Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO REMEMBERED THE LAST NIGHT|
The next morning, Daniel arrived at the mansion carrying a paper bag from a bakery on Belmont Avenue.
He looked exhausted.
There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and his hair was still damp from the shower.
But he was wearing his work jacket.
And he was holding two cups of coffee.
I opened the kitchen door.
“Daniel?”
He smiled.
“Morning, Claire.”
I glanced at the clock.
“It's barely seven.”
“I know.”
He held up the bag.
“Brought breakfast.”
I stepped aside.
“You didn't have to.”
“I wanted to.”
He placed the bag on the kitchen island.
“Besides, Gabe has probably been awake all night acting like he can personally interrogate the entire city of Chicago.”
I laughed.
“That's a fairly accurate description.”
Daniel's smile faded.
“Is he okay?”
I hesitated.
“He's worried about you.”
Daniel looked down.
“Yeah.”
He rubbed his thumb along the cardboard coffee cup.
“That's what worries me.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Gabriel entered the kitchen.
He was still wearing the same black shirt from the previous evening.
The tattoos across his hands stood out against the white ceramic mug he carried.
His expression softened when he saw Daniel.
“Danny.”
Daniel lifted the bakery bag.
“Peace offering.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“For what?”
“For giving you another reason to lose sleep.”
Gabriel's smile disappeared.
“Come here.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Gabriel pulled him into a brief embrace.
“You are not a problem I have to solve.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
Then he whispered, “I'm trying to believe that.”
Gabriel released him.
“Good.”
He looked at the bag.
“Did you bring cinnamon rolls?”
Daniel grinned.
“Only because I knew you'd complain otherwise.”
We were halfway through breakfast when Samuel Mercer called.
Gabriel answered on speakerphone.
“Tell me you've found something.”
“I found someone,” Mercer replied.
Gabriel straightened.
“Who?”
“The hospice nurse who worked your father's final night.”
Daniel stopped chewing.
I watched the color drain from his face.
Mercer continued.
“Her name is Evelyn Harper.”
Gabriel looked toward Daniel.
“Does she remember him?”
“She remembers both of you.”
Daniel placed his coffee down.
“Can we talk to her?”
Mercer hesitated.
“She requested a private meeting.”
“Where?”
“Her home in Oak Park.”
Gabriel was already reaching for his car keys.
“I'll be there in an hour.”
Daniel stood.
“I'm coming.”
Gabriel looked at him carefully.
“Are you sure?”
Daniel nodded.
“I've spent eleven months imagining what happened that night.”
He took a breath.
“I need to hear it from someone who was there.”
We drove west beneath a gray Chicago sky.
Gabriel insisted I come with them because I'd worked in the house during their father's final months.
I wasn't sure how useful I could be.
But Daniel seemed relieved when I climbed into the back seat.
Halfway there, he turned toward me.
“Claire?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think Dad knew I came?”
I studied his face.
The question hurt because I understood what he was really asking.
He wasn't asking whether his father knew he had stood on the porch.
He was asking whether his father had died believing his youngest son abandoned him.
“I don't know,” I admitted.
Daniel nodded.
Then I added, “But I think we're going to find out.”
Evelyn Harper lived in a modest brick house with a white porch railing.
She was in her early sixties, with silver hair and kind brown eyes.
When she opened the door and saw Daniel, she covered her mouth.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Daniel froze.
“Mrs. Harper?”
She stepped forward and hugged him.
He stood stiffly for a moment.
Then his shoulders collapsed.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
Evelyn pulled back.
“For what?”
“For making trouble that night.”
Her expression changed.
“Daniel Romano, you didn't make any trouble.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“But Victoria said—”
“I know what Victoria said.”
Evelyn's voice hardened.
“And I've regretted not challenging her for eleven months.”
She invited us inside.
Her living room smelled of coffee and fresh laundry.
A framed photograph of her grandchildren stood on the mantel.
Everything felt ordinary.
And somehow that made the conversation ahead feel even more important.
Evelyn sat opposite Daniel.
“I should have contacted you sooner.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You didn't know what she told us.”
“I knew enough to be concerned.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Please tell us everything you remember.”
Evelyn folded her hands.
“Your father was weaker that evening.”
Her voice softened.
“But he was lucid.”
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly.
“He asked about Daniel several times.”
Daniel swallowed.
Evelyn continued.
“Shortly after eight, Victoria came upstairs and said Daniel had arrived intoxicated.”
Daniel stared at her.
“I wasn't drinking.”
“I believe you.”
She reached across the table.
“I believed you when I saw you on that porch.”
Gabriel frowned.
“What happened upstairs?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“I told your father what Victoria had said.”
Daniel lowered his head.
Evelyn continued.
“He became very upset.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Did he believe her?”
“At first, yes.”
Daniel's expression crumpled.
“But then he asked me a question.”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“He asked whether I had seen you myself.”
Daniel raised his head.
“I told him I hadn't.”
She paused.
“And he said he wanted to see you anyway.”
Daniel's lips trembled.
“What?”
Evelyn nodded.
“His exact concern was that if you were struggling, he didn't want you sent away alone.”
Gabriel covered his eyes.
Daniel began crying silently.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father said he had wasted too much time making you feel unwelcome.”
She reached for a tissue.
“He told me he didn't want his last conversation with you to be another lecture.”
Daniel pressed the tissue against his mouth.
“So why didn't you let me in?”
