Chapter 6 - THE SECRET BENEATH HER GRANDMOTHER'S FLOOR
Sophia found the letter the next morning.
It contained no threats.
No demands.
Only a few lines.
Miss Brooks, I apologize for frightening you. My son found comfort in your kindness, and I am grateful. You owe us nothing. If you ever wish to speak about the song, I will listen.
Alejandro Duca.
Sophia read it three times.
Then placed it on the kitchen table.
She didn't trust him.
But the letter was not what she'd expected.
That afternoon, she went to her grandmother's old storage unit.
She hadn't opened it in years.
Inside were boxes of photographs.
Old clothes.
A sewing machine.
And a small wooden chest.
Sophia remembered the chest.
Her grandmother kept it locked.
She had never found the key.
Now she noticed something unusual.
A loose panel beneath the bottom.
She pried it open.
Inside was an envelope.
Yellowed.
Sealed.
Her name was written across the front.
For Fia, when the past finds you.
Sophia's hands trembled.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A young woman holding a baby.
The woman had dark hair.
Bright eyes.
And a silver bird pendant.
Sophia stared.
Her mother.
On the back, someone had written:
Isabella and Sofia. Palermo, 1999.
Sophia stopped breathing.
Isabella.
The name Alejandro had spoken.
She turned the photograph over again.
Then opened the letter.
Her grandmother's handwriting filled the page.
My darling Fia,
If you are reading this, the people we feared have found their way back into your life.
Your mother did not abandon you.
She was taken from you.
And the man who ordered it was someone your family trusted.
Sophia's vision blurred.
The letter continued.
Alejandro Duca is your uncle.
The room seemed to tilt.
Sophia gripped the edge of the chest.
Her uncle.
The most feared man in Manhattan.
The man whose son she had comforted.
The man she'd been running from without knowing why.
She kept reading.
But be careful. Your grandfather told everyone Isabella died. That was a lie.
Sophia's breath caught.
May you like
Then she reached the final line.
Your mother may still be alive.
