Chương 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH MY MOTHER NEVER SAW
“They came for both of us.”
Emma stared at Gabriel.
Around them, police officers were separating diners from staff and asking everyone to remain inside.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know the bartender knew your full name.”
“That proves he knew who worked here.”
“He also knew you would be on this shift.”
“You don’t know that either.”
Gabriel pointed toward the cocktail napkin.
“Eleven-thirty tomorrow.”
Emma looked at the initials again.
E.P.
“It could mean anything.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop making it mean me because that fits your theory.”
His eyes held hers.
“Good.”
She frowned.
“What is with you saying that?”
“I prefer people who challenge conclusions.”
“You mean people who don’t immediately believe the alleged mob boss standing in a restaurant with a shoulder holster?”
For the first time, Gabriel actually smiled.
Barely.
“Especially those people.”
An NYPD detective approached.
For the next forty minutes, Emma answered questions.
She described the fake bartender.
The heavyset man.
The weapon.
The receipt.
She did not omit Gabriel’s name.
He noticed.
When the detective asked why Gabriel had returned, Gabriel answered for himself.
“Because I realized the waitress who warned me was still inside.”
No heroics.
No dramatic claim.
Just the truth.
At 1:17 a.m., Emma was finally released.
She expected Gabriel to be gone.
He was waiting beneath Bellanova’s awning.
The rain had weakened to a cold mist.
A black sedan idled at the curb.
“I can take the subway,” she said.
“I’m sure you can.”
“Then why are you standing there?”
“Because someone knew your schedule.”
Emma looked toward the corner.
“You think they’re waiting for me?”
“I think assuming they aren’t would be stupid.”
She hated that he was right.
“I’m not going home with you.”
“Also good.”
He opened the sedan’s rear door.
“I’m taking you to your mother.”
Emma froze.
“How do you know where my mother lives?”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
Too late.
“You investigated me.”
“After I saw your name on the employee roster last week.”
Emma stepped back.
“Last week?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I worked here before tonight.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked down the street.
“Because I was told to come to Bellanova tonight.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s convenient.”
“A courier delivered an envelope to my office.”
“No phone call?”
“No.”
“What was inside?”
“The photograph.”
Emma stared.
“The one you showed me?”
“A copy. The original was in my father’s records.”
“And whoever sent it knew you had the original.”
“Apparently.”
“What else was in the envelope?”
“A reservation confirmation for Table Twelve.”
Emma’s mind moved quickly.
“Someone wanted you here.”
“Yes.”
“And knew I’d be working.”
“Yes.”
“So you investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“And still walked into the restaurant without warning me.”
That landed.
Gabriel did not defend himself.
“You’re right.”
Emma blinked.
Men like him were not supposed to say that so easily.
“I thought the danger was aimed at me.”
“And now?”
“Now I think you were part of the reason I was brought there.”
She folded her arms.
“You don’t get to move me around like evidence.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“You just offered to take me to my mother’s house without asking how I feel about my mother.”
Gabriel paused.
Then he shut the car door.
“All right.”
That surprised her.
“What?”
“You choose.”
Emma looked at him.
“Where would you feel safest tonight?”
The honest answer irritated her.
“My mother’s.”
“Then we go there.”
Her mother lived in Astoria, in the same narrow brick house where Emma had grown up.
Laura Parker opened the door wearing a robe and reading glasses.
Her expression moved from irritation to alarm the second she saw Emma.
“What happened?”
“I’m fine.”
“Why is your hair wet?”
“It’s raining.”
“Emma.”
Then Laura saw Gabriel behind her.
Her face went completely blank.
Gabriel noticed.
“So you do know the name,” Emma said.
Laura’s hand tightened around the door.
“Come inside.”
That was not a denial.
Ten minutes later, they sat in the kitchen.
Emma placed the photograph on the table.
Her mother did not touch it.
“Tell me.”
Laura looked at Gabriel.
“This should stay buried.”
Gabriel’s voice was calm.
“People tried to kill us tonight.”
“Then bury it deeper.”
Emma stared at her.
“Mom.”
Laura looked at her daughter.
For eleven years, she had answered every question about Michael Parker’s death the same way.
A truck ran a red light.
The driver had been drinking.
There was nothing anybody could have done.
Now she looked like a woman who had spent eleven years rehearsing different words.
“Your father worked for a benefits administrator,” Laura said.
“I know.”
“He audited pension accounts.”
“I know that too.”
“He found money missing.”
Emma looked at Gabriel.
“Twenty-seven million?”
Laura nodded.
“Somewhere around that.”
Emma’s throat tightened.
“And the Morettis?”
“Several companies connected to Gabriel’s father handled freight contracts for the fund.”
Gabriel added, “My father believed his brother was stealing.”
Laura’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t get to simplify this.”
Gabriel went still.
Emma looked at her mother.
“What does that mean?”
“Vittorio Moretti knew dirty money moved through his companies.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
Laura continued.
“He didn’t care until he realized somebody was stealing from him too.”
That was the first reversal.
Gabriel’s father had not been an innocent businessman uncovering corruption.
He had been part of it.
Just not all of it.
Emma looked at Gabriel.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“You left that part out.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to listen long enough to learn the rest.”
“That’s manipulation.”
“Yes.”
At least he did not insult her by denying it.
Laura stood.
She walked upstairs.
When she returned, she carried a small wooden box.
Emma recognized it immediately.
Her father’s watch box.
Laura placed it on the table.
“I should have thrown this away.”
Emma opened it.
Inside was Michael Parker’s silver wristwatch.
She had not seen it since his funeral.
“Why did you hide it?”
“I didn’t hide it.”
“You told me it was lost.”
“I lied.”
Emma looked at her mother.
Another crack opened in the story of her childhood.
She picked up the watch.
It was heavier than she remembered.
The crystal was scratched.
The leather strap had been replaced.
Gabriel made a small sound.
Emma looked up.
“What?”
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he held out his hand.
“May I?”
Emma almost refused.
Then she gave it to him.
Gabriel turned the watch over.
On the back were two engraved initials.
V.M.
Emma frowned.
“My father’s name was Michael Parker.”
“I know.”
Gabriel’s thumb moved over the engraving.
His face had changed.
Laura sat down slowly.
Emma looked between them.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Gabriel placed the watch on the table as carefully as if it could break.
“It belonged to my father.”
Emma stared at him.
“No.”
“I saw him wear it almost every day of my childhood.”
Laura closed her eyes.
Gabriel turned toward her.
“How did Michael get this?”
Laura’s voice shook.
Emma had never heard her mother’s voice shake.
“He came home with it the night of the warehouse fire.”
Gabriel’s eyes sharpened.
Emma stopped breathing.
May you like
Laura looked at her daughter.
“Your father was there when Vittorio Moretti died.”
