Chapter 4 - The Safety Deposit Box
Dante did not speak for five agonizing minutes.
He just stared at Clara's name on the glowing screen.
Nine years ago, he had identified her charred remains after a car bomb destroyed her vehicle.
He finally broke the silence by demanding we visit the local branch of the Swiss bank immediately.
We drove through the pouring rain in his armored SUV.
Dante drove with a reckless, terrifying intensity, running two red lights in the financial district.
We walked into the marble lobby of the bank, completely bypassing the security desk.
Dante grabbed the corrupt bank manager by the throat and demanded access to Clara's safety deposit box.
The manager whimpered and used his master key to let us into the underground vault.
The steel room was freezing cold and smelled of old paper and copper.
Dante unlocked box number 402 with hands that were visibly shaking.
He pulled out a thick manila envelope and dumped its contents onto the metal table.
There was no money inside the box.
Instead, there were dozens of high-resolution photographs.
I picked up the first picture and felt a cold chill run down my spine.
It was a photograph of Dante walking into his office building, dated yesterday.
The next picture was of me, sitting at my desk, drinking my morning coffee.
Dante flipped through the images, his breathing becoming shallow and ragged.
Whoever owned this box had been stalking us for months.
I reached into the bottom of the empty box and found a small velvet ring case.
I opened it and gasped.
Inside was Clara's diamond wedding ring, the exact ring Dante had buried her with nine years ago.
A handwritten note was folded neatly beneath the ring.
Dante snatched the note and read it out loud.
May you like
The note said, "I am coming for everything you love, Dante."
Before we could react, the heavy steel vault door slammed shut and locked from the outside.
