Chapter 4
For several seconds, all I heard was the humming ventilation above us.
I almost smiled.
Not because it was funny.
Because there was something absurd about discovering in five minutes that my dead brother was alive, married, and had a ten-year-old son.
“He built a life.”
“Yes.”
“While I buried him.”
“Yes.”
“While my mother visited his grave every Sunday until she died.”
Sophia’s face softened.
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice came out harder than I intended.
Elena moved in my arms.
I lowered it immediately.
“No, Sophia. I don’t think either of us knows anything anymore.”
She looked away.
I regretted the tone.
Not because the anger wasn’t real.
Because Sophia had already carried too much of other people’s secrets.
“Did Luca contact you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“July thirteenth.”
The day before Sophia vanished.
“He came to Harbor Relief just before closing. I thought he was one of the dockworkers.”
“What did he want?”
“To warn me.”
“About Mateo?”
“Yes.”
“Why you?”
“Because he believed you wouldn’t listen to him.”
That hit differently.
I stared at my brother’s photograph.
“He believed I’d listen to you.”
Sophia’s eyes filled with something I couldn’t identify.
“He was wrong.”
I lowered my head.
There was nothing useful I could say.
After a moment, she continued.
“Luca told me Mateo had been using Harbor Relief accounts to move money for years. Not just steal it. Hide it.”
“From whom?”
“You.”
I looked up.
Sophia nodded.
“He said Mateo had been building a financial network separate from yours.”
“For what purpose?”
“He wouldn’t tell me everything. He said the less I knew, the safer I was.”
“That sounds like Luca.”
A faint, sad smile touched Sophia’s lips.
“You two are more alike than either of you would enjoy hearing.”
For one brief second, something familiar passed between us.
Then it disappeared.
“What happened after he warned you?”
“I asked him why he was alive.”
“And?”
“He said because eleven years ago someone convinced him that disappearing was the only way to protect your family.”
My skin went cold.
“Mateo?”
Sophia nodded.
I stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
Elena startled.
Immediately I stopped.
Her face wrinkled.
A tiny cry escaped her.
Every muscle in my body froze.
Sophia reached for her.
I hesitated.
Then carefully passed Elena back.
Sophia held her against her shoulder and whispered softly until the baby quieted.
I stood by the window, ashamed of how naturally anger had controlled the room.