Chapter 5 - THE SAME VOICE
Gabriel Russo entered the mansion smiling.
That was the part I remembered most.
Not fear.
Not nervousness.
A smile.
As though he were arriving for dinner.
He was fifty-eight, broad through the shoulders, with neatly cut gray hair and a dark overcoat that probably cost more than everything in our apartment.
When he saw me, his smile changed.
Only a little.
But I noticed.
Eight-year-olds notice things adults miss because adults are usually busy deciding what things are supposed to mean.
Children just look.
“Who is this?” Gabriel asked.
Renato stood between us.
“Grace.”
“The child from the hospital?”
My stomach twisted.
Renato’s expression did not change.
“How did you know about her?”
Gabriel paused.
“Marco mentioned a child.”
Marco immediately said, “No, I didn’t.”
There it was.
One mistake.
Tiny.
But enough.
Gabriel’s smile disappeared.
Renato stepped closer.
“You knew Grace was at the hospital.”
“I heard there was some incident.”
“From whom?”
“Renato, what is this?”
“Answer.”
Gabriel looked around.
Dr. Chen.
Dana.
Salvi.
Marco.
Then me.
His eyes stopped on Salvi.
“You.”
Salvi began trembling.
Gabriel’s voice became disgusted.
“You coward.”
Renato moved.
“Careful.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You think I poisoned you because this pathetic man says so?”
“I haven’t told you what he said.”
Another mistake.
For the first time, Gabriel looked worried.
Mom’s fingers tightened around mine.
Renato noticed too.
“What exactly did you think Salvi told me?”
Gabriel exhaled.
“Enough games.”
He removed his coat.
Marco’s hand moved toward his gun.
Gabriel saw it.
“You’re going to point a weapon at me in Antonio’s house?”
“This is my house,” Renato said.
A flash of anger crossed Gabriel’s face.
There.
Gone.
But I saw it.
Renato had probably spent years seeing a family friend.
I saw a man who hated being reminded that something wasn’t his.
Gabriel slowly raised his hands.
“Then ask whatever you want.”
Renato held up my notebook.
“Do you recognize this symbol?”
The falcon.
Gabriel glanced at it.
“Our foundation crest.”
“You wear a ring with it.”
“So does Vittorio.”
“Show me yours.”
Gabriel hesitated.
Then held out his hand.
Silver ring.
Falcon.
Renato took it.
Turned it over.
Inside were engraved initials.
G.R.
Not Antonio’s.
Gabriel smiled faintly.
“Disappointed?”
“No.”
Renato gave it back.
“Did you access my prescription records?”
“As financial administrator, perhaps.”
“Did you authorize Salvi’s payments?”
“Yes.”
“Did you threaten his daughter?”
“No.”
“Did you order him to replace my pills?”
“Absolutely not.”
Renato looked toward me.
“Grace.”
I hated when every adult looked at me at once.
My palms became sweaty.
Renato crouched.
“No one will be angry if you’re wrong.”
Gabriel’s smile returned.
Warm.
Almost grandfatherly.
“Of course not.”
That made me more certain.
“Close your eyes,” Renato told him.
Gabriel stared.
“What?”
“Humor me.”
He did.
Renato looked at me.
“Speak.”
I swallowed.
“What should I say?”
“The words you heard.”
I stared at Gabriel.
Then repeated them.
“Three days, maybe seven.”
Salvi’s face tightened.
I continued.
“Mr. Moretti won’t make it to Sunday.”
Gabriel opened his eyes.
“That proves nothing.”
I knew.
Then I remembered the part Mom always told me mattered most.
Details.
Not what people wanted you to notice.
What happened around it.
“The man tapped his ring.”
Gabriel’s hand stopped moving.
“He tapped it three times.”
I tapped the wooden table.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Gabriel looked at his fingers.
He had been doing exactly that since entering the room.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The color left Mom’s face.
I continued.
“And he said, ‘Don’t lose your nerve, Matty.’”
Gabriel looked at Salvi.
Not at me.
Salvi whispered, “Gabriel…”
Renato stood.
That was enough.
Marco moved toward Gabriel.
Gabriel laughed.
“You’re going to believe a child?”
“No,” Renato said.
“I’m going to believe everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“The foundation transfer.”
