Chapter 3 - THE BLUE CABINET|
I had never seen Gabriel Romano afraid of another human being.
I'd seen businessmen lower their eyes when he entered a room.
I'd seen armed guards straighten when he passed.
I'd even seen a man twice his size apologize for standing in his way.
But when Anthony handed him Isabella's note, something happened that made me understand the difference between fear and helplessness.
Gabriel stopped breathing for a second.
Then he looked at me.
"Claire knows why?"
I shook my head.
"I don't understand."
His eyes searched my face.
"Think carefully."
"I've never met your brother."
"I know."
"I didn't even know he existed until tonight."
Gabriel looked down at the note.
"Then why would Isabella write your name?"
I wanted to tell him about the threat against my mother.
But the ambulance attendants were wheeling Vincent toward the front doors.
Gabriel turned as they passed.
His father looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
"Mr. Romano," one of the paramedics said, "we need to transport him immediately."
Gabriel walked beside the stretcher.
"I'm coming."
Vincent opened his eyes.
His fingers searched the air.
I hurried forward and took his hand.
"Claire," he whispered.
"I'm here."
"Blue."
"I haven't forgotten."
He struggled to form another word.
Gabriel leaned closer.
"Don't strain yourself, Dad."
But Vincent was determined.
"Cabinet."
Gabriel frowned.
"What cabinet?"
"East wing," I answered.
Both men looked at me.
"Your father had a small blue cabinet in his bedroom," I explained.
"Isabella ordered it removed two days ago."
Gabriel's expression changed.
"Why?"
"She said it was damaged."
"Was it?"
"No, sir."
Vincent squeezed my hand.
His mouth trembled.
"Key."
Then his eyes closed again.
The paramedics moved him toward the ambulance.
Gabriel watched until the doors shut.
He looked at Anthony.
"Go with him."
Anthony hesitated.
"Sir, Isabella is still missing."
"My father is more important."
"Understood."
"And send two men to Claire's mother's house."
My heart stopped.
Gabriel turned toward me.
"Your mother lives on Maple Street?"
I stared at him.
"How did you know?"
"Isabella mentioned it when you looked at her."
I remembered how his gaze had briefly moved toward us.
He had noticed more than I'd realized.
"She threatened her," I whispered.
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"What exactly did she say?"
I repeated Isabella's words.
He listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he pulled out his phone.
"Get a protective team to Maple Street," he told someone.
"Quietly, and make sure Mrs. Bennett is safe."
He ended the call.
"No one is going to use your mother against you."
I wanted to believe him.
But a woman who could hide a living man for eighteen years was capable of things I couldn't imagine.
"Mr. Romano," I said, "I should go to her."
"You can call her now, and I'll arrange a safe place for both of you."
"What about your father?"
His expression softened.
"He trusted you with something important."
I looked toward the dark hallway leading to the east wing.
"The cabinet."
Gabriel nodded.
"Let's find it."
The Romano mansion had thirty-four rooms, three staircases, and a private underground garage.
I'd spent six months learning its endless corridors.
But the east wing still made me uncomfortable.
Most of its rooms had been closed since Gabriel's mother died.
Heavy curtains covered the windows.
Furniture stood beneath white dust sheets.
And the air smelled of old wood, furniture polish, and forgotten memories.
Gabriel walked beside me without speaking.
His polished shoes echoed against the marble floor.
At the storage room, I stopped.
"The workers put it here."
I switched on the lights.
The room was crowded with paintings, antique chairs, and boxes containing decades of family belongings.
Against the far wall stood the little blue cabinet.
My relief lasted only a second.
Both drawers had been forced open.
Papers covered the floor.
One brass handle had been broken off completely.
Gabriel crouched beside it.
"Someone got here first."
I picked up a torn envelope.
The handwriting looked familiar.
It was Vincent's.
Gabriel examined the empty drawers.
"Isabella knew about this cabinet."
"She specifically asked for it to be removed."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"There's no camera in here."
"She knew that too."
We exchanged a glance.
For the first time, I saw Gabriel consider the possibility that Isabella's plans extended far beyond his father.
He opened a lower compartment.
Empty.
Then he ran his fingers along the inside panel.
The wood made a faint clicking sound.
Gabriel stopped.
He pressed again.
A narrow section of the cabinet shifted.
"Claire, bring me that flashlight."
I handed it to him.
Behind the panel was a tiny compartment.
Inside lay a brass key, a folded photograph, and an old cassette tape.
Gabriel stared at the items.
"My father built this cabinet himself."
He carefully lifted the photograph.
It showed three people standing outside a white house with blue shutters.
A younger Vincent.
A beautiful dark-haired woman.
And a little boy holding a red bicycle.
Gabriel smiled painfully.
"That's my mother."
He touched the photograph.
"That's Daniel."
I looked closer.
