Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER AT THE CABIN|
My mother held the phone with both hands.
"Daniel?"
For a few seconds, there was only static.
Then the man answered.
"I wasn't sure you'd remember me."
My mother began crying.
"Of course I remember you."
I watched her struggle to breathe evenly.
"You were my patient."
The man gave a quiet laugh.
"Everyone else called me difficult."
"You weren't difficult, sweetheart."
My mother's voice softened.
"You were frightened."
There was a pause.
Then Daniel whispered, "I still am."
I looked toward my phone.
Gabriel was listening.
I could hear him breathing.
He hadn't spoken since Daniel said his name.
My mother pressed the phone closer.
"Daniel, are you somewhere safe?"
"I don't know."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Are you hurt?"
"Not badly."
I glanced at Gabriel's call.
He whispered, "Ask where he is."
My mother nodded.
"Can you tell me your location?"
Daniel hesitated.
"I found a telephone at a gas station."
"Which gas station?"
"I don't remember the name."
"That's all right."
My mother kept her voice gentle.
"Can you see a road sign?"
He was silent for several seconds.
Then he answered.
"Route Nine."
Gabriel inhaled sharply.
"Ask about the lake," he whispered.
My mother did.
Daniel's voice changed.
"How do you know about the lake?"
"Your brother remembers it."
A long silence followed.
Then Daniel asked a question that broke my heart.
"My brother?"
"Yes."
"Gabriel?"
My mother began crying again.
"He's alive, Daniel."
The line went completely silent.
I thought the call had disconnected.
Then I heard a chair scraping.
Something hit the floor.
And Daniel whispered, "No."
My mother closed her eyes.
"They lied to you."
"No."
His voice grew desperate.
"Gabriel died."
"No, sweetheart."
"He died in the accident."
"He's alive."
Daniel began breathing rapidly.
"They showed me the newspaper."
Gabriel made a strangled sound.
My mother continued speaking gently.
"Daniel, listen to my voice."
He didn't answer.
"Do you remember how we used to count backward when you became frightened?"
A pause.
"Yes."
"Then let's do that."
She began counting.
"Five."
I heard Daniel whisper, "Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
His breathing gradually slowed.
My mother looked toward me.
"Would you like to speak to your brother?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Then he whispered, "What if it isn't him?"
Gabriel couldn't remain silent any longer.
"Daniel."
The single word seemed to stop time.
My mother's phone remained perfectly still in her hands.
Gabriel spoke again.
"Danny, it's me."
A terrible silence followed.
Then Daniel said, "Nobody calls me that anymore."
Gabriel covered his face.
"I know."
"How do I know it's really you?"
Gabriel swallowed.
"Because when you were seven, you pushed my red bicycle into Lake George."
Daniel didn't answer.
"And you told Dad a fish had stolen it."
A sound came through the phone.
Half laugh.
Half sob.
Gabriel continued.
"Mom made us both apologize to the fish."
Daniel began crying.
"Gabe?"
Gabriel's voice broke.
"Yeah, Danny."
"You're alive?"
"I'm alive."
"And Dad?"
"He's alive too."
Daniel made a small, broken sound.
"He's old now," Gabriel said.
"But he's waiting for you."
For several minutes, neither brother could speak properly.
They cried.
They laughed.
They interrupted each other.
They asked questions that had no easy answers.
And I stood beside my mother, realizing we were witnessing something more precious than any inheritance.
A family was beginning to find its way back.
Eventually, Gabriel asked where Daniel was.
Daniel said he'd escaped the private aircraft during a stop at a small regional airfield.
He'd been taken from Willowbrook against his will.
The men escorting him had told him he was being moved to another hospital.
When he heard them arguing about his brother, he'd realized something was wrong.
He'd slipped away during refueling.
Then he'd found a driver willing to take him north.
"Where are you going?" Gabriel asked.
"The cabin."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
"Danny, don't go there."
"Why?"
"Richard knows about it."
Silence.
Then Daniel whispered, "He already came."
My heart stopped.
Gabriel stood.
"What?"
"Someone was waiting at the cabin."
"Who?"
"I didn't recognize him."
"Did he see you?"
"I don't think so."
Daniel's voice shook.
"So I kept walking."
Gabriel looked toward Detective Brooks, who had joined his call from the hospital.
