Chapter 2 - The Name Nobody Was Supposed to Say
Gabriel turned before anyone else did.
The men around him reacted almost instantly.
Two stepped in front of Leo.
Another moved toward the curb.
A fourth spoke into his sleeve.
But the voice had not come from a gunman.
It came from an old man pushing a shopping cart filled with flattened cardboard.
“Adrian?” he called again.
Gabriel stared.
The old man stopped.
“Oh.”
His eyes moved from Gabriel to the SUVs.
Then to me.
Then to Leo.
“I thought I saw somebody I knew.”
“Who?” Gabriel asked.
The man looked suddenly nervous.
“Wrong person.”
He pushed his cart faster.
Gabriel snapped his fingers.
One of his men blocked the sidewalk.
Nobody touched the old man.
They didn't need to.
“Who did you think you saw?” Gabriel asked.
The man swallowed.
“Adrian Vale.”
Gabriel's expression sharpened.
“Why?”
“Because I saw him last night.”
Gabriel's mother, still standing beside the SUV, whispered, “Impossible.”
That got everyone's attention.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Why is it impossible?”
She said nothing.
The old man shifted his weight.
“Look, I don't want trouble.”
“You won't have any.”
Gabriel's tone said the opposite.
“Tell me where.”
“Bus station.”
“What time?”
“Maybe eleven. Eleven-thirty.”
“You sure?”
“I know Adrian.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“How?”
The old man gave a bitter laugh.
“Everybody in South Ward knew Adrian Vale fifteen years ago.”
I watched Gabriel's face.
He knew the name too.
Not casually.
Personally.
His mother stepped forward.
“This conversation is finished.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“No.”
“Gabriel.”
“No.”
One word.
Absolute.
She stopped.
I looked down at Leo.
His breathing had become shallow again.
“Do you want some water?”
He nodded.
I opened the bottle beside my bag and handed it to him.
Gabriel watched him drink.
Then he looked at me.
“You're coming with us.”
I nearly dropped the cap.
“I'm what?”
“You're coming to the house.”
“No.”
He blinked.
Maybe people didn't tell Gabriel DeLuca no very often.
I pointed at Leo.
“He needs a doctor. A therapist. Someone trained.”
“He has all of those.”
“Then he needs them.”
“He won't let go of you.”
I looked down.
Leo's fingers were still wrapped around my sleeve.
I hadn't noticed.
“I can't just go home with strangers.”
Gabriel's mouth tightened.
“I'm not asking you to trust me.”
“Good, because I don't.”
One of the suited men coughed into his fist.
Gabriel almost smiled.
Almost.
“My son spoke to you.”
“That doesn't make me qualified.”
“No. It makes you important to him.”
That landed harder than I expected.
Important.
Nobody had used that word about me in a long time.
Before sleeping in shelters.
Before losing my apartment.
Before losing my job after too many missed shifts while caring for my mother.
Before my mother died anyway.
Before every carefully stacked piece of my life slid off the table.
Important.
I looked at Leo.
He was watching me.
Not Gabriel.
Me.
“Just until he's settled?” I asked.
Gabriel nodded.
“Just until he's settled.”
His mother laughed quietly.
“This is insanity.”
Gabriel turned.
“You'll take the second car.”
“I am your mother.”
“And he's my son.”
Something old moved between them.
Something sharp.
She got into the SUV without another word.
The ride to Gabriel's house took twenty minutes.
I expected a mansion.
I got a fortress pretending to be a family home.
Stone walls.
Iron gates.
Cameras.
Landscaped grounds.
Security at every entrance.
But inside, there were signs of a child everywhere.
A red bicycle near the garage.
A toy dinosaur under a hallway table.
Finger paintings on the refrigerator.
It didn't match the legend of Gabriel DeLuca.
Neither did Gabriel.
At least not completely.
Leo still would not release my hand.
A woman named Dr. Elena Morris met us in the foyer.
Early forties.
Warm face.
No white coat.
She crouched down.
“Hi, Leo.”
He looked away.
She did not push.
Gabriel spoke quietly to her.
“He talked.”
Her eyes flicked up.
“What?”
“Three words. Maybe four.”
She looked at Leo, then at me.
“To her?”
Gabriel nodded.
Dr. Morris seemed careful not to show too much excitement.
“That's wonderful.”
Leo pressed closer to my side.
She smiled gently.
“We don't have to talk about it right now.”
That was exactly the right thing to say.
Within ten minutes, Leo was sitting at a kitchen island eating soup.
I remained beside him.
Gabriel stood near the window taking calls.
The house buzzed with controlled urgency.
People came and went.
A man named Dominic gave updates.
The abandoned car had been stolen.
No usable fingerprints.
The purse belonged to Amelia Moretti DeLuca.
Gabriel's wife.
Leo's mother.
She had died two years earlier.
I understood immediately.
Two years.
The same length of time Leo had been silent.
When Gabriel ended his call, I asked quietly, “Was he with her when she died?”
He stared at me.
Then nodded.
“Car accident.”
I looked at Leo.
He was stirring soup with his spoon.
“Did he see it?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“I’m sorry.”
Gabriel looked toward the garden.
“So am I.”
There was a pause.
Then I asked, “Who's Adrian Vale?”
Gabriel's face closed.
“He used to work for my family.”
“Doing what?”
