Chapter 6 - The Woman at St. Agnes
Evelyn knew something was wrong before she reached the church steps.
St. Agnes sat on a quiet corner between a closed florist and a brick apartment building, the kind of neighborhood church that looked smaller every year as new glass towers rose behind it. Rain ran down the stone saints above the entrance.
The text on her phone had appeared to come from Dante.
COME ALONE. NEED TO ASK YOU ABOUT ANTONIO. ST. AGNES. SIDE ENTRANCE.
She had stared at it for a full minute.
Dante did not text in fragments. He called. He gave instructions, not mysterious invitations.
But Antonio’s name changed everything.
Evelyn had spent nine years trying not to think about the night before Antonio Moretti died.
She should have told Dante.
She had almost told him a hundred times.
Then a year passed, then two, and shame made silence heavier than fear.
Now she stood beneath the church awning and looked at the side door.
It was already open.
“Mr. Moretti?” she called.
No answer.
She did not enter.
Instead she stepped backward and reached for her phone.
A man emerged from the alley behind her.
“Evelyn.”
She turned.
Salvatore Moretti looked almost elegant in a charcoal overcoat, as if he were arriving for dinner rather than hiding from law enforcement.
Evelyn’s thumb pressed the emergency call button on her phone.
Salvatore noticed.
“Don’t.”
“I already did.”
He smiled without humor. “Still difficult. Antonio liked that about you.”
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You have spent nine years hiding it.”
“And you have spent nine years pretending you don’t know it.”
Evelyn’s stomach tightened.
A second man appeared near the alley mouth.
She was trapped between them.
Salvatore stepped closer.
“You heard Antonio and me argue the night before the crash.”
“Yes.”
“You heard him threaten to turn me over to the authorities.”
“Yes.”
“And you heard me threaten him.”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
“Yet you said nothing.”
“I was twenty-three and cleaning offices at midnight. Your brother was dead by morning. Two men came to my apartment before lunch and told me my mother would lose her immigration case if I talked.”
Salvatore’s smile faded.
“You remember them?”
“I remember everything.”
He glanced at the phone in her hand.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
The second man moved.
A black SUV turned the corner so hard its tires splashed water across the curb.
Salvatore cursed.
Marco jumped out before the vehicle stopped fully.
Dante came from the other side.
“Evelyn!”
Salvatore grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
Dante stopped.
His face became frighteningly calm.
“Let her go.”
Salvatore held Evelyn between himself and the street.
“You brought police?”
“Not yet.”
“You always were sentimental about employees.”
“She is not leverage.”
“Everyone is leverage.”
“That is why you’re going to lose.”
Salvatore laughed. “You sound like Antonio.”
“Good.”
For a second neither man moved.
Then church bells began ringing noon.
The sound startled the man in the alley. Marco moved toward him. Evelyn drove her heel down on Salvatore’s shoe and twisted free.
Dante caught her arm and pulled her behind him.
Salvatore ran.
Marco chased him around the corner, but an idling sedan shot away from the curb seconds later.
Dante did not follow.
He looked at Evelyn.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Why did you come alone?”
She held up her phone. “Because I was stupid.”
“No argument.”
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
Then Dante’s expression changed.
“What did he mean when he said you knew?”
Evelyn looked at the church door.
“I need to tell you something.”
They went inside.
The nave smelled faintly of candle wax and old wood. Evelyn sat in the last pew while Dante remained standing.
“Nine years ago,” she said, “I cleaned offices in one of your father’s buildings. I was putting trash bags in the service hall when I heard Antonio arguing with Salvatore.”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“What exactly?”
“Your father said he had proof Sal was stealing from the family companies. Sal said if Antonio exposed him, everyone would regret it.”
“Did he mention the car?”
“No.”
“But you knew enough to come forward after the crash.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Evelyn told him about the two men at her apartment. About her mother’s pending residency paperwork. About the envelope containing photographs of her younger sister walking home from school.
Dante sat beside her.
“They threatened a child?”
“My sister was twelve.”
He looked away.
Evelyn continued, “Antonio had helped my mother find an attorney. Sal knew that. He knew exactly where to press.”
“Did my father know you heard them?”
“I think so. He saw me in the hallway afterward.”
“What did he say?”
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“He said, ‘Go home, kid. Nothing good happens in offices after midnight.’”
Dante closed his eyes.
That sounded exactly like Antonio.
“I should have told you when I came to work for your family,” Evelyn said.
“Why did you come?”
“Your mother hired me. I needed work. At first I thought I would stay a month.”
“Nine years is a long month.”
“Then Lily was born.”
Dante looked at her.
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“She was tiny and loud and furious at socks. I kept thinking if Salvatore ever came near her, I would finally be brave enough.”
“You were brave today.”
“I was foolish today.”
“Both can be true.”
His phone rang.
Marco.
Dante answered.
“We lost Sal,” Marco said. “But I got the plate. Car belongs to a shell company tied to the riverfront cold-storage property.”
Dante stood.
“Send it to the task force.”
“Already did.”
“And Marco?”
“Yeah?”
“Get everyone out of the mansion who isn’t essential.”
There was a pause.
“Why?”
Dante looked at Evelyn.
“Because Salvatore has stopped negotiating. He’s cleaning up witnesses.”
When they returned home, Lily ran toward Evelyn in socks and stopped just before colliding with her.
“You left without saying bye.”
Evelyn crouched.
“I’m sorry.”
“Daddy looked mad.”
“Your daddy often looks mad.”
Lily glanced at him. “That’s true.”
Dante almost smiled.
Teresa stood behind Lily holding a tray of sandwiches no one had touched.
“Did you find Salvatore?”
“No.”
Dante looked toward Celeste’s guarded room.
“Where is she?”
“Still upstairs.”
He went to speak with her.
Celeste was standing by the window when he entered.
“Evelyn?” she asked.
“Safe.”
Relief crossed her face.
“Sal went after her because of your father.”
“I know.”
Dante stopped.
“What do you mean, you know?”
Celeste turned from the window.
“Three months ago, Sal asked me whether Evelyn had ever talked about Antonio’s last night at the office.”
“And you didn’t mention this?”
“I didn’t understand it then.”
“What else haven’t you understood?”
Celeste took a breath.
“He also asked about Marco.”
Dante’s expression changed.
“What about him?”
“Whether he still kept the emergency code from your father’s old security system.”
Dante felt something cold move through him.
Marco had been seventeen when Antonio hired him as a driver. Antonio paid for his mother’s surgery. Marco’s loyalty was beyond question.
Which meant Salvatore was not trying to recruit him.
He was trying to use something Marco had.
Dante called him.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then the mansion lights went out.
Every chandelier died at once.
The security system emitted one short tone.
Not an alarm.
A reset.
Dante stepped into the hallway.
“Marco!”
Emergency lights flickered on.
A guard came running from the stairs.
“Boss, the main gate just opened itself.”
Dante’s blood went cold.
“Where’s Lily?”
The guard stared at him.
May you like
“I thought she was with you.”
Dante ran.