Gabriel’s expression tightened.
“The medical supplier.”
“Ancient history.”
“My father’s stolen digital signature.”
No answer.
“Dana’s firing.”
Gabriel’s eyes flicked toward Mom.
“The prescription access.”
Silence.
“Salvi.”
Renato stepped close enough that the two men nearly touched.
“And the fact that you knew Grace was at the hospital before anyone told you.”
Gabriel’s face became cold.
“You have suspicions.”
“Yes.”
“Not proof.”
“No.”
Gabriel smiled again.
“And you know what your father always said about accusations without proof.”
Renato’s jaw clenched.
Gabriel turned toward the door.
“I’m leaving.”
“No.”
Marco blocked him.
Gabriel slowly looked back.
“You cannot keep me prisoner.”
Renato’s voice became calm.
“Correct.”
Mom seemed surprised.
So was I.
Renato stepped aside.
“You can leave.”
Gabriel studied him.
Then walked toward the door.
Before he reached it, Renato said, “One more thing.”
Gabriel stopped.
“My father recorded everything.”
His shoulders stiffened.
I looked at Renato.
That was new.
Gabriel slowly turned.
“What?”
Renato’s face revealed nothing.
“He kept tapes in his office. Meetings. Phone calls. Financial conversations.”
Gabriel stared.
“I searched his office after he died.”
Renato’s eyes sharpened.
Another mistake.
Gabriel realized it too late.
“Why?”
“I was looking for documents.”
“What documents?”
Gabriel said nothing.
Renato almost smiled.
“Good night, Uncle Gabriel.”
He left.
The front door closed.
I stared at Renato.
“Your father had recordings?”
“No.”
Mom blinked.
“You lied.”
“I prefer strategic improvisation.”
“That is a fancy phrase for lying.”
Marco laughed.
Renato ignored him.
“He searched my father’s office.”
“Meaning?” Mom asked.
“He was afraid Antonio left something behind.”
I pulled my notebook closer.
“What if he did?”
Everyone looked at me.
Renato frowned.
“What?”
“If your dad thought someone was stealing from him, why wouldn’t he keep proof?”
“That office was searched.”
“By Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“And you.”
“Years later.”
“What about somewhere else?”
Renato stared.
I thought about what I would do if I had a secret and knew bad people might search my room.
I wouldn’t put it somewhere important.
I would put it somewhere boring.
“Did your dad have a place Gabriel hated going?”
Renato almost laughed.
Then he stopped.
His expression changed.
“The chapel.”
“What chapel?”
“My mother had a small private chapel built behind the old estate.”
“Gabriel hated it?”
“He mocked my father for going there after my mother died.”
Renato turned toward Marco.
“Get the cars.”
The old Moretti estate stood north of the city.
Nobody had lived there for years.
The chapel smelled like cold stone and dust.
Renato searched the altar.
Marco searched cabinets.
Mom looked beneath benches.
I stared at a statue near the wall.
Someone had scratched tiny numbers into its wooden base.
317.
The same number as the foundation account.
“Renato.”
He came over.
I pointed.
His face changed.
The statue was heavy.
Marco lifted it.
Beneath it, hidden inside a hollow base, was a small metal box.
Renato opened it.
Inside sat an old voice recorder.
Three cassette tapes.
And an envelope.
TO RENATO.
His hands started shaking.
He inserted the first cassette into the recorder.
Static filled the chapel.
Then a man’s voice spoke.
Renato closed his eyes.
His father.
“If you are hearing this, then I failed to stop Gabriel.”
Nobody moved.
Antonio continued.
“He has been stealing from the foundation for six years.”
Renato covered his mouth.
“And tonight, I am going to confront him.”
The recording crackled.
“If something happens to me, do not trust the death certificate.”
My skin prickled.
Then Antonio said one final thing.
“Vittorio knows part of the truth. Gabriel knows he does. Protect your uncle before Gabriel silences him too.”
Renato’s eyes opened.
“Vittorio.”
Marco immediately called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then his phone received a location alert from one of Vittorio’s vehicles.
Marco looked up.
“It stopped twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“St. Andrew’s Memorial.”
The hospital.
The same place Antonio Moretti died.
The same place I overheard the poisoning plan.
May you like
And somewhere inside it, Vittorio had just disappeared.
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