Chapter 6 - The Lie Vincent Told
Vincent returned at nine thirty.
Amelia was waiting.
She sat at the kitchen table with Nikki’s statement written on a piece of paper beside the flash drive.
Vincent took one look at her face and stopped.
“What happened?”
“How long have you known who I am?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Amelia stood.
“Answer me.”
Vincent closed the door behind him.
“Six months.”
The betrayal hit harder than she expected.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Before Derek?”
“Yes.”
“Before yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Before I trusted you with any of this?”
“Yes.”
Amelia laughed once.
“You stood in my hospital room and asked me who Raymond Fletcher was.”
“I wanted you to tell me.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No denial.
That somehow made her angrier.
“How did you find me?”
“My father’s old investigator.”
“Why was he looking?”
“Because Anthony wrote your name in his appointment book.”
“You had that book?”
“No. We found a partial photograph of the page months ago in storage.”
“And then?”
“We searched Amelia Harris.”
“My fake name.”
“Yes.”
“So how did you get Hart?”
Vincent hesitated.
“Raymond.”
Her stomach turned.
“You were watching Raymond?”
“Yes.”
“And he was watching me.”
“We intercepted one of his investigators.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“You knew he was looking for me and said nothing?”
“I put people around the diner.”
Amelia stared.
“What?”
“Customers you thought were regulars.”
“No.”
“Two were mine.”
Her chair scraped backward.
“All this time?”
“I wanted to keep you safe.”
“Do not say that.”
Vincent stopped.
“You had strangers following me.”
“Watching the block.”
“Following me?”
His silence answered.
Amelia walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you.”
“You’re in danger.”
She spun.
“And there it is.”
“What?”
“The part where you decide danger gives you the right to control me.”
Vincent’s face tightened.
“My father died because of those files.”
“And that gave you the right to secretly investigate my life?”
“No.”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I was afraid.”
The answer stopped her.
Vincent continued.
“I found the woman my father mentioned three years after his murder. Raymond Fletcher was searching for her. Salvatore was behaving strangely. I thought you might be involved.”
“So you suspected me.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Two months.”
“And after that?”
“I knew you weren’t.”
“How?”
Vincent almost smiled.
“You yell at customers for leaving fifteen-percent tips.”
“That proves nothing.”
“You carry leftover soup to the homeless man on Fourth every Thursday.”
Amelia looked away.
“You worked double shifts to pay Angela’s dental bill without telling her.”
“She told you?”
“No. I saw the payroll request.”
Amelia folded her arms.
“That still doesn’t justify it.”
“I know.”
She looked back.
Again, no defense.
It was infuriating.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you stopped suspecting me?”
“Because by then Raymond’s people were close.”
“And you thought I’d run.”
“Yes.”
“I would have.”
“I know.”
“Exactly.”
Vincent’s voice lowered.
“I was wrong.”
Amelia waited for the “but.”
It did not come.
“I was wrong to make that decision for you.”
Her anger wavered.
She hated him for saying the correct thing.
“You don’t get forgiven because you admit it.”
“I know.”
“You’re very annoying.”
“I know that too.”
She grabbed her coat.
Vincent did not block the door.
That mattered.
She opened it.
He said, “Marco will drive you anywhere you choose.”
“No.”
“Then take my car.”
“I can use the subway.”
“Amelia.”
She looked back.
He stopped himself.
“Please don’t use the subway while Raymond knows where you are.”
Better.
“Where’s Derek?”
Vincent’s expression sharpened.
“Why?”
“Nikki called.”
“What did she say?”
“Raymond wants Derek dead.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“She wants help.”
“Derek hit you unconscious.”
“I remember.”
“He could have killed you.”
“I remember that too.”
“Then why?”
“Because Nikki is terrified.”
Vincent stared.
“You’d risk yourself for the man who assaulted you?”
“No.”
She opened the door wider.
“I’d help the woman standing beside him who looks exactly like I used to.”
That ended the argument.
Twenty minutes later they were driving toward Queens.
Not together in the back seat.
Amelia chose the front beside Marco.
Vincent sat behind.
A small punishment.
He accepted it.
Nikki waited outside a motel near LaGuardia.
She climbed into the vehicle shaking.
“Derek disappeared this morning.”
“When did you last see him?” Vincent asked.
“Five.”
“Where?”
“Amber Crest.”
Amelia looked back.
The hotel key card from the attacker.
Nikki continued.
“Raymond came personally.”
Amelia’s body went rigid.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“How does he look?”
The question escaped before she could stop it.
Nikki studied her.
“Older.”
Not dead.
Not less dangerous.
Just older.
“What did he say?”
“He told Derek he failed.”
“And?”
“Derek said he’d done exactly what Raymond paid him to do.”
Amelia frowned.
“Paid him to hit me?”
Nikki nodded.
The car became silent.
Vincent leaned forward.
“Not to locate her?”
“No.”
“He was supposed to hit her in Castellano’s?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nikki’s eyes filled.
“To make you react.”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
It clicked into place.
Derek had not wandered into the diner.
The assault was bait.
Raymond wanted Vincent involved.
Why?
Nikki answered before anyone asked.
“Raymond said if Amelia got hurt in Vincent Castellano’s place, Vincent would drag her into his protection. Then she’d lead him to the drive.”
Amelia turned toward Vincent.
Raymond had predicted everything.
Even them.
Nikki continued.
“Derek asked why Raymond didn’t just grab her.”
“What did he say?” Amelia whispered.
“That you’d disappear before talking.”
True.
“But if someone hurt you in public…”
Vincent finished.
“You’d need somewhere safe.”
Nikki nodded.
Amelia felt sick.
The hospital.
The brownstone.
The drive.
They had all been moves on someone else’s board.
Vincent stared through the windshield.
“Where did Raymond take Derek?”
“I don’t know.”
Nikki pulled a burner phone from her pocket.
“But Derek sent me this ten minutes ago.”
A location pin.
Industrial waterfront.
Marco checked it.
“Red Hook.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“Turn around.”
Amelia caught his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her hand.
She released him.
“You’re walking into exactly what Raymond wants again.”
“He has Derek.”
“You hate Derek.”
“This isn’t about Derek.”
“Then what?”
Vincent looked at her.
“If Raymond is there, I can end this.”
“That sounds like the sentence every man says before doing something stupid.”
Marco coughed, badly hiding a laugh.
Vincent glared at him.
Amelia pointed toward Nikki.
“First we get her somewhere safe.”
Then she looked at Vincent.
“Then we decide together.”
He stared at her.
She waited.
Finally he nodded.
“Together.”
The word felt unfamiliar between them.
Not trust.
Not forgiveness.
But something more dangerous.
Partnership.
And neither of them noticed the gray sedan two cars behind them.
May you like
Raymond Fletcher was not waiting in Red Hook.
He was following them.
