Part 3: The Secret Beneath the Duca Name
Part 3: The Secret Beneath the Duca Name
The old Duca facility stood on the edge of the city, hidden behind rusted gates and overgrown trees.
It had been abandoned for more than a decade.
At least, that was what the official records said.
Roman parked outside the main entrance.
Emily stepped out beside him.
The building looked nothing like the polished headquarters she had become accustomed to. The windows were dark. The walls were stained by years of rain. Weeds had swallowed the pathway.
Yet someone had been paying to keep the place alive.
Roman looked toward the building.
“My mother never mentioned this place.”
Emily studied him.
“Maybe she didn’t want you to know.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
He hated the possibility.
They entered through a side door using the access token Emily had discovered.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and metal.
Their footsteps echoed through the empty corridor.
Roman turned on his flashlight.
“Stay close.”
Emily raised an eyebrow.
“I can walk by myself.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep reminding me.”
Despite the tension, Emily smiled.
Then they heard something.
A metallic sound.
Both stopped.
Roman immediately stepped in front of her.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
He moved forward.
Emily followed.
At the end of the hallway was an old security room.
The door stood slightly open.
Roman pushed it wider.
Inside, an old monitor flickered.
Someone had recently restored power to the system.
Emily’s heart began beating faster.
“This wasn’t abandoned.”
Roman approached the computer.
“Someone has been here.”
Emily looked around.
“There are fresh footprints.”
Roman followed her gaze.
They led toward a locked door.
He tried the handle.
Nothing.
Emily noticed a keypad beside it.
“Try twelve.”
Roman looked at her.
“Why?”
“The facility was closed twelve years ago.”
He entered the number.
The lock clicked.
Emily stared at him.
“You guessed it?”
“No.”
Roman looked at the door.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
The door opened.
Inside was a small archive room.
Boxes covered the walls.
Documents.
Photographs.
Old contracts.
Employee records.
Emily walked toward the nearest shelf.
Then stopped.
“Roman.”
He came beside her.
She pointed.
There was a folder with his name on it.
ROMAN DUCA — CONFIDENTIAL
Roman slowly opened it.
The first document was dated twelve years earlier.
It was an internal investigation.
Emily read over his shoulder.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She pointed at the report.
“This says your father discovered financial theft inside the company.”
Roman continued reading.
“By whom?”
Emily turned the page.
The answer wasn’t written directly.
But several names appeared repeatedly.
One of them made Roman freeze.
Laurent Holdings.
Sophia’s family.
Emily whispered, “This goes back twelve years.”
Roman shook his head.
“My father died before I took control of the company.”
“And someone continued what he started.”
Roman opened another file.
This one contained bank transfers.
Millions of dollars had been moved through shell companies.
The dates continued for years.
Emily’s eyes widened.
“This wasn’t a one-time attempt.”
“No.”
Roman’s voice became colder.
“It was a long-term operation.”
Then Emily found something else.
A handwritten note.
She unfolded it carefully.
If anything happens to me, don’t trust Margaret.
Roman went completely still.
Emily looked at him.
“Roman…”
He took the note from her.
His hand trembled slightly.
“My father wrote this.”
Emily read the sentence again.
“Don’t trust Margaret.”
Roman stared at the words.
“My mother.”
Before either could say anything else, footsteps echoed outside.
Someone was coming.
Roman immediately switched off the flashlight.
The room went dark.
Emily held her breath.
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
A shadow passed beneath it.
Then the door opened.
Roman pulled Emily behind a shelf.
A man entered.
Emily recognized him.
Daniel Mercer.
He looked exhausted.
His clothes were dirty, and there was a cut across his forehead.
Roman stepped out.
“Daniel.”
Daniel nearly dropped the flashlight in his hand.
“Mr. Duca.”
“What are you doing here?”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“I knew you would come.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because she found the pattern.”
Emily stepped forward.
“You knew about the investigation.”
Daniel nodded.
“I knew about your father’s investigation.”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“Then why were you framed?”
Daniel looked down.
“Because I wasn’t the person they wanted you to blame.”
“Who?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your mother.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Roman stared at him.
“Explain.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Twelve years ago, your father discovered that money was being transferred from Duca companies to Laurent-controlled accounts.”
Emily looked at the documents.
“That’s what we found.”
Daniel nodded.
“But he also discovered someone inside the Duca family was helping them.”
Roman’s face went pale.
“Margaret.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Roman understood.
“My father confronted her.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Daniel looked away.
“Two days later, your father died.”
Emily’s breath caught.
Roman stepped toward him.
