Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER WHO OWED THE WRONG MAN
Enzo did not deny it.
That made Wren angrier.
He explained that Gabe Callahan had borrowed money from a criminal lender named Victor Salerno.
The original debt had been eighteen thousand dollars.
With fabricated penalties and interest, Salerno now demanded nearly ninety thousand.
Wren already knew.
She had been paying what she could for months.
She had sold her furniture, missed rent, and taken extra shifts until exhaustion caused a medication documentation error at her previous job.
The error had been caught before harming a patient, but Wren had resigned during the resulting review.
She had never told Gabe how close she'd come to losing her license.
"Why do you care about his debt?" she demanded.
Enzo's jaw tightened.
"Because Salerno used to work for me."
Wren stared.
"He was expelled from my organization three years ago."
"Congratulations on your excellent employee-retention policy."
Enzo ignored the sarcasm.
"He's been using my name to collect debts I never authorized."
"Then call the police."
"That would be complicated."
Wren laughed bitterly.
"Of course it would."
Enzo leaned forward.
"Salerno is connected to the people who arranged my accident."
The room went quiet.
Eight months earlier, Enzo's armored SUV had been struck by a truck on a private road outside Milwaukee.
His driver died.
Enzo survived with a spinal cord injury.
The official investigation called it an accident.
Enzo had never believed that.
"Why me?" Wren asked.
"Your brother delivered something for Salerno the night before the crash."
Her blood went cold.
"What?"
"A sealed envelope."
Wren remembered the photographs.
Gabe handing an envelope to someone outside a diner.
"He didn't know what was inside."
"I believe that."
"Then why photograph him?"
"Because I needed to know whether he was being used."
Wren stared at Enzo.
"You could have told me."
"Would you have come?"
"No."
He nodded.
"That's why I didn't."
The answer was honest.
And unforgivable.
Wren picked up her bag.
"I'm leaving."
Enzo's expression tightened.
"Your brother is in danger."
"Then help him because he's in danger. Don't use him to control me."
She walked toward the door.
Enzo called after her.
"Wren."
She stopped.
"I was wrong."
She looked back.
He continued.
"I thought I could keep everyone safe by deciding what they needed to know."
Wren's eyes filled.
"That's not protection."
Then she left.
Outside, her Corolla still sat beside the gate.
Dead.
Useless.
She stood in the cold, realizing she had nowhere to go.
Behind her, the mansion door opened.
Rosa approached carrying a coat.
"Mr. Marchetti asked me to give you this."
Wren looked at it.
"Tell him I don't want his charity."
Rosa smiled gently.
"It's mine."
Wren stared.
Rosa placed the coat around her shoulders.
"There's a guest room over the garage. You can stay there tonight. No contract. No obligation."
Wren swallowed.
"Why?"
Rosa looked toward the house.
"Because sometimes people need help without owing anyone for it."
May you like
Wren accepted the coat.
And for the first time that night, she cried.
