Chapter 8 - The Woman in the Restaurant|
I watched the security footage eleven times.
Then I watched it again.
Greg had sent the recording to Iris Shaw through an encrypted file transfer, and now we sat inside her office staring at a grainy image from Belladonna's service entrance.
A woman entered at 9:17 p.m.
She wore a dark coat, a knitted hat, and large sunglasses.
She moved quickly.
Like someone afraid of being followed.
Greg approached her near the register.
They spoke briefly.
Then she handed him an envelope.
My envelope.
My note.
I leaned closer.
"Pause it."
Iris froze the video.
The woman had turned slightly toward the camera.
Her face was older than the one in my memories.
There were lines around her mouth.
Her hair had turned almost completely gray.
But I recognized the shape of her nose.
The curve of her cheek.
And the way she pressed one hand against her chest when she was nervous.
My mother used to do that.
I gripped the table.
"That's her."
Luca stood beside me.
"Avery—"
"That's my mother."
My voice broke.
I wasn't guessing anymore.
I knew.
She'd been alive forty-eight hours earlier.
She'd stood in the same restaurant where I worked.
She'd been close enough to leave me a note.
And she hadn't walked across the room to hold me.
The realization wounded me in a way I hadn't expected.
"Why didn't she come to me?"
Iris lowered her eyes.
"We need more information."
I stared at the screen.
"She was right there."
Luca pulled a chair beside mine.
He didn't touch me.
He simply sat close enough that I wouldn't have to reach far if I wanted him.
That small consideration almost made me cry.
I looked at him.
"Would you have walked away from Leo?"
His expression changed.
"No."
"Not even if someone threatened you?"
He took a long breath.
"I'd like to believe I could find another way."
I nodded.
"So would I."
A tear rolled down my cheek.
"But I don't know what my mother was facing."
Luca looked toward the screen.
"Neither do I."
Iris resumed the recording.
At 9:19, the woman left through the service entrance.
Twenty seconds later, a man appeared behind her.
Gray coat.
Dark hair.
Expensive shoes.
I leaned forward.
"That's him."
Luca narrowed his eyes.
"The man from your apartment?"
"June described him."
The man lifted his hand to his ear.
His sleeve shifted.
A small star tattoo appeared above his wrist.
Iris stopped the video.
"That's enough to connect him to the person following Miriam's house."
Luca's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
Then he stood.
"I know who he is."
I looked up.
"Who?"
"Daniel Cross."
I waited.
"He's worked security for my uncle's foundation."
My stomach dropped.
"The silver star?"
"An old foundation security insignia."
Luca looked disgusted.
"Vincent used to give it to his most trusted employees."
I stared at the frozen image.
"Trusted to do what?"
Luca didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Iris closed her laptop.
"We're turning this over to the state investigators handling Sofia's financial records."
I looked at her.
"State investigators?"
"Sofia contacted the attorney general's financial-crimes division before she died."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because the original inquiry was confidential, and I couldn't confirm whether it was still active."
She paused.
"It is now."
For the first time, I felt something like hope.
Not much.
Just enough to hurt.
"Can they arrest Vincent?"
"Not based on this alone."
"Then what do they need?"
Iris folded her hands.
"Proof that he knowingly directed the fraud, the threats, or the violence."
I looked at Sofia's notebook.
"She must have found it."
"Possibly."
"Then we keep looking."
Luca's expression tightened.
"Avery, you were nearly trapped in a fire."
"And my mother may be hunted by the same people who killed your wife."
He looked away.
I stepped closer.
"You don't get to tell me this matters more to you than it does to me."
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
His eyes returned to mine.
"I'm worried about you."
The words landed differently than I expected.
Not possessive.
Not commanding.
Simply honest.
I swallowed.
"Then help me."
He nodded.
"All right."
That evening, Luca invited me to the estate's library.
I found him standing beside a large photograph of Sofia.
She wore a pale blue dress and held Leo in her arms.
Her smile was radiant.
For a moment, I felt like an intruder.
"I can come back."
Luca shook his head.
"Stay."
He studied the photograph.
"Sofia and I weren't what people imagined."
I didn't know what to say.
He continued.
"Our marriage started because our families thought it made sense."
I looked at him.
"An arranged marriage?"
"Something close to it."
"Did you love her?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"But not the way people write about in books."
He glanced at me.
"We were friends first."
"That's not a bad thing."
"No."
A faint smile touched his mouth.
"It was a good marriage in the ways that mattered."
I studied Sofia's photograph.
"She looks happy."
"She was, especially after Leo came."
His voice softened.
"We were building something peaceful."
"Then somebody took it away."
Luca nodded.
For the first time, I saw the full weight of his grief.
Not just for the woman he'd lost.
For the ordinary future he'd imagined with her.
I looked toward the photograph.
"I'm not trying to take her place."
Luca turned sharply.
"I know."
"I love spending time with Leo, but I don't want anyone thinking—"
"Avery."
He stepped closer.
"Nobody could replace Sofia."
I nodded.
"Good."
His expression softened.
"And nobody should ask you to."
Something warm moved through my chest.
I looked away before he noticed.
Then I saw a small envelope tucked behind the photograph's frame.
"Luca?"
"What?"
"What's that?"
He followed my gaze.
He removed the envelope carefully.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Sofia's handwriting.
If I cannot finish what Elena started, find the original winter ledger.
The public books were altered.
The private records are still where the children learned to follow the stars.
Beneath the message was a date.
The date of Sofia's fatal accident.
I looked at Luca.
His face had gone white.
"She wrote this the day she died."
He nodded slowly.
Then he turned the envelope over.
Another sentence was written on the back.
Vincent will try to take Leo if he discovers what I know.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then a sharp cry came from upstairs.
Leo.
Luca was already moving.
I followed him.
May you like
And for the first time since I'd entered the Moretti mansion, I wasn't afraid of its dark hallways.
I was afraid of what might happen to the little boy sleeping inside them.
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