Chapter 3
By the end of my first week, Leo had stopped screaming at breakfast.
That did not mean everything was fixed.
Far from it.
He still woke crying.
He still hated sudden noises.
He still hid when unfamiliar men entered the house.
But small things changed.
He started eating toast again.
He let Dante sit near him.
He laughed when I made Blue the dinosaur fall into a bowl of cereal.
And slowly, painfully, he began reaching for Rico.
The first time Leo asked his father to read a bedtime story, Rico looked at me like someone had handed him his life back.
“Go,” I whispered.
He went.
I stood outside the bedroom and listened.
Rico was terrible at character voices.
Leo did not care.
Neither did I.
That should have been the uncomplicated part.
It wasn’t.
Because I was beginning to notice things.
The first was Rico’s uncle, Salvatore Moretti.
Everyone called him Uncle Sal.
He was Elena’s opposite in every photograph.
Cold eyes.
Perfect suits.
A smile that never reached his face.
He visited on my sixth day.
Leo was playing with blocks when Sal entered.
The child froze.
Not screamed.
Not cried.
Just froze.
I noticed immediately.
Sal opened his arms.
“There’s my little prince.”
Leo moved behind me.
Sal’s smile faltered.
I crouched.
“You don’t have to hug anyone.”
Sal looked at me sharply.
“And you are?”
“Clara.”
“The waitress.”
I hated the way he said it.
Rico entered.
“Leave her alone.”
Sal smiled again.
“My nephew tells me you’ve performed a miracle.”
“No miracle,” I said.
“Children usually adore me.”
Leo’s fingers gripped my shirt.
I looked down.
He was staring at Sal’s watch.
A heavy gold watch with a black face.
His breathing changed.
I lowered myself beside him.
“Leo?”
He whispered, “Bad man car.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
Rico had heard.
He crossed the room.
“What did he say?”
Sal’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Leo pointed toward Sal.
“Bad man car.”
Sal laughed.
“He’s confused.”
Rico stared at his uncle.
“What does that mean?”
“How should I know?”
Leo covered his ears.
I picked him up.
His body shook against me.
“That’s enough,” I said.
Sal looked insulted.
Rico stepped between us.
“Leave.”
“Ricardo.”
“Now.”
Sal’s jaw tightened.
Then he smiled.
“As you wish.”
He left.
Dante followed him to the door.
Rico looked at me.
“You think that meant something.”
“Yes.”
“So do I.”
We waited until Leo was calm.
I did not question him.
Neither did Rico.
That mattered.
Instead, later that afternoon, I asked Rico about Sal.
“He was my father’s younger brother.”
“Was?”
“My father died seven years ago.”
“And Sal?”
“Runs part of the family businesses.”
“Did Elena like him?”
Rico’s face closed.
“No.”
“Why?”
“She thought he was too comfortable with the old ways.”
I understood what he meant without needing details.
“Did they fight?”
“Constantly.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Rico paced toward the window.
“Elena wanted me out of certain businesses.”
“Were you getting out?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised me.
“She wanted Leo raised differently.”
“And you?”
“I wanted Elena.”
It was such a simple answer.
He rubbed one hand over his face.
“So I agreed.”
“What happened?”
“She died before I finished.”
There was something bitter beneath the words.
“You believe the attack was meant for you.”
“I know it was.”
“How?”
“Because men like me eventually receive bills for things we’ve done.”
His honesty unsettled me.
“What things?”
“You’re better off not knowing.”
I stood.
“You don’t get to say that after bringing me into this house.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I brought you here for Leo.”
“And Leo just called your uncle a bad man.”
Silence.
Rico looked away first.
“Elena received threats before she died.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
“Anonymous calls.”
“Did police know?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They believed the threats were meant to pressure me.”
“Did Sal know?”
“Everyone close to us knew.”
I thought about Leo’s reaction.
“That gold watch.”
Rico looked at me.
“What about it?”
“Leo stared at it before he said anything.”
