Chapter 4 - THE PHOTOGRAPH IN MIA’S BACKPACK
Damiano did not confront Rafael.
That surprised even him.
Instead, he did what years of survival had taught him.
He watched.
That evening, Rafael entered Damiano's office.
“You wanted me?”
Damiano sat behind his desk.
“Who photographed Mia?”
“We're working on it.”
“Work faster.”
Rafael nodded.
“Anything else?”
Damiano looked at the man who had stood beside him for twenty-two years.
“No.”
Rafael left.
Damiano waited.
Then opened the security system.
He watched Rafael walk down the corridor.
Stop.
Pull out his phone.
And make a call.
Damiano couldn't hear the conversation.
But Rafael looked frightened.
That was almost worse.
Later, Isabella knocked on Damiano’s study.
“Mia left something.”
She handed him the child’s backpack.
Inside were crayons, a notebook, two granola bars, and a drawing.
Three figures.
Mia.
Isabella.
A tall man in black.
Above them she had written:
MY FAMILY MAYBE
Damiano sat down.
Isabella saw the drawing.
“She draws what she wants when she’s afraid to ask.”
“Why did you bring her into my house if you knew who I was?”
“I didn't have a choice. We were behind on rent. Your staffing agency hired me. I thought the estate was big enough that you would never notice me.”
“You've been here nine months.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me my daughter was sleeping five miles away.”
“I was protecting her.”
“From me?”
“From whoever destroyed Sofia.”
Damiano looked at the drawing again.
“You said Sofia left evidence.”
Isabella nodded.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You said she copied records.”
“She did.”
“Then where are they?”
Before Isabella could answer, Mia appeared.
“Mom?”
She was holding her stuffed fox.
“Mia, you're supposed to be sleeping.”
“I remembered something.”
She opened her backpack.
“There was another picture.”
Damiano frowned.
Mia reached into a tear in the lining.
Her fingers disappeared between the layers.
She pulled out a photograph.
Sofia stood beside a younger Rafael.
But they weren't alone.
A third man stood beside them.
Silvio Marchetti.
And on the edge of the photograph was someone else.
Damiano leaned closer.
His own uncle.
Carlo Verrone.
The man who had raised Damiano after his father's death.
The man currently controlling three seats on the Five Families commission.
On the back, Sofia had written:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, THE FOUR MEN IN THIS ROOM KNOW WHY.
Damiano looked again.
Four men?
Rafael.
Silvio.
Carlo.
Who was the fourth?
Then he noticed a reflection in the window behind them.
A camera had captured the person taking the photograph.
The face was faint.
But recognizable.
Damiano whispered the name.
“Father Grayson.”
Isabella stared at him.
“The priest?”
May you like
Damiano nodded.
The same priest who had conducted Sofia’s funeral.
