Chương 11
“That makes two of us.”
Elena did not visit.
Three days later, Carlo contacted her.
The call came from an unknown number at 9:14 in the morning while she stood in line at a pharmacy. A toddler in front of her was opening and closing the refrigerator door beneath the bottled drinks. His father kept telling him to stop without looking up from his phone.
“Elena Ward,” Carlo said.
She recognized his voice immediately.
She stepped out of line.
“You should speak to my attorney.”
“I have spoken to enough attorneys.”
“Then call the police.”
“Would you like me to?”
He laughed softly. “You have become confident.”
“No. I’m standing in a pharmacy trying not to throw up.”
The honesty silenced him.
Carlo said, “What happened to Leo was not supposed to happen.”
Elena pressed the phone harder to her ear.
“What was supposed to happen?”
“I cannot discuss this on an open line.”
“You called me.”
“I need you to understand that Lorenzo is using you.”
“For what?”
“To justify a war he wanted long before his son became ill.”
“You selected me through the agency.”
“I approved a staffing decision.”
“You paid twenty thousand dollars.”
“You were uniquely suited to a difficult household.”
The toddler opened the refrigerator door again. Cold air spilled across Elena’s ankles.
“Because my baby died?”
Carlo did not answer.
“Because you thought people would believe I hurt Leo?”
“You entered a nursery outside your duties and placed an employer’s child against your body.”
“He was starving.”
“That conclusion remains disputed.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Public conclusions are changeable.”
The threat was delivered gently.
Elena leaned against a shelf of cough medicine.
“What do you want?”
“A corrected statement. You were distressed. The bottle seemed unusual, but you cannot be certain. Marco was confused. My presence in the nursery was familial.”
“And Daria?”
“She acted independently.”
“Where is she?”
“I do not know.”
“That is a lie.”
“Be careful with accusations.”
“You called the wrong grieving woman if you expected careful.”
Carlo’s breath changed.
“You believe saving one child will excuse what happened to yours,” he said.
The pharmacy disappeared around her.
For one second, Elena could not hear anything except the blood moving in her ears.
Carlo continued, “It will not.”
She ended the call.
Her hand shook so badly that the phone struck the floor.
The toddler picked it up.
“You dropped this,” he said.
Elena stared at him.
His father finally looked up. “Say thank you.”
“Thank you,” Elena whispered.
She left without buying anything.
Rachel instructed her to preserve the call record. Detective Pike requested the number and warned that it was probably routed through several disposable accounts.
“Did he confess?” Pike asked.
“No.”
“Did he make a direct threat?”
“No.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Elena repeated the conversation.
The detective stopped her at the line about June.
“How did he know the circumstances?”
“The agency file.”
“Your file did not include your daughter’s name.”
Elena looked at him.
“Did you say it publicly?” he asked.
“No.”
“Was it in an obituary?”
“Yes.”
“Then he could have found it.”
“He didn’t say her name.”
Pike rubbed his forehead. “We need something usable.”
“He admitted approving me.”
“He called it a staffing decision.”
“He said public conclusions are changeable.”
“Ugly is not always criminal.”
Rachel said, “She should not be left unprotected.”
Pike nodded. “We can arrange patrol checks.”
Elena laughed.
He looked at her.
“Sorry,” she said. “That was not the right response.”
“No,” he said, “but it was understandable.”
Lorenzo learned of the call before evening.
He arrived at Sofia’s apartment furious enough that the doorman called upstairs to ask whether she wanted police. Sofia let him in and ordered his two security men to remain in the lobby.
Leo was asleep in a bassinet near the window.
“You should have given her the phone,” Lorenzo said.
“I did.”
“She refused.”
“You could have placed security nearby.”
“She would have noticed.”
“That is generally how security works.”
Sofia stood between him and the bassinet. “Lower your voice.”
“I am speaking quietly.”
“You are frightening the furniture.”
Leo stirred.
Lorenzo stopped.
Sofia watched him cross the room and place one hand on the edge of the bassinet. He did not touch the baby until Leo settled again.
“I know where Carlo is,” Lorenzo said.
“No.”
“He is at the Belladonna Club tonight.”
“You will not go there.”
“He threatened her.”
“He manipulated her. That is not a legal distinction I enjoy, but it is one.”
“He harmed my son.”
“And if you kill him, Camille will make sure you never hold Leo without supervision again.”
Lorenzo looked down at the baby.
“The police do not have enough,” he said.
“They are building a case.”
“They are waiting.”
“That is what cases look like before arrest.”
“That is what fear looks like when officials wear badges.”
Sofia folded her arms. “And what does fear look like when you wear a black shirt?”
He glanced at her.
“A gun pointed at a maid,” she said.
His face tightened.
“You don’t get to be offended. You did it.”
“I apologized.”
“That is a beginning, not a receipt.”
Leo opened his eyes.
Lorenzo lifted him. The baby fit against his chest with startling ease now. He had gained nearly a pound. His cheeks remained thin, but his hands no longer lay motionless.
“You think I can become a safe father by waiting for other people to act,” Lorenzo said.
“No. I think you become a safe father by not making your son pay for your anger.”
“He already paid.”
“Then stop charging him.”
Lorenzo looked at his sister for a long time.
He left without going to the Belladonna Club.
That choice did not solve anything. Carlo remained free. Daria remained missing. Reporters still waited near Joan’s house. Lorenzo’s associates began to whisper that he had lost the will to defend himself.
May you like
But no one died that night.
Two days later, Daria sent Elena an email.
