Chapter 9 - THE BRACELET THAT BROUGHT HIM HOME
I hadn't seen that bracelet in twelve years.
My mother had made two of them.
One for me.
One for Danny.
Red thread.
A tiny silver charm.
She told us the bracelets meant we would always find our way back to each other.
Mine had disappeared during a summer visit to her house.
I'd searched everywhere.
Mom said I must have lost it.
Now a boy who might be Arthur Romano's son was wearing it.
I sat down on the storage unit's concrete floor.
Agent Miller crouched beside me.
"Maeve, are you okay?"
I shook my head.
"My mother gave him my bracelet."
"How do you know?"
"The charm. She engraved my name herself."
I could barely speak.
"She wanted me to recognize him."
The thought broke something inside me.
Mom had carried a secret so heavy that even dying hadn't convinced her to tell me.
But she'd left clues.
The toolbox.
The journal.
The bracelet.
Maybe she'd hoped I'd find the children someday.
Maybe she'd believed I was the only person who could protect them.
When I returned to Chicago, Arthur was waiting in my apartment.
He stood near the window, leaning on a cane the doctor had insisted he use temporarily.
Brutus lay beside him.
Arthur turned when I entered.
"You're exhausted."
"So are you."
He smiled faintly.
"Probably."
I placed the photograph on the table.
Arthur studied it.
His fingers trembled when he touched the image of Elena holding the baby.
"She looks happy."
"She does."
He swallowed.
"I spent years believing she never got to hold our daughter."
I sat beside him.
"Arthur, I think your wife knew more than she told you."
His expression tightened.
"I know."
"Are you angry?"
He looked toward the photograph.
"Part of me is. But I also know someone threatened her. I need to understand what she was facing before I judge her."
I studied him.
For a man whose name terrified an entire city, Arthur had a strange ability to sound gentle when speaking about the people he loved.
It made him dangerous in a different way.
Because I was starting to care about him.
And that frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
Agent Miller called just after sunset.
"We found the boy."
Arthur grabbed the phone.
"Where?"
"He's safe. We located him at a private property outside Rockford. Child protection specialists are with him."
"Is he hurt?"
"No visible injuries. He's frightened, but he's cooperating."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"Thank God."
Miller continued.
"We haven't established paternity yet, but there's something you should hear."
A faint recording played.
A child's voice.
Soft.
Careful.
"My name is Nicholas. But the lady said I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."
Arthur's hand covered his mouth.
Miller asked the boy another question.
"Who is the lady?"
The boy hesitated.
Then answered.
"Grandma Margaret."
I stopped breathing.
My mother.
Then the boy added something that made Arthur turn toward me.
"She told me if I was ever in trouble, I should find the girl who works at Carmichael's Diner."
The investigator asked, "What's her name?"
The boy answered immediately.
"Maeve Nolan."
May you like
And then he whispered:
"Grandma said Maeve is the only person who knows where my sister is."
