Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Tessa returned to work at Ilvento.
But nothing felt normal.
Richard treated her with exaggerated politeness.
The other waiters whispered whenever she entered the kitchen.
Customers recognized her from a short video of the confrontation that had spread online.
She hated it.
One evening, Gabriel appeared at his usual booth.
He ordered coffee.
Tessa approached.
“Are you following me?”
He smiled faintly.
“It's Thursday.”
She looked at the clock.
Eight o'clock.
Exactly.
For some reason, that made her smile.
Gabriel waited until she finished serving another table.
Then said quietly:
“I need your help translating more of Antonino's letters.”
Tessa hesitated.
“Why me?”
“Because you understand the dialect.”
“There are professional translators.”
“I've hired one. But some phrases are personal. Local. They don't translate cleanly.”
Tessa considered.
Then nodded.
“I'll help. But I want to know what you find.”
Gabriel met her eyes.
“Agreed.”
Over the next two weeks, they worked through Antonino's letters.
They met in public libraries.
Coffee shops.
And once in a quiet conference room at Gabriel's shipping office.
Tessa discovered that Antonino had spent decades searching for Lucia.
He believed she had been taken to America.
But he never found her.
One letter mentioned a woman named Francesca Bellomo.
A midwife.
A family friend.
Someone who had helped Lucia escape Sicily.
Gabriel traced Francesca's records.
She had immigrated to New York in 2001.
She died in 2016.
But before her death, she had worked at a children's shelter in Queens.
Tessa looked at Gabriel.
“Lucia might have been there.”
Gabriel nodded.
May you like
Then he said something that made her heart race.
“There's a chance she's still alive.”
