Chapter 5
Dominic stood.
Slowly.
The old council chair scraped against stone.
“You're done.”
His eyes were on Emma.
“Take your kid and get out.”
Emma did not move.
Dominic smiled without warmth.
“You think because he grabbed my wrist, you’ve become somebody?”
He looked at her uniform.
“You mop his floors.”
“You empty his bins.”
“You spend your nights scrubbing stains men like us leave behind.”
His voice became lower.
“Do not confuse proximity with importance.”
Emma’s face paled.
Noah hugged her leg.
Angelo’s voice cut through.
“She stays.”
Dominic turned.
“You keep saying that like it means anything.”
His hand tapped the capo pin.
“Half the estate answers to me now.”
“That sounds like something you needed to say out loud.”
Dominic’s expression tightened.
Angelo looked toward Rocco.
“Silas Marzano.”
Rocco nodded.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Unknown.”
Dominic laughed.
“There.”
“Your great investigation.”
He looked around.
“A scarred enemy exists.”
“Shocking.”
Angelo ignored him.
“Noah.”
The child looked over.
“When did you see the gray-faced man?”
Noah thought.
“Night.”
“Which night?”
He looked confused.
Emma crouched.
“Before or after Mr. Angelo came home from the hospital?”
Noah frowned.
“After.”
Dominic’s mouth tightened.
“How many times?”
Noah held up two fingers.
Emma’s face changed.
She had not known.
Angelo saw it.
“What did they do?”
Noah whispered:
“Talk.”
“About what?”
He looked toward Dominic.
Dominic smiled cruelly.
“Careful, brat.”
Emma immediately pulled Noah behind her.
Dominic leaned slightly forward.
“You make up one more story about me and your mother can explain why neither of you has a room here by morning.”
Noah began trembling.
Angelo’s voice became lethal.
“Dominic.”
The cousin looked at him.
Angelo did not raise his voice.
“Threaten him again.”
A pause.
“And you'll learn exactly how much of me survived the road.”
Dominic stared.
Then laughed.
But this time, less comfortably.
Noah whispered something into Emma’s skirt.
She looked down.
“What?”
He pointed toward the old stone wall.
“Gray-face said chair-man can't know.”
Angelo’s expression changed.
“Chair-man?”
Noah nodded.
Then pointed at Angelo.
“You.”
“What couldn't I know?”
Noah tried to remember.
“Door.”
“What door?”
“Under bed.”
The chamber went silent.
Angelo’s recovery room contained no hidden door.
At least none he knew about.
Rocco looked toward Helena.
She avoided his eyes.
That was the first time all night.
Angelo saw it.
“Upstairs.”
They returned to the recovery wing.
The bed was moved.
Beneath a heavy woven rug sat a narrow iron hatch.
Fresh scratches marked the edge.
Angelo stared.
The hatch had been concealed directly beneath the bed where he had slept for weeks.
Rocco opened it.
Cold air rose from a narrow service stair.
Dominic’s face hardened.
Helena finally spoke.
“Close it.”
Angelo looked at her.
“Why?”
Her eyes sharpened.
“Because your father sealed that passage before you were born.”
Angelo glanced toward the darkness below.
“Then someone unsealed it.”
Helena’s jaw tightened.
Rocco descended first.
May you like
He returned holding a black falcon token.
And Angelo’s missing pistol from the night of the ambush.
