Chapter 5 - THE MAN FROM THE HOSPITAL
Brian had supervised Elena for eighteen months.
He approved her extra shifts.
Knew Mila’s school schedule.
Knew when Elena’s rent was late because she sometimes asked for overtime.
He had not merely been her boss.
He had been watching her.
The realization made Elena sick.
Alessandro waited until Brian stepped away from the door to take the phone call downstairs.
Then he moved.
Fast despite his injuries.
By the time Elena reached the stairwell, Brian was pinned against the wall.
No gunfire.
No screaming.
Just Alessandro’s forearm across his chest.
“Who sent you?”
Brian’s face went white.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alessandro pushed slightly harder.
Elena stepped forward.
“Stop.”
His eyes moved to her.
“He threatened Mila.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
“No.”
Something dangerous passed through his expression.
Elena didn’t flinch.
“You hurt him because you’re angry, he tells us nothing.”
After a long second, Alessandro released him.
Brian collapsed against the wall coughing.
“You’re insane,” he whispered.
Elena stared down at him.
“You helped men find my daughter.”
His expression changed.
That accusation reached something human.
“I didn’t know they’d threaten the kid.”
“Everybody says that when consequences arrive.”
Brian looked away.
Alessandro crouched.
“Carlo.”
Brian’s breathing quickened.
“Where is he?”
“I’ve never met him.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It’s true.”
Brian had received money from a consulting company to report Elena’s schedule.
At first, he thought it was debt collection.
Then the requests became specific.
Who visited Elena?
Did she keep Michael’s belongings?
Had she ever mentioned a key?
“When did this start?”
Elena asked.
“Six months ago.”
Why then?
Michael had been dead three years.
What changed six months earlier?
Brian swallowed.
“You went through storage.”
Elena remembered.
Their landlord had flooded the basement.
She moved three boxes of Michael’s belongings to a rented storage unit.
Someone must have been watching.
“What did they think I found?”
“The key.”
“I didn’t.”
Brian looked confused.
“Then where is it?”
Exactly.
Michael’s key was still missing.
Suddenly Mila spoke from upstairs.
“I know.”
Elena turned.
Mila stood beside Tommy holding something between two fingers.
A silver chain.
“No, baby.”
“It was Daddy’s.”
Elena’s heart stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
Mila pointed toward her stuffed rabbit.
The old gray rabbit Michael had given her before he died.
Its left ear had been repaired three times.
Mila carried it everywhere.
“I found it inside when the stitching opened.”
Elena stared.
Tommy carefully opened the loose seam.
A tiny silver key slid into his hand.
Michael had hidden it inside his daughter’s toy.
For three years, Mila had slept beside the thing Carlo wanted most.
Alessandro stared at the key.
Then at Elena.
“We have both.”
Brian suddenly laughed.
Everyone looked at him.
Not a happy laugh.
A terrified one.
“You think Carlo wants the vault opened?”
Alessandro’s expression hardened.
“What else would he want?”
Brian shook his head.
“He wants it destroyed.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael added something before he died.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Brian stared at her.
“A recording.”
“What recording?”
May you like
He swallowed.
“Michael recorded the man who ordered his death.”
