CHAP 9 — THE SON OF THE MAN
Gabriel did not deny it.
“My father worked for Carlo.”
“You never told me he was involved with Lucia.”
“I didn’t know.”
Enzo stared at him across the library.
Gabriel had protected him for eleven years.
Taken a bullet during an attempted robbery in Cicero.
Slept in hospital corridors when Carlo was dying.
He was not merely an employee.
He was family in every way except blood.
That made the suspicion worse.
“Where is your father?”
“Arizona.”
“Call him.”
Gabriel did.
Disconnected.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Cole located Thomas Ross through federal databases.
He had left his retirement home three days earlier.
No forwarding address.
Adeline sat quietly.
“Three days.”
Sofia looked at her.
“What?”
“Three days ago was when I started working here.”
Everyone understood.
Thomas Ross had moved the moment Adeline entered Enzo’s house.
Gabriel looked sick.
“My father knew.”
“Maybe,” Enzo said.
Gabriel slammed his palm onto the desk.
“Stop saying maybe.”
Enzo’s expression sharpened.
“What would you prefer? That I condemn him before we know?”
Gabriel turned away.
“My father was not a good man.”
Adeline watched him.
“That isn’t the same as saying he was a murderer.”
“No.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“But when I was fifteen, I heard him arguing with my mother.”
“About?”
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
“He said, ‘Carlo should have let Ashford handle the Croft woman himself.’”
Adeline went still.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know who Croft was.”
“Why didn’t you remember before?”
“I did.”
Silence.
“I just didn’t tell you.”
Enzo’s voice became dangerously soft.
“Why?”
“Because I knew what you would think.”
Adeline stood.
“You withheld evidence about my mother.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Yes.”
She crossed the room and slapped him.
The sound cracked through the library.
Nobody stopped her.
Gabriel did not react.
“I deserved that.”
“No,” she said. “You deserved to tell me the truth.”
She left.
Enzo followed.
He found her outside near the frozen garden fountain.
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“This house.”
She looked at him.
“It is built on secrets.”
He stood beside her.
“I spent most of my adult life thinking secrecy was protection.”
“And now?”
“Now I think it’s just delayed destruction.”
Adeline folded her arms against the cold.
“Why do people fear you?”
The question surprised him.
“You’ve heard stories.”
“I’m asking you.”
Enzo looked toward the city.
“Because some of the stories are true.”
She waited.
“I inherited businesses that weren’t legal.”
“How illegal?”
“Illegal enough.”
“Did you hurt people?”
“Yes.”
Her face changed.
He did not soften the answer.
“Did you kill anyone?”
“No.”
“Did you order anyone killed?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
She believed him.
That did not make him innocent.
He knew it.
“I’ve extorted men who were extorting others. Bought officials. Fixed union disputes with threats. Moved money I knew should have been reported.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because you keep discovering who everyone else really is.”
He looked at her.
“You should know who I am too.”
Adeline held his gaze.
“And who are you?”
Enzo smiled without humor.
“I’m trying to find out.”
That evening, Cole received an unexpected visitor.
Thomas Ross.
He had turned himself in.
Seventy-eight years old, sick with emphysema, and carrying a sealed envelope.
Inside was a confession.
Not to Lucia’s murder.
To helping cover it up.
Thomas claimed Alden Ashford ordered the fire.
Carlo Marchetti tried to stop it.
Marco tried to evacuate Lucia.
Thomas was paid to delay the evacuation notice long enough for the fire to happen.
He insisted he did not know Lucia was still inside.
Adeline did not believe him.
“Who started the fire?”
Thomas stared at her through the interview-room glass.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I know.”
“Why confess now?”
He looked toward his son.
“Because Gabriel deserves to know the man he spent his life trying not to become.”
Gabriel left the room.
Thomas lowered his head.
Then he added:
“There is something else.”
Adeline waited.
“Lucia survived the fire.”
Her entire body went still.
“What?”
“She was pulled from the back stairs.”
“Then how did she die?”
Thomas looked at her.
“She died three hours later.”
“Where?”
He closed his eyes.
“St. Catherine Medical Center.”
The same hospital.
Again.
“And who was the attending physician?”
Thomas whispered a name.
May you like
Dr. Samuel Ashford.
Alden’s younger brother.