Rico’s face changed.
I continued.
“Maybe he remembers the watch.”
“He never saw the shooting.”
“You’re sure?”
“He was in the second car with Dante.”
“Where?”
“Across the street.”
I stared at him.
“That could be enough.”
Rico went still.
Dante was called into the room.
He looked uncomfortable when I asked about that night.
“Elena exited the charity event first,” he said.
“Leo was asleep in our vehicle.”
“What happened?”
“A sedan came around the corner.”
His voice became rough.
“I saw the window lower.”
“And Leo?”
“I shoved him down.”
“Was he awake?”
Dante hesitated.
“Yes.”
Rico stared at him.
“You told me he was asleep.”
“He had just woken.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were holding Elena.”
The room went silent.
Dante looked sick.
“You had enough.”
Rico grabbed the back of a chair.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
I thought of Leo.
A two-year-old.
Awake.
A dark car.
Gunshots.
Adults shouting.
Maybe a gold watch.
“Could he see the shooter?” I asked.
Dante shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
That night, Rico called Detective Adrian Walsh, the officer who had led the murder investigation.
Walsh arrived around nine.
He was cautious with me.
Less cautious with Rico.
“We investigated your uncle.”
“Investigate him again.”
“We had no evidence.”
“My son remembers something.”
Walsh’s expression changed.
“What?”
Rico explained.
Walsh leaned back.
“A toddler memory after six months is complicated.”
“I know.”
“We cannot question him aggressively.”
“You won’t.”
I spoke before Rico could.
Walsh looked at me.
“No one turns him into evidence.”
Rico nodded immediately.
Walsh studied us.
Then he said something that shifted the entire case.
“We recovered traffic footage from two blocks away.”
Rico frowned.
“You told me the cameras were useless.”
“Most were.”
“Most?”
“One caught the suspect vehicle.”
My heart quickened.
“Why wasn’t that enough?”
“Stolen plates.”
Rico leaned forward.
Walsh continued.
“But there was something we never identified.”
He pulled out his phone.
A grainy image appeared.
The sedan.
A driver.
A shadow in the rear seat.
And one arm resting near the open window.
On the wrist was a bright circle.
A watch.
Rico stared.
“Enhance it.”
“We tried.”
“Try again.”
Walsh looked at me.
Then back at Rico.
“We recently received new imaging software.”
“Can it identify the watch?”
“Possibly.”
Rico’s voice dropped.
“Do it.”
Walsh stood.
“I’ll call.”
After he left, Rico remained silent.
I found him later in the kitchen.
Alone.
“You’re thinking it was Sal.”
“I’m thinking I want to be wrong.”
“Why?”
“He’s family.”
I understood.
Family could make betrayal hurt more, not less.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Instead I answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice said, “Miss Vance?”
My skin prickled.
“Yes?”
“You seem like a nice girl.”
I looked toward Rico.
His face changed.
The voice continued.
“Nice girls should know when to leave other people’s families alone.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who is this?”
The line went dead.
Rico crossed the room.
“What happened?”
I told him.
Within minutes, Dante was checking my phone.
Security guards were moving through the house.
Rico stood in front of me.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
“No.”
“Clara.”
“I said no.”
“You were just threatened because of my family.”
“And locking me inside your house fixes that?”
“It keeps you alive.”
His voice cracked like a command.
I stepped closer.
“I am not one of your employees to order around.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
Then disappeared.
“You’re right.”
That surprised me.
He lowered his voice.
“Please stay.”
For the first time, Rico Moretti asked instead of commanded.
Before I could answer, Leo appeared at the kitchen doorway carrying Blue.
He looked at me.
“Clara sleep here?”
I should have said no.
Instead I looked at the child.
Then at his father.
“One night.”
Rico nodded.
But later, lying awake in a guest room larger than my apartment, I could not stop thinking about that call.
May you like
Someone wanted me gone.
And that meant Leo’s frightened little memory had touched something real.
