Chapter 6 - The Woman Above VictorDennis Cole survived.
Barely.
For two days, police guarded his hospital room while Daniel's attorneys negotiated access.
Rachel refused to visit at first.
Then Dennis asked specifically for her.
“You don't owe him anything,” Daniel said.
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
“Because I need to understand.”
Daniel nodded.
“I'll take you.”
Dennis looked twenty years older.
Bruises covered his face. One arm was immobilized.
Rachel stood at the foot of the bed.
“You sold those machines.”
Dennis cried.
Rachel had never seen him cry.
“They told me the units were refurbished. Safe. Just improperly certified.”
“You deleted my records.”
“They threatened my daughter.”
Rachel's anger faltered.
Dennis looked toward Daniel.
“Victor handled payments. But he wasn't the boss.”
“Who was?” Daniel asked.
Dennis swallowed.
“Evelyn Shaw.”
Daniel's face changed.
Rachel noticed.
“Who is she?”
“My father's former chief financial officer.”
Daniel stared through the hospital window.
“She disappeared after my parents died.”
Dennis shook his head.
“She never disappeared.”
The truth unfolded over the next forty-eight hours.
Evelyn Shaw had spent years building hidden ownership positions inside shipping vendors, hospital suppliers, and insurance contractors.
Moretti Freight was her final target.
Victor had helped her.
But not willingly at first.
Evelyn possessed evidence connecting Victor to financial crimes committed decades earlier.
She used it to control him.
Then greed did the rest.
Rachel's discovery threatened an operation worth hundreds of millions.
Emma's accident added another complication.
Because Emma's car crash had not been random.
Her brakes had been tampered with.
Daniel stood inside his study when Marcus delivered the report.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he punched the wall.
Rachel flinched.
Daniel immediately turned.
Regret crossed his face.
“Sorry.”
Rachel approached carefully.
“Your hand.”
“It's fine.”
“Daniel.”
She brought ice.
He sat while she wrapped his knuckles.
“You can't punch every problem.”
“I can try.”
“That was almost funny.”
“It wasn't intended to be.”
“I know.”
Rachel looked up.
“That's what makes it funny.”
His expression finally softened.
Then his phone rang.
Emma.
Daniel answered.
Rachel watched him listen.
His face drained of color.
“What?”
He stood.
“Emma, lock the door.”
Rachel's blood turned cold.
Daniel hit speaker.
Emma's frightened voice filled the room.
“Someone's outside my apartment.”
Marcus was already moving.
“Police are two minutes away.”
A crash sounded through the phone.
Emma screamed.
Daniel ran.
The next twelve minutes became a blur.
By the time they reached Emma's building, police had detained a man in the stairwell.
Emma was unharmed.
But investigators found something disturbing in his pocket.
A photograph.
Rachel leaving St. Catherine's.
On the back, written in black ink:
THE WIFE IS THE LEVER.
Daniel read it twice.
Then tore it in half.
Rachel watched him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You're going somewhere secure.”
“No.”
“This isn't negotiable.”
“It absolutely is.”
“Rachel—”
“They want me afraid. They want you making emotional decisions.”
“My wife is being targeted.”
“And your wife gets a vote.”
Daniel stared at her.
Six weeks earlier, nobody would have challenged him in front of armed security and police.
Rachel did.
“I won't be hidden away while everyone else fixes my life.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“That we make them think I'm still afraid.”
Marcus understood first.
“A trap.”
Rachel nodded.
Daniel's answer was immediate.
“No.”
She folded her arms.
“Remember the hospital?”
“What about it?”
“You told me I saved Emma because I noticed what didn't belong.”
“Yes.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Then trust me to notice again.”
Daniel hated the idea.
But beneath the fear, something else appeared.
Respect.
Finally he said, “You never leave my sight.”
Rachel raised an eyebrow.
“That's impractical.”
“Then the answer is no.”
She sighed.
“Fine.”
That evening, Evelyn Shaw received information from a source inside Moretti Freight.
Rachel Moretti was preparing to leave Daniel.
She would supposedly meet an attorney alone at an old waterfront office two nights later.
The bait was set.
But Evelyn Shaw had survived thirty years by recognizing traps.
Instead of coming for Rachel, she sent someone Daniel never expected.
May you like
Victor Moretti himself.
And Victor arrived carrying a gun.
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