“Are you saying my father was murdered?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“But you suspect it.”
“Yes.”
Roman’s fists tightened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was warned.”
“By whom?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Someone who still works for your family.”
Emily suddenly noticed something.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“You said you were warned.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you come here?”
Daniel’s eyes filled with exhaustion.
“Because I’m tired of running.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small envelope.
“I kept this for twelve years.”
Roman took it.
Inside was an old photograph.
It showed Roman’s father standing beside Margaret.
But they weren’t alone.
A third person stood behind them.
Emily leaned closer.
She recognized him.
“That’s your security chief.”
Roman stared at the photograph.
His current security chief.
The same man who had spent the last three weeks investigating the sabotage.
Roman’s expression darkened.
“He was there twelve years ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“He was there when your father discovered everything.”
Emily looked at Roman.
“Then someone has been inside your organization all along.”
Roman didn’t respond.
His mind was racing.
Every security report.
Every accusation.
Every convenient piece of evidence.
Someone had been manipulating the investigation from the beginning.
Then Daniel spoke again.
“There’s something else.”
Roman looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel pointed toward the back wall.
“Your father didn’t leave the evidence here.”
Emily frowned.
“Then what’s in this room?”
Daniel looked directly at Roman.
“A warning.”
Before Roman could ask what he meant, the lights suddenly came on.
The door slammed shut.
Emily jumped.
A loud metallic click followed.
Roman rushed toward the exit.
Locked.
Daniel ran to the controls.
“Someone triggered the security system.”
Roman pulled out his phone.
“No signal.”
Emily looked at the ceiling.
“There are cameras.”
A red light blinked above them.
Someone was watching.
Then the old monitor flickered.
A video began playing.
Roman’s father appeared on the screen.
He looked older than Emily had ever seen him in photographs.
Tired.
Afraid.
He sat behind a desk.
“If you’re watching this,” he said, “then I was right to be afraid.”
Roman stared at the screen.
His father’s voice continued.
“Roman, if this message reaches you, there is only one person I want you to trust.”
The recording paused.
Static filled the room.
Then the screen went black.
A new image appeared.
Emily Carter.
Roman’s eyes widened.
The image showed Emily entering Duca Consolidated three weeks earlier.
Another image showed her leaving her apartment.
Another showed her sitting in a café.
Another showed her speaking to Sophia.
Someone had been monitoring her.
For weeks.
Then the video displayed a final message.
She was never chosen by accident.
Emily stared at the screen.
“What does that mean?”
Roman didn’t answer.
The monitor changed again.
A file appeared.
CARTER, EMILY — CASE 17
Emily froze.
“Why is my name there?”
Roman looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I do.”
Emily turned toward him.
Daniel’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Your father worked for Roman’s father.”
Emily’s face went pale.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He wasn’t just an employee.”
Roman looked at him.
“What was he?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your father’s most trusted investigator.”
Emily shook her head.
“My father died when I was twenty.”
“I know.”
“He was a financial analyst.”
“That was the cover.”
Emily stared at Daniel.
Her entire understanding of her childhood began collapsing.
“What did he investigate?”
Daniel looked at Roman.
“The Laurent family.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“And what did he discover?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, the door suddenly unlocked.
Everyone turned.
The corridor outside was empty.
Roman stepped forward.
Then his phone rang.
It was his mother.
He answered.
“Mom?”
Margaret’s voice came through softly.
“Roman.”
He said nothing.
“I know where you are.”
His eyes narrowed.
“How?”
A long pause.
“Because I was the one who sent you there.”
Roman looked at Emily.
Margaret continued.
“You have opened a door that should have remained closed.”
Roman’s voice became cold.
“Did you kill my father?”
Silence.
Then Margaret whispered:
“No.”
Roman closed his eyes briefly.
Relief lasted less than a second.
Because Margaret continued.
“But I know who did.”
Emily’s heart stopped.
Roman tightened his grip on the phone.
“Who?”
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“The man standing beside you.”
Roman slowly turned.
Emily did too.
Daniel was gone.
The corridor was empty.
Roman looked around.
Then Emily noticed something on the floor.
Daniel’s phone.
Still recording.
She picked it up.
The screen displayed a final message.
RUN.
Suddenly, the building lights went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere in the darkness.
Emily screamed.
Roman grabbed her hand.
“Emily, move!”
They ran.
Behind them, another shot shattered the silence.
And as Roman pulled Emily toward the exit, neither of them realized that the person hunting them had already locked every door leading outside.
The secret buried twelve years ago was no longer buried.
And now, someone was determined to bury them with it.
