Chương 10
Adrian’s head snapped toward the phone.
“What?”
Gabriel laughed again, but there was less confidence in it now.
“Ask your brother.”
Vincent’s face had gone rigid.
Adrian stared at him.
“Did Dad know Rafael?”
Vincent said nothing.
“Vincent.”
Gabriel said, “He knew both of us.”
Elena pressed a hand to the back of a chair.
“How?”
Gabriel answered more slowly.
“Construction.”
Her father had worked construction.
Small jobs mostly.
Drywall.
Concrete.
Whatever paid.
He had come home with gray dust in his hair and cuts across his knuckles.
Elena had never cared which company’s name was printed on his checks.
Gabriel said, “Rafael did subcontracting for Moretti years ago.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
She barely saw him.
“What does that have to do with my mother?”
Gabriel hesitated.
For the first time, he sounded afraid.
“Nothing directly.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“You always pause before the part you’re afraid to say.”
Gabriel went silent.
A strange, almost embarrassed sadness passed through her.
She had learned that about him as a child.
He used to pause before telling her grandmother he had lost another job.
Pause before asking her mother for cash.
Pause before admitting he had pawned something.
“You haven’t changed,” Elena said.
Gabriel’s voice softened.
“Neither have you.”
“That’s not a compliment from you.”
Adrian glanced at her, but she kept her eyes on the phone.
“Tell me what my father had to do with Carlo Moretti.”
Gabriel sighed.
“He knew things.”
“What things?”
“About jobs.”
“Which jobs?”
“City contracts.”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
Vincent said, “Stop.”
Gabriel continued.
“Rafael kept copies of invoices.”
Elena frowned.
“Why?”
“He didn’t trust people.”
“That doesn’t sound like him.”
“It should.”
“No.”
Gabriel’s irritation returned.
“You were a kid.”
“I lived with him.”
“You didn’t work with him.”
Adrian interrupted.
“What invoices?”
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
“You think I’m giving that away?”
Vincent stepped toward the phone.
“You called me.”
“I called because you owe me.”
“I owe you prison.”
“Careful.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
Gabriel continued.
“Your father understood being careful.”
Elena felt a chill.
“What did Carlo do?”
Gabriel said nothing.
“Gabriel.”
“Your father found discrepancies.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“In Moretti Construction billing?”
“In subcontractor invoices.”
Vincent whispered, “Jesus.”
Elena looked at him.
He knew something.
“What discrepancies?”
Gabriel said, “Materials billed twice.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“Where?”
“Several municipal jobs.”
Vincent took the phone off speaker.
Adrian immediately seized his hand and pressed the speaker button again.
Vincent jerked free.
“What the hell?”
Adrian ignored him.
“Which jobs?”
Gabriel laughed.
“You sound like your old man.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Bronx schools.”
Adrian’s face went still.
“And?”
“A housing rehabilitation contract.”
Vincent swore quietly.
Elena looked between them.
“You know what he’s talking about.”
Adrian nodded once.
“They were investigated years ago.”
“For what?”
“Procurement irregularities.”
“Was anyone charged?”
“No.”
Gabriel said, “Because Carlo made sure the paperwork disappeared.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“That’s an accusation.”
“It’s a memory.”
Vincent said, “From a fraudster.”
Gabriel snapped, “Your father paid me.”
“That doesn’t make you credible.”
“It makes me useful.”
Elena leaned toward the phone.
“Why did he pay you?”
Gabriel became quiet again.
She waited.
“Why?”
“Because Rafael left copies with me.”
Her stomach tightened.
“My father gave you evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“In case something happened.”
Elena stared at the carpet.
Her father had died suddenly.
A construction site accident, she had been told.
A fall from scaffolding.
Her mother had never discussed details.
She had said only that Rafael had been careless and unlucky.
Elena’s mouth went dry.
“What happened to my father?”
Adrian looked sharply at her.
Gabriel breathed into the phone.
“Elena.”
“What happened?”
“It was an accident.”
She heard the pause.
Her fingers began to tremble.
“You’re afraid again.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m telling you.”
“Then tell me without pausing.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Elena’s voice dropped.
“Did Carlo Moretti have something to do with my father’s death?”
Adrian froze.
Vincent looked horrified.
Gabriel answered quickly this time.
“No.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Something in her chest loosened by a fraction.
Then Gabriel added, “But your father believed Carlo would ruin him if those invoices surfaced.”
Adrian looked toward Vincent.
Vincent shook his head.
“I never heard any of this.”
Gabriel said, “Rafael died before he could decide what to do.”
Elena swallowed.
“And the copies?”
“I had them.”
“Had?”
“Some.”
“What happened to them?”
“I sold them.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“To my father?”
“Yes.”
The answer came easily.
Elena laughed once in disbelief.
“You blackmailed him.”
Gabriel became defensive.
“I had debts.”
“You keep saying that like debt is a gun someone put to your head.”
“You don’t know what those people were like.”
“I know what you were like.”
Gabriel’s voice went sharp.
“I kept your mother from losing the apartment once.”
“My mother kept herself alive while you took from her.”
“You were a child.”
“You were a thief.”
The words came without heat.
That made them feel final.
Gabriel went silent.
Madison lowered herself into an empty chair.
Her wedding dress spread around her in white folds.
She looked suddenly exhausted.
Vincent stared at her.
“Maddie.”
She did not look up.
Adrian said, “The accident.”
Elena turned.
His attention was still on the phone.
“My company truck.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“Was that connected?”
Vincent whispered, “Don’t.”
Adrian’s voice sharpened.
“Was Elena’s mother’s crash connected to any of this?”
Gabriel breathed out.
“I don’t know.”
“That means maybe.”
“It means I don’t know.”
Elena stepped toward the phone.
“Why would you think it might be?”
Gabriel hesitated.
Then he said, “Because Maria called me the night before she died.”
Elena’s breath stopped.
Her mother.
Maria.
The sound of her name in Gabriel’s voice made Elena grip the chair harder.
“What did she want?”
“She found something.”
“What?”
“An envelope.”
Adrian frowned.
“From Rafael?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel continued.
“He had hidden copies of some papers at home.”
Elena’s heartbeat accelerated.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I swear.”
May you like
“What did she tell you?”
“She said Rafael had left a note with my name.”