The boy couldn't have been older than seven.
He had the same dark eyes as Gabriel.
On the back, someone had written a date and a sentence.
"THE SUMMER BEFORE EVERYTHING CHANGED."
Gabriel unfolded another paper.
It was a handwritten inventory of assets belonging to Eleanor Romano, his mother.
The list included a Connecticut property, investments, and a charitable foundation.
But halfway down the page, one entry had been circled in red.
"Daniel's protected inheritance."
Gabriel read it twice.
Then he looked at me.
"My mother left Daniel a trust."
"Maybe that's what Isabella wanted."
"No."
He turned the page.
"That's only part of it."
At the bottom was the name of a law firm.
Whitmore, Chase & Hale.
Gabriel went still.
"What is it?" I asked.
"My mother used that firm before she died."
"Could they have information about your brother?"
"They should."
He pulled out his phone.
A moment later, someone answered.
"James, it's Gabriel."
He paused.
"I need every document connected to my mother's estate, especially anything involving Daniel."
Another pause.
"Yes, I know what year it is."
His expression darkened.
"Then wake whoever you have to wake."
He ended the call.
I looked at the cassette tape.
Someone had written two words across its label.
"FOR GABRIEL."
"Do you have anything that can play this?" I asked.
Gabriel stared at it.
"My father kept an old recorder in his study."
We left the storage room together.
As we approached the staircase, my phone vibrated.
It was my mother.
I answered immediately.
"Mom?"
"Claire, sweetheart, why are two gentlemen standing outside my apartment?"
Relief washed over me.
"They're there to make sure you're safe."
"Safe from what?"
"It's complicated."
"Claire Bennett, don't tell me it's complicated when strange men are standing outside my door."
I almost smiled.
Even recovering from surgery, my mother could still sound like the principal of a very strict school.
"Something happened at work."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Are you in trouble?"
I looked at Gabriel.
He was standing a few feet away, pretending not to listen.
"I'm trying to do the right thing."
My mother's voice softened.
"Then I'm proud of you."
Those words nearly broke me.
"Mom, please listen to the security officers and keep your door locked."
"I will."
"And don't let anyone inside unless they identify themselves."
"I understand."
Before hanging up, she added something that stayed with me.
"Claire, remember what your grandfather always said."
I closed my eyes.
"Being frightened doesn't mean you have to surrender."
"Exactly."
When the call ended, Gabriel was watching me.
"She's safe?"
"For now."
He nodded.
"I'll make sure she stays that way."
We entered Vincent's study.
It was a warm room with leather armchairs, dark bookshelves, and a fireplace that hadn't been used since spring.
On the mantel stood a photograph of Gabriel and Daniel as children.
I'd never noticed it before.
Gabriel followed my gaze.
"My father kept that picture here all these years."
"Maybe he was trying to tell you."
Gabriel said nothing.
He found the cassette player in a lower cabinet.
The machine was old, but it still worked.
He inserted the tape.
Pressed play.
For several seconds, we heard only static.
Then a woman's voice filled the room.
Soft.
Tired.
Beautiful.
"My darling Gabriel."
Gabriel gripped the edge of the desk.
He looked like he'd been struck.
"Mom?"
The recording continued.
"If you're hearing this, your father has finally found the courage to give you what I should have told you myself."
Gabriel slowly lowered himself into a chair.
"I need you to understand something about your brother."
A pause.
Then Eleanor Romano's voice began to shake.
"Daniel did not die in the accident."
Gabriel covered his mouth.
"He was taken away because someone wanted him to disappear."
The cassette hissed.
"And Gabriel, the person who arranged it was someone we trusted."
I felt a chill move down my spine.
Eleanor took a trembling breath.
"Your uncle Richard knows what happened."
Gabriel stood so suddenly that his chair fell backward.
Richard Holloway.
The banker who had tried to stop Gabriel from calling the police.
The man who had been sitting at our dinner table less than an hour earlier.
Eleanor's voice continued.
"But Richard wasn't working alone."
There was a sharp sound on the recording.
A door opening.
A man's voice.
"Eleanor, what are you doing?"
She gasped.
The tape crackled.
Then came a sentence that made Gabriel turn completely pale.
"If anything happens to me, Gabriel must know that the accident was never an accident."
The recording ended.
Neither of us spoke.
Gabriel slowly removed the tape.
His hands were shaking.
Then his phone rang.
He answered without looking at the screen.
"Anthony?"
I heard a man's voice shouting.
Gabriel's expression changed.
"What do you mean he's missing?"
I stepped closer.
Gabriel turned toward me.
For the first time that night, his voice sounded genuinely terrified.
"Claire, the ambulance never reached the hospital."
I stared at him.
"What?"
Gabriel looked toward the dark windows.
"Someone intercepted it."
May you like
His grip tightened around the phone.
"And my father has disappeared."
