Chapter 13: The Courthouse Trap

Two days after waking in the hospital, I left through the back entrance with Daniel Moretti beside me.

My body was still broken, but my mind had never been clearer.

Francesca had asked me to meet her at the old courthouse.

Alone.

Daniel had called it a trap the moment he heard the message.

I knew he was right.

But I also knew Francesca had finally made a mistake.

For three years, she had controlled every story.

She controlled what my family believed.

She controlled what the department believed.

She controlled what the world believed.

And now she was scared enough to contact me herself.

That meant she had something to lose.

The old courthouse stood empty beneath a gray evening sky.

Its windows were boarded, its stone steps cracked, and the brass doors were covered in dust.

I entered through a side entrance while Daniel followed several yards behind me.

He had hidden a recording device beneath his jacket.

“If anything happens,” he whispered, “I come in.”

I nodded.

Then I walked into the darkness alone.

Francesca was waiting in the main courtroom.

She stood beneath the broken seal of justice hanging above the judge’s bench.

She looked different from the woman who had accepted the department’s highest honor.

There was no confidence in her face now.

Only fear.

“You survived,” she whispered.

“Disappointed?” I asked.

Her eyes hardened.

“You were never supposed to find the truth.”

The words hung between us.

For three years, I had imagined confronting her.

I had imagined screaming.

I had imagined hitting her.

Instead, I felt strangely calm.

“Tell me everything,” I said.

Francesca looked toward the empty jury box.

“It started before Dimitri and I disappeared.”

My stomach tightened.

“The organ trafficking investigation had reached people nobody could touch.”

“Judges. Prosecutors. Police officials. Hospital executives. Wealthy clients.”

“They were buying organs through private medical networks and moving donors across state and international borders.”

“I discovered the network by accident.”

I stared at her.

“And then you joined them.”

She looked away.

That silence was enough.

“Dimitri was drowning in debt,” she finally said.

“He owed money to people who threatened to destroy him.”

“They offered him a way out.”

“All he had to do was help them disappear.”

My hands curled into fists.

“And Leo?”

Francesca swallowed.

“Dimitri believed taking Leo was the only way to make you stop searching.”

A wave of nausea hit me.

“You used my son as bait.”

“We needed you distracted.”

“So you created fake leads.”

She nodded.

“Detroit. Arizona. Chicago. Every time you got close, someone sent you somewhere else.”

I remembered every scar.

Every empty warehouse.

Every night spent sleeping in my car.

Every moment I thought I was one step away from finding my family.

“And the explosion?” I asked.

Francesca's voice became barely audible.

“There were never any bodies.”

My heart stopped.

“We used stolen remains and burned the vehicle beyond recognition.”

“The people involved needed everyone to believe Dimitri and Leo were dead.”

“And you?” I asked.

She closed her eyes.

“I staged my own death because I knew you would trust my investigation more than anyone else’s.”

I laughed bitterly.

“You were my sister.”

“Exactly.”

That one word hurt more than anything else she had said.

She had not betrayed me despite being my sister.

She had betrayed me because she knew being my sister gave her the perfect weapon.

“What about my evidence?” I asked.

Francesca looked at me.

“Dimitri took it.”

“He gave it to you.”

She nodded.

“We needed to know what you had discovered.”

I stepped closer.

“You didn't just steal my evidence.”

“You used my investigation to protect yourselves.”

Francesca's eyes filled with tears.

“I didn't have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice.”

“You chose money.”

“Dimitri chose you.”

Her face twisted.

“Don't pretend you were innocent in all of this.”

I froze.

“What did you say?”

“You kept digging.”

“You wouldn't stop.”

“People were getting nervous.”

“You were supposed to disappear too.”

A cold silence filled the courtroom.

“What?” I whispered.

Francesca took a step backward.

“The rooftop wasn't supposed to happen like that.”

My blood turned cold.

“You knew I would go there.”

She said nothing.

“You knew.”

Her silence was an answer.

Behind the courtroom doors, I heard footsteps.

Daniel had heard enough.

The doors suddenly burst open.

Federal agents rushed inside with weapons drawn.

Francesca screamed and stepped away from me.

“Francesca Lombardi, you're under arrest.”

She stared at me as officers surrounded her.

Then another voice came from the hallway.

“Lorelei!”

I turned.

Dimitri stood at the entrance.

For the first time in three years, he was standing directly in front of me.

Alive.

Afraid.

And completely exposed.

His eyes met mine.

“I am sorry.”

I looked at the man I had once loved more than my own life.

“You should have been.”

Daniel stepped between us.

“Dimitri Lombardi, you're under arrest.”

As officers placed handcuffs around his wrists, Francesca began crying.

But I didn't feel victorious.

Not yet.

Because there was one question still burning inside me.

“Where is Leo?”

Dimitri lowered his head.

And for the first time since the night they disappeared, he looked truly terrified.

“He's with your mother.”