Chương 8
Danny stood beneath the stone arch, coat unbuttoned, hair wet. He held his hands where the guards could see them.
“You’ve got six men outside your house,” he said. “Subtle.”
Lorenzo let him in.
Danny looked toward the staircase, then at the child’s yellow raincoat hanging beside Lorenzo’s black overcoat.
“You brought them here.”
“Yes.”
“Vale knows.”
“Because you told him?”
Danny’s face tightened. “I came to warn you.”
“About what?”
“He thinks Nora gave you records Vincent collected.”
“Did she?”
“You tell me.”
“No.”
Danny walked into the parlor, stopped near the fireplace, and rubbed both hands over his face. He had not shaved. The skin beneath his eyes was gray.
“Anthony asked me where Vincent met the Carter woman,” he said.
Lorenzo said nothing.
“First time was in March. He said Vincent was being manipulated by an employee who wanted money. He told me he needed to know the location so he could make sure nobody photographed them.”
“And you gave it to him.”
“I gave him the restaurant.”
“Three locations.”
Danny looked away. “Three.”
Lorenzo felt something inside him go still.
“Mara died after the third.”
“I didn’t know he’d hurt her.”
“You knew him.”
“I knew Vincent had already confronted him. I figured it was internal. Money. She’d give back documents, Anthony would scare her, Vincent would calm down.”
“You gave a man you knew to be violent the location of a frightened woman.”
Danny’s voice rose. “You think I haven’t said that to myself?”
“Not enough.”
One of the guards shifted near the door.
Danny lowered his voice. “Anthony was paying my brother’s debts.”
Lorenzo had known Danny’s younger brother gambled. He had not known the amount.
“How much?”
“Two hundred eighty.”
“Thousand?”
Danny laughed bitterly. “You think I sold out Vincent for two hundred eighty dollars?”
“Did my father know?”
“No.”
“Did you ask him for help?”
“I was tired of asking your family for things.”
The answer surprised Lorenzo.
Danny looked around the parlor at the oil paintings, carved mantel, and polished floor. “You and I grew up together, but I still entered through the kitchen. Your father still called me the driver’s son when he was angry. Every favor became a collar. Anthony offered to clear the debt with no conversation.”
“There is always a conversation.”
“I know that now.”
“Did Vale order Mara killed?”
“I never heard him say it.”
“Did you see Peter Sloane meet him?”
“No.”
“Where is Sloane?”
“I don’t know. Gone. Anthony says Florida.”
“Do you believe him?”
Danny’s mouth twisted. “Anthony hates Florida.”
Lorenzo stepped closer. Danny did not back away.
“You put Nora and Lily in danger,” Lorenzo said.
“I know.”
“You watched that child take my hand yesterday.”
“I know.”
“You stood there knowing why she had no mother.”
“I didn’t know for sure.”
“You knew enough.”
Danny’s eyes filled but did not spill. “What do you want me to do?”
For most of Lorenzo’s life, the answer would have been simple. Kneel. Beg. Pay. Bleed.
Upstairs, a floorboard creaked. Lily was supposed to be in the guest room. She was probably sitting on the stairs, listening.
Lorenzo looked toward the sound.
“I want every message, payment record, and meeting you had with Vale,” he said. “I want your brother available. I want the truth before I discover each piece myself.”
Danny stared at him. “That’s it?”
“No.”
Lorenzo took Danny’s phone from his coat pocket before he could react and handed it to the guard.
“You don’t leave the house until I decide whether your fear is more useful than your loyalty.”
Danny gave a short, broken laugh. “So I’m a prisoner.”
“You’re alive.”
“That supposed to be mercy?”
“No.”
From the staircase came Lily’s whisper.
“Nora, your foot is on my pajamas.”
Nora closed her eyes in defeat.
Lorenzo looked toward them. Lily sat three steps above the landing. Nora crouched behind her, one hand gripping the banister.
“I told you to stay upstairs,” Lorenzo said.
“You told Nora,” Lily replied.
Nora lifted the child into her arms. “We’re going now.”
Danny watched Lily disappear. His shoulders sank.
“That her?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“She looks like Mara.”
“You said you didn’t know her.”
“I saw a photograph Anthony had.”
Lorenzo turned back. “What photograph?”
Danny wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Mara leaving a daycare center. Lily was holding her hand.”
The guards took Danny to a basement room once used as a wine store. Lorenzo gave strict instructions that no one touch him.
Nora waited in the upstairs hallway.
“You imprisoned a man in your basement,” she said.
“He admitted providing Vale with Mara’s location.”
Her face lost color. “Did Vale kill her?”
“Danny doesn’t know.”
“Or says he doesn’t.”
“Yes.”
Lily stood in the guest room doorway holding a stuffed rabbit by one ear. “Is the sad man sleeping downstairs?”
“No,” Nora said quickly.
“He looked sad.”
“He made a bad decision.”
“So did I when I put crayons in the toaster.”
Nora blinked. “You never told me that.”
“It didn’t turn on.”
“That is not the point.”
Lorenzo said, “Why were crayons in the toaster?”
“I wanted them warm.”
He nodded once. “Reasonable.”
Nora stared at him. “Please don’t encourage her.”
Lily went inside the room.
Nora lowered her voice. “What happens to Danny?”
“I don’t know.”
“You always know.”
“You’ve known me for less than a day.”
“I’ve known what your name means for eight years.”
Lorenzo looked toward the closed guest-room door. “Names are often inaccurate.”
“Did you kill people?”
He could have refused to answer. Instead he said, “Yes.”
Nora’s throat moved.
“How many?”
“I don’t count them for conversation.”
She folded her arms around herself. “And Vincent expected you to walk into a prosecutor’s office because of one little girl.”
“No. He expected me to understand that there had already been too many.”
“Do you?”
Lorenzo considered lying.
May you like
“Not enough,” he said.
Nora’s posture changed slightly. Not trust. The suspension of immediate judgment.
