Chapter 6 - The Confession of Anthony Bell
The port files were recovered from a cloud backup linked to Isabella’s old tablet. She had found irregular vendor payments—not billions, not dramatic, approximately $9.4 million over eighteen months routed through subcontractors servicing North Pier Logistics. Some contracts were legitimate, some inflated, and several shell entities traced to associates of Vincent’s brother-in-law.
Again: not proof Vincent orchestrated anything. But motive began to form.
Then a recovered calendar entry: Meet C.D. 2:30 — warehouse office. She has invoice copies. C.D. stood for Claire Donnelly. Claire had worked occasional private events for a vendor connected to North Pier, and had also done bookkeeping. Apparently she discovered irregular invoices. Isabella contacted her, then both women disappeared within hours of each other. Now the fake death looked less like random substitution. Claire had been part of the story before she became the body.
Then a traffic camera changed everything. Isabella’s vehicle left the estate at 8:14 p.m. At 8:38, it entered an industrial road. At 8:44, another vehicle followed: a black SUV registered to a Moretti Global subsidiary, assigned to executive operations. At 9:02, the SUV left the area. At 9:19, Isabella’s car was captured heading north.
But the toll image was enhanced: the driver’s body shape did not clearly match Isabella. A passenger was visible, possibly unconscious. Then at 9:47—crash. Fire.
Rachel looked at Lorenzo. “Someone may have been driving her car.”
“Claire?”
“Possible.”
“Alive?”
“At the time, maybe.”
“Where was Isabella?”
“Unknown.”
The entire official narrative was gone.
Then Bruno became important again. A veterinary clinic in Queens had treated a black Cane Corso six weeks after the crash—emaciated, cut paw, no microchip scan completed because the man who brought him in claimed the dog was a stray and left before registration was finished. Clinic camera footage survived. The man wore a baseball cap, face partially visible. Mason recognized him: Anthony Bell, a former Moretti security contractor fired three years earlier for selling internal information. Why was he handling Bruno?
Police found Anthony two days later. He ran. Bad decision. After arrest and counsel, he talked. Not fully. Enough.
He admitted being paid to move Isabella after the crash. He claimed he did not know the original plan. According to Anthony, Isabella was intercepted near the warehouse where she planned to meet Claire. Claire had already been taken. Isabella was drugged, and her personal items were placed inside the car. Claire was put in the driver’s seat while incapacitated. Anthony said he did not know the car would be sent over a ravine. That claim required scrutiny.
Then: “What happened to Isabella?”
Anthony looked at the table. “She woke up.”
“Where?”
“A farmhouse near Kingston.”
“Who ordered this?”
Silence.
May you like
Rachel asked again. Anthony whispered: “Vincent.”
Lorenzo was not in the room. Good. Because if he had been, he might have forgotten every promise Isabella ever made him give.