Evelyn's face filled with grief.
“I went downstairs to find you.”
“I remember.”
“You were sitting on the porch steps.”
Daniel nodded.
“I asked whether you'd been drinking.”
He looked ashamed.
“I got upset.”
Evelyn squeezed his hand.
“You were right to be upset.”
She continued.
“I went back upstairs because your father wanted a few minutes alone with Victoria before you came in.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Why?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“He wanted to speak with her about something.”
“About Daniel?”
“I believe so.”
She looked toward Gabriel.
“When I returned to his room, Victoria was standing beside the bed.”
“And Dad?”
“He was arguing with her.”
Gabriel straightened.
“Arguing?”
“He was very weak, but his voice was clear.”
Evelyn glanced toward Daniel.
“He kept saying, 'Bring my son upstairs.'”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Evelyn's voice shook.
“Victoria told him Daniel had already left.”
The room went silent.
Daniel slowly opened his eyes.
“But I was still outside.”
“I know.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I told her I'd just seen you.”
Gabriel's hands curled into fists.
“What did Victoria say?”
“She told me to stop interfering in private family matters.”
I looked at Gabriel.
Those were almost the exact words Victoria had used when she'd ordered me not to tell him about Daniel's request to be his best man.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father became terribly distressed.”
She paused.
“He asked me to bring him his writing case.”
Daniel looked up.
“The letter?”
“I believe so.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Did he write it that night?”
“He'd begun it earlier.”
Evelyn nodded.
“But he added something before he died.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't read it.”
Then she looked toward Gabriel.
“But he asked me to witness him placing a small envelope inside the blue folder.”
Gabriel went still.
“The blue folder?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He said it contained something Daniel would need if anyone ever questioned his honesty.”
Daniel frowned.
“My honesty?”
She looked at him.
“He said he was afraid someone might use your past against you.”
Gabriel turned toward Samuel Mercer, who'd joined us at Evelyn's house.
Mercer removed his glasses.
“Did he say who?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Not directly.”
“Anything else?”
She nodded.
“He mentioned a name.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Whose?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“Richard Vale.”
Daniel sat perfectly still.
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“What did he say about Vale?”
“That he was afraid Richard had made a terrible mistake.”
Mercer closed his eyes.
Evelyn continued.
“Your father asked me to call you, Gabriel.”
Gabriel frowned.
“I never received a call.”
“I tried.”
She looked down.
“Victoria took the phone and said you were handling urgent business.”
Gabriel's face went pale.
Evelyn's voice broke.
“Your father died approximately forty minutes later.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Then he whispered, “Was he alone?”
Evelyn immediately shook her head.
“No, sweetheart.”
Daniel looked up.
“I was holding his hand.”
His eyes filled.
“And when he couldn't speak anymore, I told him you had come.”
Daniel stopped breathing for a moment.
Evelyn leaned closer.
“I told him you were downstairs.”
Her voice trembled.
“And I told him that you were trying so hard to make him proud.”
Daniel covered his face.
Evelyn began crying too.
“He squeezed my hand, Daniel.”
Gabriel looked away.
“He understood?”
“I believe he did.”
Daniel bent forward, sobbing.
“I thought he died thinking I didn't care.”
Evelyn moved beside him.
“Oh, honey.”
She embraced him.
“He knew you came.”
Daniel held onto her as though those three words were the only solid things left in the world.
For several minutes, no one tried to speak.
Then Gabriel quietly asked another question.
“Evelyn, did you see who took the blue folder?”
She nodded.
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“Victoria carried it downstairs after your father passed.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn paused.
“But she wasn't alone.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Who was with her?”
“Richard Vale.”
Daniel slowly lifted his head.
“Vale was there?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He arrived shortly after the doctor confirmed your father's death.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Victoria told me Vale attended the funeral, but I didn't know he'd been in the house that night.”
Evelyn looked troubled.
“There was something else.”
“What?”
She hesitated.
“I heard Victoria tell him they had to act before you arrived.”
Gabriel's voice became very quiet.
“Act on what?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“She said the old man had left too much evidence.”
The silence that followed felt endless.
Then Gabriel's telephone rang.
Anthony's name appeared.
Gabriel answered immediately.
“What have you got?”
Anthony sounded tense.
“We located Richard Vale.”
“Where?”
“At a private office near the river.”
Gabriel stood.
“Keep eyes on him.”
“There's a complication.”
Gabriel stopped.
“What?”
“Vale's attorney just contacted Samuel Mercer's office.”
Mercer reached for his own phone.
Anthony continued.
“He claims he has evidence that Daniel was involved in the missing transfers.”
Daniel stared at Gabriel.
“That can't be true.”
Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder.
“I know.”
Anthony's next words silenced everyone.
“Vale says he has bank records showing Daniel received more than two million dollars.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't have two million dollars.”
Gabriel's expression didn't change.
“Then we're going to find out who does.”
He ended the call.
Evelyn reached for Daniel's hand.
“Sweetheart, promise me something.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“Don't let people who lied about your worst days convince you that your best days aren't real.”
Daniel began crying again.
But this time, he nodded.
“I promise.”
And as we left Evelyn Harper's house, I realized that Victoria had made one terrible mistake.
She had spent years convincing the Romano brothers that Daniel was the family's greatest weakness.
May you like
But she had forgotten something.
Sometimes the person everyone underestimates is the one who remembers exactly where the truth was buried.