She was already speaking to someone beside her.
"Daniel," she said, "this is Detective Evelyn Brooks with the New York Police Department."
Daniel immediately became frightened.
"Police?"
"You're not in trouble."
He didn't answer.
"I want to help you get somewhere safe."
Daniel whispered, "That's what they always say."
My mother looked at me.
I could see the pain in her face.
For eighteen years, authority had probably meant locked doors, forced transfers, and decisions made without his consent.
"Daniel," she said gently, "you can ask questions."
He was silent.
"And you don't have to agree to anything until someone explains it."
Detective Brooks nodded approvingly.
"We'll tell you who is coming and why."
After several minutes, Daniel agreed to meet a local police officer outside the gas station.
Detective Brooks coordinated with authorities in the area.
Gabriel wanted to drive there immediately.
She told him to remain where he was until officers verified Daniel's safety.
He hated the instruction.
But this time, he listened.
Forty-five minutes later, we received confirmation.
Daniel Romano was alive.
He was safe.
And he had requested to see his family.
Gabriel insisted on traveling to the hospital where Daniel would be examined.
My mother and I went with him.
The drive north was quiet.
Rain clouds moved across the sky.
Trees blurred past the windows.
Gabriel sat opposite us in the back of a large black SUV.
For most of the journey, he stared at the childhood photograph he'd taken from Vincent's cabinet.
At one point, I noticed his thumb moving across Daniel's face.
"Are you nervous?" I asked.
He gave a humorless laugh.
"Terrified."
I'd never heard him admit that so easily.
"What are you afraid of?"
He considered the question.
"That he won't remember me."
"He remembered the bicycle."
"That he won't forgive me."
"For what?"
Gabriel looked toward the window.
"For believing he was dead."
I thought about my mother and the years she'd spent blaming herself.
"Someone made sure you believed it."
"That doesn't change the years."
"No."
I paused.
"But you can't give him those years back by punishing yourself."
Gabriel looked at me.
For a moment, the intimidating businessman disappeared.
I saw only an exhausted older brother.
"You're right," he said quietly.
When we reached the hospital, Detective Brooks met us near the entrance.
"He's resting."
Gabriel immediately stepped forward.
"Can I see him?"
"Yes, but take things slowly."
She looked toward my mother.
"He specifically asked for Nurse Maggie."
My mother pressed a hand to her chest.
We followed the detective through a quiet corridor.
At the end was a room with a pale blue door.
Gabriel stopped outside.
His hand hovered near the handle.
I could see him struggling.
"Go on," I whispered.
He looked at me.
"What if he doesn't want me?"
I smiled gently.
"He's been asking for you for eighteen years."
Gabriel opened the door.
Daniel sat beside the window wearing a gray hospital shirt.
He was thinner than in the photograph.
His dark hair had strands of silver.
There was a pale scar near his left temple.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
Gabriel stopped breathing.
Daniel slowly stood.
For several seconds, the two men stared at each other.
Then Daniel whispered, "Gabe?"
Gabriel crossed the room.
He wrapped his arms around his brother.
And Daniel held on as though he were afraid someone might take him away again.
Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
My mother began crying beside me.
I turned away to give them privacy.
But then Daniel said something.
"Mom told me you'd come."
Gabriel slowly pulled back.
"What?"
Daniel wiped his face.
"She told me that if I got lost, you'd find me."
Gabriel's eyes filled again.
"I should have found you sooner."
Daniel shook his head.
"You didn't know."
Gabriel rested his forehead against his brother's.
"I'm here now."
Daniel held him tighter.
For the first time in eighteen years, the Romano brothers stood together.
But the reunion was interrupted by a knock.
Detective Brooks appeared in the doorway.
Her expression was serious.
"Gabriel, we need to talk."
He turned.
"What's wrong?"
She looked toward Daniel.
"We recovered footage from the night your mother died."
The brothers went still.
Detective Brooks continued.
"And I think it's time you both knew who was with her."
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Eleanor Romano outside a parking garage.
Richard Holloway stood beside her.
And behind them was a younger woman with dark hair.
A woman whose face I recognized from the Romano mansion's family photographs.
Gabriel stared.
"No."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Who is that?"
Gabriel's voice became barely audible.
"My father's first wife."
May you like
He looked up at Detective Brooks.
"That's Isabella's mother."
