Chapter 3 - The Husband Who Had Two Jobs
Elena did not sleep.
Mila did.
Children possessed a mercy adults lost somewhere along the way.
She fell asleep in Elena’s bed wearing dry pajamas borrowed from the downstairs neighbor, one hand curled beneath her cheek.
Elena sat beside her with Daniel’s old coat across her lap.
For three years she had loved that coat because it still smelled faintly like cedar if she pressed her face into the collar.
Now she hated it because a hidden key had been stitched inside.
At 4:17 A.M., Marco called.
“Alessandro is out of surgery.”
Elena stared at the dark window.
“I didn’t ask.”
“No.”
“Then why call?”
“He asked me to.”
Silence.
“Is he going to live?”
“Yes.”
Relief irritated her.
“Good.”
“Can we talk?”
“No.”
“Morning?”
“No.”
“Your apartment is compromised.”
“So is apparently my dead husband.”
Marco exhaled.
“Elena.”
She hung up.
At seven, Rosa arrived.
Elena’s mother looked at the overturned apartment and went pale.
“What happened?”
Mila ran to her.
“Grandma, we found a hurt man.”
Rosa hugged her.
“What hurt man?”
“Elena?”
Her mother used the tone that had survived three decades of bad news.
Elena handed her Daniel’s coat.
“There was a key sewn inside.”
Rosa stared at it.
“Was?”
“It’s gone.”
Her mother’s expression changed.
Small.
But Elena saw it.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew something.”
Rosa sat.
“Elena—”
“What?”
“I knew Daniel had another job.”
The room became silent.
Mila was playing with cereal on the kitchen floor.
Elena lowered her voice.
“You knew my husband lied to me?”
“I knew he did work for people I did not want near you.”
“Who?”
Rosa looked toward Mila.
Elena understood.
“Sweetheart, can you watch cartoons in Grandma’s room?”
Mila carried her bowl away.
The door closed.
Rosa whispered, “Vitale.”
Elena felt physically sick.
“How long?”
“Two years before he died.”
“And you never told me?”
“He begged me not to.”
“So you chose him.”
“No.”
Rosa grabbed Elena’s hand.
“I chose the version where you and Mila stayed alive.”
Elena pulled away.
“That sentence is becoming very popular.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
Daniel had come to her one night shaking.
He said he had found money moving through freight companies connected to dangerous people.
He said he was trying to help someone clean it up.
He refused names.
Then, months later, he brought Rosa a metal box.
“If something happens to me, do not give this to Elena unless somebody with a lion ring comes asking.”
Elena stopped.
“What box?”
Rosa looked devastated.
“The one that disappeared after he died.”
“You had it?”
“For two days.”
“Then?”
“Daniel took it back.”
Elena sat down.
Her mother continued.
“He said he trusted the wrong person.”
“What person?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he say Alessandro?”
“No.”
“Marco?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Rosa’s eyes filled.
“He said, ‘The man who calls me brother is selling both sides.’”
Elena went still.
Brother.
Daniel had no brother.
Not biologically.
Maybe he meant Alessandro’s people.
At eight thirty, Elena received a text from an unknown number.
A photograph.
Daniel.
Alive.
Three years ago.
Standing beside Alessandro in a warehouse office.
Between them was a younger man with sandy hair and a familiar smile.
Elena had seen him before.
At Daniel’s funeral.
He had introduced himself as Thomas Reed, an old coworker.
Below the photograph:
ASK ALESSANDRO WHY THOMAS WAS AT YOUR HUSBAND’S FUNERAL.
Elena’s hands shook.
A second text appeared.
AND ASK HIM WHO PAID FOR IT.
Rosa read over her shoulder.
“Oh God.”
Elena looked up.
“You know him?”
“No.”
But Rosa was lying.
Elena could see it.
“Mom.”
Rosa started crying.
“Thomas came to the house after Daniel died.”
“What?”
“He said he was from the insurance company.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to know whether Daniel left any keys.”
Elena felt the room tilt.
“The brass key.”
“Yes.”
“You told him?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know it existed?”
Rosa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Elena’s phone rang.
Massachusetts General Hospital.
She answered.
A nurse said, “Ms. Carter? Mr. Vitale is asking to speak with you.”
Elena almost said no.
Then she looked at Daniel’s photograph.
“Put him on.”
Alessandro’s voice was weak.
“Your apartment.”
“Was searched.”
“I know.”
“That is becoming a problem.”
“I agree.”
“Who is Thomas Reed?”
Silence.
“Elena.”
“You want me to trust you?”
“Yes.”
“Then answer.”
Alessandro breathed carefully.
“Thomas Reed was Daniel’s handler inside my organization.”
“Handler?”
“Daniel investigated financial leaks for me.”
“You paid my husband to lie to me.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt.
Elena closed her eyes.
“Was Thomas the man he called brother?”
Another silence.
Then Alessandro said, “Yes.”
“Did Thomas betray him?”
“I believe so.”
“Believe?”
“I never proved it.”
Elena’s anger rose.
“My husband is dead.”
“I know.”
“And you never proved it?”
Alessandro’s voice changed.
“I have spent three years trying.”
She laughed bitterly.
“With all your money and men?”
“Yes.”
“What were you missing?”
“Daniel’s key.”
Elena’s breath stopped.
Alessandro continued.
“Whatever it opens is the reason somebody searched your home tonight.”
Elena looked at the torn lining inside the coat.
The key was gone.
Whoever had beaten Alessandro had not only known Daniel.
May you like
They knew Daniel left something behind.
And now they had it.
