Chapter 6 - The Photograph Nobody Was Supposed to Find|
Gabriel stared at Daniel as though he had stopped understanding English.
"Cassandra?"
Daniel nodded.
"The photograph is dated September seventeenth, three years ago."
Gabriel looked at me.
I could see the same question forming in his mind that had already formed in mine.
How could Cassandra have met Elena three years earlier when she claimed she hadn't known the Romano family until the following spring?
"Are you certain?" Gabriel asked.
Daniel handed him a tablet.
On the screen was a grainy photograph taken outside a Manhattan parking garage.
Elena Romano stood beside a dark sedan, wearing a cream-colored coat.
Her long brown hair moved in the wind.
She appeared to be speaking to a woman standing beside the driver's door.
The second woman wore sunglasses and a black trench coat.
But even from the photograph, I recognized her.
The posture.
The auburn hair.
The sharp, elegant profile.
Cassandra Vale.
Gabriel enlarged the image.
His fingers tightened around the tablet.
"Where did you find this?"
"In Raymond's locked office drawer, inside a file marked with Elena's initials."
Gabriel stared at the photograph.
"Who took it?"
"We're still working on that."
Daniel hesitated.
"But there are several more photographs."
Gabriel looked up.
"Show me."
Daniel opened the next image.
It showed Cassandra holding a small envelope.
The third showed Elena walking away.
And the fourth showed Raymond standing beside Cassandra several minutes later.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
I heard him take a slow, painful breath.
"She knew Elena."
Daniel nodded.
"It appears so."
"And she lied about it."
"Yes, sir."
I looked toward the morning room, where Lily was still sleeping.
My thoughts raced backward through the months.
I remembered Cassandra's first visit to the mansion.
She had walked through the entrance hall as though she already knew where every room was located.
She knew which staircase led to the private bedrooms.
She knew that Elena's portrait hung above the library fireplace.
And she knew exactly which objects belonged to Lily's mother.
At the time, I had assumed Gabriel had told her.
Now I wasn't so sure.
Gabriel handed the tablet back.
"Preserve everything and make sure the investigators receive copies."
Daniel nodded.
"Of course."
Then Gabriel asked, "Has Cassandra been questioned about Elena?"
"Not yet."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"She will be."
Daniel glanced at me.
"There's another issue."
I felt a strange uneasiness.
"What issue?"
He looked at Gabriel.
"We found an employee file in Raymond's office."
Gabriel frowned.
"Whose?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Miss Brooks's."
I froze.
"My file?"
Daniel nodded.
"Copies of your application, references, medical insurance documents, and payroll records."
Gabriel's expression darkened.
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"But several pages contain handwritten notes."
I swallowed.
"What kind of notes?"
Daniel checked the tablet.
"Your father's name."
My hands went cold.
"His medical history."
My heart began pounding.
"And an address associated with his rehabilitation appointments."
Gabriel looked furious.
"Secure that information."
Daniel nodded.
"I already have."
I gripped the edge of the hallway table.
For months, I had believed Cassandra was simply an unpleasant employer.
Now it appeared she and Raymond had been studying my life.
My family.
My finances.
My weaknesses.
Gabriel noticed my shaking hands.
"Natalie."
I tried to answer.
Nothing came out.
"Look at me."
I lifted my eyes.
"Your father will be protected while we verify what's happening."
I shook my head.
"He's all I have."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Gabriel's expression softened.
"I understand."
I swallowed.
"My mother died when I was nineteen."
He said nothing.
"My father worked double shifts to help me finish school."
My voice trembled.
"He never complained."
I looked down.
"And then he had the stroke."
Gabriel listened without interrupting.
"I took this job because it paid enough for his rehabilitation."
A tear slipped down my cheek.
"I can't lose him."
Gabriel stepped closer, but stopped at a respectful distance.
"You won't face this alone."
I wanted to believe him.
But promises had become dangerous things in the Romano mansion.
Lily had already taught me that.
I wiped my face.
"Thank you."
Daniel's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
Then his expression changed.
"Sir, the police are requesting that you review a statement."
Gabriel frowned.
"Whose?"
Daniel looked directly at me.
