Chapter 14 - WHAT FINN REMEMBERED
“Three days after Elena’s funeral,” Anthony said, “someone photographed Finn outside his pediatrician’s office.”
“A reporter?”
“We thought so.”
“And Victor?”
“Panicked.”
That word mattered.
Not planned.
Panicked.
“He moved Finn in the middle of the night.”
“Where?”
“A family property outside Chicago.”
“What do sirens have to do with it?”
“Police escorted the convoy.”
My chest tightened.
“For how long?”
“Almost forty minutes.”
Finn was two.
His mother had disappeared.
His father put him into a car with guards.
Sirens surrounded him.
“And Victor?”
“In another vehicle.”
“Why?”
“Security insisted.”
“So Finn thought he was being taken away.”
“Yes.”
“Did he cry?”
“For Victor.”
I closed my eyes.
“And Victor couldn’t hear him.”
“No.”
“Who was with Finn?”
“I was.”
My eyes opened.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I counted breaths.”
My throat tightened.
“The anchor.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Marjorie taught me.”
Everything went quiet.
My mother had taught me that breathing pattern after Dad died.
She had taught Anthony.
Anthony had used it with Finn.
Finn remembered the feeling long after he forgot the man.
Safety stored deeper than language.
“Why didn’t you tell Victor?”
“Because he blamed me for the security leak.”
“But you reported the leak.”
“Yes.”
“Why blame you?”
“My background check was false.”
“Anthony Reed.”
“Yes.”
“You used another identity.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get inside Rossi security.”
“To watch Elena?”
“With her permission.”
Anthony explained that Elena wanted someone outside Victor’s chain of command.
Because another senior security employee had been reporting her movements.
“To who?”
“Victor’s father.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Elena wanted to move Finn into a smaller home.”
“Leave Victor?”
“No. Leave the estate.”
The gates made her postpartum anxiety worse.
Victor’s father considered distance dangerous.
Elena tried to tell Victor.
He thought anxiety was making her suspicious.
Again.
Victor loved her.
And still failed to believe her.
“What happened the day she died?”
“Accident.”
“You’re sure?”
“Rain. Road conditions. Another car changing lanes. No evidence otherwise.”
Relief came strangely.
“What secret was Elena hiding from Victor?”
Anthony answered:
“Me.”
Her brother.
Her past.
Her need for someone beyond Rossi control.
Nothing supernatural.
May you like
Nothing criminal.
Just a truth Victor had never made safe enough to tell.
