Chapter 7
Evelyn obtained the storage-unit records without sending anyone inside.
The unit had been rented for almost four years.
Payments came quarterly.
Always through companies associated with Damien.
That alone proved nothing.
Then Michael traced another connection.
One of the companies receiving wedding money had also received payments four years earlier.
Lakeview Fleet Services.
Alessandro recognized the name.
They had maintained several Rizzano vehicles before the company changed vendors.
Including Elena’s SUV.
Michael looked uncomfortable.
“I thought you should see this.”
The final service on Elena’s vehicle had occurred eight days before her accident.
Nothing unusual appeared on the invoice.
Oil.
Tires.
Brake inspection.
But the account manager authorizing the work was Damien Moretti.
“Why?”
“Back then Damien supervised the vehicle contracts.”
Alessandro remembered.
He had delegated them.
Another thing Damien had quietly managed.
Daniel contacted the retired fleet manager, Robert Keller.
Robert was sixty-three and living in Wisconsin.
He remembered Elena’s SUV.
“She hated that thing,” he said over video call.
Alessandro almost smiled.
That sounded like her.
Robert continued.
“She kept complaining the steering felt wrong.”
Alessandro’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“She brought it in twice.”
The official company records showed only one visit.
Robert frowned.
“There was another.”
“When?”
“A few days before the crash.”
“Why isn’t it in the records?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who brought the car?”
Robert thought.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Daniel looked at Alessandro.
“What did he ask you to do?”
“Nothing dramatic. Said Mrs. Rizzano thought something was wrong. We checked it.”
“And?”
Robert became uncertain.
“One of my technicians said the vehicle should stay overnight.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to inspect the steering assembly.”
“Did it stay?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Moretti said Mrs. Rizzano needed it.”
Alessandro said nothing for several seconds.
“Did you document that?”
“We documented everything.”
“Where?”
Robert smiled sadly.
“Back then? Paper work orders.”
Lakeview Fleet Services had closed three years earlier.
Robert believed archived boxes had been transferred to a commercial records warehouse when the business shut down.
Another search.
Another uncertainty.
No proof.
But the story Alessandro had believed for four years was beginning to develop cracks.
That night Damien finally called him.
“You digging through Elena’s accident now?”
Alessandro’s hand tightened around the phone.
He had told almost nobody.
“How do you know?”
Damien laughed quietly.
“Because you’re predictable.”
“Why did you take the old drives?”
Silence.
Then Damien said, “Be careful what you convince yourself you want to know.”
The call ended.
May you like
Alessandro stared at the screen.
Damien had not denied taking them.