“Things I'm not proud of.”
“Helpful.”
His mouth twitched.
“Security. Collections. Fixing problems.”
“So the rumors are true.”
“Some of them.”
“Which ones?”
He gave me a tired look.
“Not today.”
Fair enough.
I lowered my voice.
“Why would Leo know his name?”
Gabriel did not answer.
That worried me.
Then a woman entered the kitchen.
Gabriel's mother.
Her name, I learned, was Celeste.
She had removed the cream coat.
Underneath she wore a dark green dress and pearls.
She looked at me as if I were mud tracked onto expensive flooring.
“Gabriel, we need to speak privately.”
“Later.”
“Now.”
He looked at Leo.
Then at me.
“Stay with him?”
I nodded.
Gabriel followed Celeste into the hall.
They didn't go far enough.
I could hear them.
“You brought a stranger into this house.”
“She helped my son.”
“She is a liability.”
“She gave him her food.”
“You don't know who she is.”
“Do you?”
Silence.
Then Celeste said something that made me freeze.
“You're repeating Amelia's mistakes.”
Gabriel's voice dropped.
“Don't.”
“She trusted people because they looked broken.”
“I said don't.”
“And look where that got her.”
A chair scraped behind me.
Leo had stood.
His face had changed.
He was staring toward the hallway.
“Mommy,” he whispered.
I knelt.
“What is it?”
He pointed.
Not toward Gabriel.
Toward Celeste's handbag on a side table.
A black leather bag.
Half open.
Something silver protruded from the top.
Leo began to shake.
I looked at the doorway.
Gabriel and Celeste were still arguing.
I moved closer to the bag.
“Leo?”
He whispered, “Bad.”
I stopped.
“What's bad?”
He pointed harder.
Inside the bag was a small silver key.
Attached to it was a plastic tag.
Unit 317.
Celeste appeared in the doorway.
Her face went blank when she saw me looking.
“What are you doing?”
I stepped back.
“Nothing.”
She crossed the room quickly and closed the bag.
Leo hid behind me.
Celeste saw it.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Gabriel.”
He entered.
“What?”
“Your guest is going through my belongings.”
“I wasn't.”
“She was.”
Leo pulled my cardigan.
Then he whispered something.
Gabriel heard him.
Everyone did.
“Grandma lied.”
The room went silent.
Celeste's face drained of color.
Gabriel stared at his son.
“What did Grandma lie about?”
Leo's mouth closed.
Dr. Morris stepped closer.
“Don't pressure him.”
Gabriel looked torn.
He nodded.
Then his phone rang.
Dominic.
Gabriel answered.
“What?”
He listened.
His gaze moved slowly to Celeste.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send me the image.”
His phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Then he turned it toward us.
Security footage from a storage facility.
Timestamped three nights earlier.
Celeste stood beside Unit 317.
And next to her was a man in a baseball cap.
His face was half turned toward the camera.
But Gabriel recognized him.
“Adrian.”
Celeste whispered, “That's not what it looks like.”
Gabriel stepped toward her.
“You told me he was dead.”
“I thought he was.”
“You met him three nights ago.”
“I can explain.”
Gabriel's phone buzzed again.
Another image arrived.
This one showed Adrian handing Celeste a small object.
Gabriel enlarged the picture.
A silver watch.
His silver watch.
The same watch Leo had pointed to outside the grocery store.
The same watch scratched with his dead wife's initials.
Gabriel looked at Celeste.
Then at the key tag in her bag.
“What's in Unit 317?”
She said nothing.
Gabriel reached for the bag.
Celeste grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
It was the first time I had seen her truly afraid.
Gabriel stared at her hand.
Then at her face.
“Move.”
She released him.
He took the key.
Dominic appeared in the doorway.
“Cars are ready.”
Gabriel turned toward me.
“Stay here.”
Leo screamed.
Not loudly.
But clearly.
“No!”
Everyone froze.
The boy ran to Gabriel and grabbed his jacket.
“Don't go.”
Gabriel crouched.
“Why?”
Leo looked toward the key.
Then toward his grandmother.
His lips trembled.
Finally he whispered, “He's there.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Who's there?”
Leo pointed at Unit 317's key.
“Man from car.”
Dominic moved instantly.
“Sir, we need to secure the facility.”
Gabriel stood.
He handed the key to Dominic.
“Do it.”
Celeste closed her eyes.
Gabriel saw.
“What aren't you telling me?”
She opened them.
Her voice came out small.
“Gabriel, if you open that unit, everything changes.”
“Good.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She looked at Leo.
Then at me.
Then back at her son.
“I wasn't protecting Adrian.”
Gabriel waited.
Celeste swallowed.
“I was protecting you from what Amelia left behind.”
Ten minutes later, Dominic called from the storage facility.
Gabriel put the phone on speaker.
“We opened Unit 317.”
“What did you find?”
Dominic breathed once.
Then said, “Sir, you need to come here.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“Tell me.”
“There are photographs covering every wall.”
“Of what?”
A pause.
“Of Leo.”
Another pause.
“And Maya.”
I stopped breathing.
Gabriel slowly turned toward me.
I had never met Adrian Vale.
I had never met Amelia DeLuca.
I had never seen Leo before that afternoon.
May you like
But Dominic continued.
“And one of the pictures of Maya was taken six months ago.”
