Chapter 12 - THE MANAGER WHO SOLD OUR FAMILY
Brett Collins had spent four years humiliating me.
Now investigators believed he'd helped deliver my father into the hands of the people who hid him.
I sat across from Detective Mitchell as she explained the evidence.
Brett had worked part-time for a Marquette-associated transportation company nine years earlier.
He later became manager of Bellamy's.
His employment history showed repeated connections to businesses controlled by Dominic.
The payment following Dad's disappearance was substantial.
But investigators still needed to determine exactly what Brett had done.
I wanted to confront him.
To ask how he could mock me while knowing what happened to my father.
But Rebecca advised patience.
"Brett's actions are being investigated. Let the evidence speak."
I hated that she was right.
For years, I'd learned to survive humiliation by keeping quiet.
Now I had to learn a different kind of patience.
Not silence.
Discipline.
The following morning, Brett was taken into custody for questioning.
He retained an attorney.
At first, he denied knowing anything.
Then investigators confronted him with the hallway footage and payment records.
His story changed.
According to the statement he later provided through counsel, Dominic had ordered him to transport Michael Bennett to a private medical facility.
Brett claimed he believed Michael was receiving voluntary treatment after an injury.
He admitted falsifying transportation paperwork.
He admitted accepting money.
And he admitted helping conceal Michael's location afterward.
My stomach turned.
"Did he know Dad had children?" I asked.
Detective Mitchell looked toward me.
"Yes."
I covered my mouth.
He knew.
Every time Brett insulted me.
Every time he cut my shifts.
Every time he laughed about my cheap shoes.
He knew the reason our family struggled.
And he helped create it.
For several minutes, I couldn't speak.
Then I whispered, "Why did he hire me?"
Mitchell checked the statement.
"He claims Dominic instructed him to keep track of your family."
My heart stopped.
"Through the restaurant?"
"Yes."
I stared.
I'd believed getting that job was luck.
A chance to pay rent.
A way to support Danny.
Now I realized someone had been watching us the entire time.
Then investigators recovered additional records from Bellamy's private office.
Staff schedules.
Guest lists.
Surveillance footage.
And communications concerning Salvatore's weekly dinners.
One message was especially important.
Brett had written to Dominic:
THE BENNETT GIRL SIGNS.
The reply came minutes later.
PUT HER WITH SALVATORE.
My stomach dropped.
The cruel joke.
The laughter behind the service door.
The private room.
All of it had been arranged.
But why?
Then Detective Mitchell found another message.
IF SHE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH HIM, WE'LL KNOW WHETHER MICHAEL TOLD HER ANYTHING.
I stared.
They hadn't sent me to humiliate Salvatore.
They'd sent me to see whether I knew the family secrets.
The joke was camouflage.
A distraction.
And Brett had been laughing because he thought he controlled the outcome.
Then another document surfaced.
A private medical authorization connected to Dad's transfer.
It listed a responsible party.
Not Dominic.
Not Brett.
Not Evelyn.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
SALVATORE MARQUETTE.
I stared.
My stomach turned to ice.
Salvatore had been eighteen when the explosion happened.
But this document was dated nine years later.
May you like
The year Dad disappeared.
And suddenly, I wondered whether the man I'd begun to trust had been hiding one more terrible secret.
