Chương 6
He drank it anyway.
“What do you recommend?”
The question surprised everyone, including him.
Evelyn put her glasses back on.
“You tell Victor nothing. You let him talk. You do not accuse him. Jonah records who arrives with him and where they go afterward. Karen gives us the apartment address and every name Grace used. I contact a former federal prosecutor who can approach law enforcement without immediately exposing Emma’s location. We identify the buried woman through lawful means.”
“And Grace?”
“We begin with facts. Union Station cameras, transit records, the number that called her, financial activity—”
“Three days have passed.”
“Which is exactly why panicked improvisation will cost us more.”
Marcus looked toward Karen.
“The apartment.”
She hesitated.
Emma came down the stairs carrying a glass horse in one hand.
Lily followed.
“I told her she can keep this one,” Lily said.
Marcus recognized it as the only horse in the collection he did not dislike. Clear glass, one foreleg lifted, a small chip in the tail.
“That was a gift.”
“To me.”
“From your grandmother.”
“She gave it to me, so it’s mine.”
Emma held the horse against the teddy bear, uncertain whether to return it.
Marcus looked at the two girls.
Karen gave Evelyn the address.
Jonah left with two men.
At one forty-five, Marcus sent Lily and Emma upstairs with lunch. Karen went with them. Evelyn remained in the study behind a closed door with a laptop and three phones.
Victor arrived at exactly two.
He entered without a coat despite the cold, silver hair combed back, navy overcoat carried over one arm. At sixty-three, he still moved like a man who expected space to be made for him. He kissed Marcus on both cheeks, an old family gesture neither of them had used in years.
“You look terrible,” Victor said.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“Lily sick?”
“No.”
Victor handed his coat to no one and placed it across a chair.
“Where’s Jonah?”
“Working.”
“On our problem?”
Marcus poured two fingers of whiskey into a glass. He did not offer Victor any.
“What problem?”
Victor’s gaze dropped to the drink. Marcus rarely drank before sunset. The deviation registered.
“A woman contacted Leo Santori last night,” Victor said. “She claimed to have information about Grace.”
Marcus allowed his hand to stop midway to his mouth.
“Who?”
“Wouldn’t give her name.”
“What information?”
Victor sat.
“She said Grace survived the car explosion.”
The practiced speed of the disclosure told Marcus Victor had expected shock and prepared for it.
Marcus lowered the glass.
“And you waited until today to tell me.”
“I spent the night determining whether it was extortion.”
“Was it?”
“Probably.”
“What did she want?”
“A meeting.”
“Where?”
“She didn’t say. She was supposed to call again this morning.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at him without speaking.
Victor leaned forward.
“There’s more. Someone accessed old hospital records connected to Lily’s birth six weeks ago. The access came through a nursing contractor in Indiana. I had it checked because the same person searched Grace’s death certificate.”
“You monitor searches of my wife’s records.”
“I monitor threats to this family.”
“Seven years later.”
“Threats don’t respect anniversaries.”
Upstairs, something fell. Both men glanced toward the ceiling.
Victor smiled faintly.
“Lily here?”
“Yes.”
“I brought her something.”
He reached into his jacket.
Marcus’s entire body tightened before Victor produced a small velvet box.
Victor noticed.
“What did you think I had?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re drinking in the afternoon and flinching at jewelry. Tell me what happened.”
Marcus sat opposite him.
“What did Leo tell the woman?”
“To call back.”
“And then?”
“He contacted me.”
“Not you?”
“Why would she contact me?”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“Because Grace distrusted you.”
The words entered the room quietly.
Marcus stared at his uncle.
Victor spread one hand.
“She distrusted all of us by the end. You remember what she was like after the shooting at the restaurant.”
Marcus remembered Grace beneath the table, six months pregnant, one palm over her stomach while glass fell into her hair. The gunfire had been across the street and not intended for them, but afterward she had begun asking for accounts, addresses, emergency cash, ways out.
“She was afraid,” Marcus said.
“She was unstable.”
“She was carrying twins.”
Victor’s pupils changed.
Not much. Enough.
Marcus took a drink.
“Who told you that?”
“Jonah.”
“Jonah was mistaken.”
“Was he?”
Victor studied him for a long moment.
“Where is the woman?”
“What woman?”
“The one who contacted Leo.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what problem brought you here?”
Victor leaned back.
“You did.”
Marcus said nothing.
“You ignored two calls. Then you summoned me to a house you use only when security is compromised. Jonah is absent. There are unfamiliar tire marks in the alley. A child dropped something upstairs, and Lily does not sound alone when she walks.”
The house seemed to narrow around them.
Victor’s voice softened.
“What did you find?”
Marcus could have lied. A denial would confirm more than it concealed.
“A letter.”
“From whom?”
“Grace.”
Victor’s face did not collapse. It emptied.
Marcus watched his uncle become careful.
“Where did it come from?”
“A teddy bear.”
Victor’s gaze lifted toward the ceiling.
That single movement told Marcus everything he had not yet proved.
He set down the glass.
“You’ve seen it.”
Victor stood.
“No.”
“You knew where to look.”
“I looked because there are children upstairs and you mentioned a toy.”
“I didn’t mention children.”
A door creaked above them.
Victor’s hand moved toward his coat.
Marcus remained seated.
“Stay.”
The old command stopped him for half a breath. Then Victor smiled, but the warmth did not return.
“You are overtired.”
“And you are leaving without giving Lily her gift.”
“It can wait.”
“You said threats don’t respect anniversaries.”
Victor picked up his coat.
“Call me when you’re ready to speak rationally.”
He walked toward the foyer.
Marcus followed at a distance.
May you like
As Victor opened the front door, Emma appeared at the top of the stairs.
She had come down silently, the teddy bear tucked beneath one arm.
