes at him. “I’m trying to narrow down information; not create a pile of things I need to look through. I trust you with my life, Luca. I know you didn’t leak anything.”

“Just thought I’d offer.” He smiles. “What about Elena’s phone?”

“No.” I shake my head. “We know how well it went last time when we searched through her things.”

“Just hear me out. It’s possible he’s hacked her phone. If she has Maya’s address saved, or if she’s ever gotten Maya’s address in a message, he could have access to it.”

“Fine,” I agree, seeing the logic in it. “But let me tell her this time.”

“I can make it as non-invasive as possible. Scan it, sweep it for malware and location sharing. I won’t have to look at anything personal. Tell her that, if it helps.”

“It’ll probably help a lot.” I sigh. “Any other ideas for getting back on her good side?”

He chuckles. “Not lying to her is a really good start, I think. Otherwise, you’re going to have to win her trust the old-fashioned way.”

I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Slowly,” he clarifies. “And without deceit.”

“Get me the phone logs,” I tell him. “I’ll get Elena’s consent to check her phone.”

He nods and leaves my office. I should call it a night too. Staring at the screen isn’t improving my mood. I keep coming back to it: Tomaso was clean and sure of himself. He’s no amateur and more dangerous than I imagined.

If someone in my camp is feeding him information, that’s the end of them. I won’t stand for it. I’ve worked too hard to keep Elena safe. This is exactly the kind of shit Bianchi would pull, too. He loves testing boundaries and dividing loyalty. It wouldn’t surprise me if he approached my men. It would be the end of their careers, and potentially their lives, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

As I look at the tape again, I think I can safely rule out DeSantis. He wouldn’t have fought so hard against Tomaso if his goal was to let him take Elena. He sprang into action immediately. If anything, he deserves a raise.

I can’t look at the footage for one more second. I turn off my monitor and get up, stretching to ease the tension in my shoulders. It doesn’t help. I’m not sure anything will calm me down at this point.

I walk to the kitchen for a glass of water and find Elena camped out on the couch, engrossed in her laptop. She looks up the moment she hears me.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I say, sounding sharper than I mean to.