"Cassandra has accused Natalie of conspiring with Raymond."
For a moment, I thought I had misheard.
"What?"
Daniel continued.
"She claims Natalie was paid to provide access to Gabriel's private office."
I stared at him.
"That's a lie."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"Of course it is."
But Daniel wasn't finished.
"She also claims Natalie had a personal relationship with Raymond."
I felt sick.
"No."
My voice rose.
"No, that's not true."
Gabriel looked at Daniel.
"Is there any evidence?"
"None that we've seen."
"Then make sure her statement is treated as an allegation, not a fact."
Daniel nodded.
I pressed my hands together.
Cassandra was still trying to destroy me.
Even after being detained.
Even after Lily had exposed her.
Even after the altered documents had been found.
I felt exhausted.
More exhausted than I could remember feeling in years.
Gabriel looked toward the morning room.
"Natalie, you should rest."
I shook my head.
"I don't think I can."
He glanced at Daniel.
"Arrange a secure ride for Miss Brooks if she wants to go home."
I almost said yes.
I wanted my tiny apartment.
My familiar couch.
The sound of my father's old television.
Anything that didn't smell like expensive perfume and fear.
But then I looked toward Lily.
She was sleeping beneath the blue blanket.
One hand still rested on the ivory music box.
"I don't want to leave her tonight," I whispered.
Gabriel followed my gaze.
He nodded.
"Then stay."
His voice softened.
"As long as you need."
I returned to the morning room.
Gabriel followed.
He sat in the armchair beside Lily's sofa.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
The clock ticked.
Outside, rain began tapping against the windows.
Gabriel looked at his daughter.
"She used to sleep with that blanket when Elena was in the hospital."
I glanced at him.
"The blue one?"
He nodded.
"Elena bought it before Lily was born."
I smiled faintly.
"Lily says it makes her feel safe."
Gabriel stared at the blanket.
"I didn't know."
He looked down.
"There are so many things I don't know."
I hesitated.
"She wants you to know them."
He looked at me.
"Does she?"
I nodded.
"She talks about you constantly."
His expression changed.
"Even lately?"
"Especially lately."
He swallowed.
I continued.
"She tells me about the time you taught her to ride a bicycle."
A faint smile appeared.
"She crashed into the rose bushes."
I nodded.
"She says you pretended the roses attacked you."
Gabriel laughed softly.
It was the first genuine laugh I had heard from him that evening.
"That sounds like me."
"She also keeps the little paper airplane you made her."
His eyes widened.
"That was years ago."
"It's in her desk drawer."
He stared toward the sofa.
Then he whispered, "I thought she'd forgotten."
I shook my head.
"Children remember the things that make them feel loved."
He looked at me for a long moment.
And something changed between us.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Something quieter.
Trust.
The kind built when someone sees the worst night of your life and still chooses kindness.
Then Lily stirred.
"Daddy?"
Gabriel immediately leaned forward.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
She rubbed her eyes.
"Did you leave?"
"No."
She looked at him carefully.
"Really?"
He smiled.
"Really."
Lily sat up and reached for him.
He moved beside her.
She climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
I quietly stood.
But Lily caught my sleeve.
"Where are you going?"
"Just getting some water."
She looked between us.
"Can we all stay here?"
Gabriel glanced at me.
I smiled.
"Of course."
So we stayed.
A powerful man.
A frightened little girl.
And a housemaid who had never imagined she would become part of the most important night in their lives.
For nearly an hour, we sat beneath the soft glow of the fireplace.
Then my phone vibrated.
I glanced down.
An unfamiliar number.
I almost ignored it.
But the message preview made my blood run cold.
It contained a photograph of my father sitting in his wheelchair outside the rehabilitation center.
Below the photograph were six words.
"Your father is safe for now."
Before I could react, another message appeared.
"If you want him to stay that way, stop Gabriel from opening Elena's second letter."
I stared at the screen.
A second letter?
Then the final message arrived.
"Ask Lily what her mother gave her on her last birthday."
I looked across the room.
May you like
Lily was asleep in her father's arms.
And suddenly, I realized the music box might not be the only secret Elena Romano had left behind.
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