Chapter 5 - What Alice's Mother Knew
Alice hadn't spoken about her mother in months.
Not because she didn't miss her.
Because missing Evelyn Brennan had become too exhausting to explain.
Evelyn had been a nurse for thirty-two years.
She worked holidays.
Double shifts.
Snowstorms.
She once drove forty miles during a hurricane because a child in intensive care had asked whether she would come back.
Alice became a nurse because of her.
And resented nursing because of her.
Evelyn gave everything to strangers and arrived home with almost nothing left for herself.
When she died from cancer at fifty-eight, her bank account held $612.
Her daughter inherited medical textbooks, three winter coats and enough debt to make grief feel expensive.
Stefano watched Alice absorb Carmine's message.
"You didn't know?"
"No."
"Your mother never mentioned Matteo?"
"Never."
"The docks?"
"No."
Danny returned with the box.
Alice stared at the hospital bracelet.
It was hers.
From six years earlier.
Appendicitis.
"How did Carmine get this?"
Nobody knew.
That frightened her.
Stefano sat across from her.
"Tell me about your mother."
Alice looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because Carmine thinks she's important."
"That doesn't mean she was."
"Alice."
She hated his tone because it was gentle.
Gentleness made truth harder.
"She worked at Providence General most of her career."
Voss looked up.
"What floor?"
"Emergency. Then surgical recovery."
His face changed.
Alice noticed.
"You knew her."
Voss didn't answer quickly enough.
"You knew my mother."
"Yes."
Alice stood.
"How?"
"She worked the night Matteo came in."
Everything inside Alice went silent.
Stefano stared.
"You said you were there."
"I was."
"And Evelyn?"
Voss nodded.
"She was the nurse assigned to him."
Alice felt as if someone had removed the floor beneath her.
"What happened?"
Voss looked toward Stefano.
"When Matteo arrived, Carmine was already at the hospital."
Danny swore.
"He arrived before us?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I don't know."
Alice stepped closer.
"My mother."
Voss continued.
"Evelyn heard Matteo speaking."
"The message about the books?"
"More than that."
Stefano stood.
"What did he say?"
Voss rubbed his forehead.
"He told her Carmine had arranged the crash."
The room went still.
"And then?" Alice whispered.
"Evelyn tried to call police."
Alice closed her eyes.
Of course she had.
That was exactly what her mother would have done.
"What stopped her?"
"Carmine."
Stefano's voice turned dangerous.
"What did he do?"
"Threatened Alice."
Alice's eyes opened.
Voss looked at her.
"You were twenty."
Her stomach twisted.
"He knew where you went to school. Knew your address. Showed Evelyn photographs."
Alice remembered that year.
Her mother had suddenly insisted Alice transfer colleges.
Suddenly refused to let her walk home.
Started checking windows at night.
Alice thought grief after a coworker's death had made her anxious.
It had been Carmine.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"To protect you."
"Why didn't she tell police later?"
"She tried."
Voss reached into his pocket.
Danny immediately tensed.
Voss slowly removed a key.
"A safe-deposit key."
Alice stared.
"Your mother gave it to me before she died."
Anger rushed through her.
"You had something from my mother for three years?"
"She made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"That I would give it to you only if Carmine ever came after you."
Alice almost laughed.
"He put my hospital bracelet in a burned chapel. Does that qualify?"
Voss looked ashamed.
"Yes."
The safe-deposit box was in Boston.
They drove there the next morning.
Stefano insisted on coming.
Alice stopped arguing after Nero climbed into the SUV before anyone invited him.
Inside the box were letters.
A recording.
And a small notebook.
Alice recognized her mother's handwriting immediately.
Her knees weakened.
Stefano caught her elbow.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"Nobody looks good reading messages from dead parents."
He said nothing.
Alice opened the first letter.
My darling Alice, if you are reading this, then the secret I kept to protect you has found you anyway.
Her eyes blurred.
She continued.
Evelyn explained everything.
Matteo's arrival.
His warning.
Carmine's threats.
But there was more.
Months after Matteo died, Evelyn secretly copied medical records from Stefano's father.
She discovered the medication changes.
She contacted an investigator.
The investigator disappeared.
So Evelyn hid the evidence.
Not because she was afraid of Carmine.
Because she was afraid Alice would become his target.
At the bottom of the letter was one final line.
If Stefano Marquetti is still alive, give him the notebook. He deserves to know his brother died trying to save him.
Alice handed it over.
Stefano read silently.
The notebook contained dates.
Payments.
Dosages.
License numbers.
Names.
Enough evidence to connect Carmine to Voss.
Enough to reopen Matteo's death.
Enough to investigate Stefano's father.
Danny looked stunned.
"This destroys him."
Stefano stared at the pages.
"No."
Alice frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It hurts him."
He looked toward the bank window.
"Carmine will have prepared for documents."
Danny understood.
"We need him admitting it."
"Yes."
Alice closed the box.
"You're going to use me."
Stefano looked at her.
"No."
"He contacted me through the bracelet."
"No."
"Which means he wants me frightened."
"No."
"And frightened people make mistakes."
Stefano stepped closer.
"I said no."
Alice stared.
For the first time his refusal wasn't controlling.
It was personal.
"You almost died because nobody around you questioned Carmine," she said. "Don't repeat that mistake with me."
"This is different."
"Why?"
His jaw tightened.
"Because it's you."
Silence.
Danny looked away.
Voss studied the floor.
Even Nero seemed unusually interested in the opposite wall.
Alice's pulse changed.
"Stefano."
He looked frustrated with himself.
"I won't hand you to Carmine."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Then what?"
"Let him think I'm alone."
"No."
"We record him."
"No."
"You have a better plan?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"Literally anything else."
Alice almost smiled.
"This isn't funny."
"No."
But neither moved.
The space between them had become dangerously small.
Finally Alice whispered, "You hired me because Nero trusted me."
Stefano's eyes lowered briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes.
"That isn't why I'm keeping you."
Her heart kicked.
Before she could answer, Danny's phone rang.
He stepped away.
When he returned, all warmth disappeared from his face.
"Carmine wants to meet."
Stefano turned.
"Where?"
"The old Marquetti shipping terminal."
"What does he want?"
Danny looked at Alice.
"Her."
Stefano's expression hardened instantly.
Danny continued.
"He says he has something Evelyn left behind."
Alice felt cold.
"What?"
"A recording."
"Of Matteo?"
Danny shook his head.
"Of your mother."
Stefano said, "We're not going."
Alice ignored him.
"When?"
"Midnight."
Stefano faced her.
"No."
Alice met his eyes.
"My mother spent seven years protecting the truth."
"Alice."
"She spent the last years of her life afraid because of Carmine."
"I know."
"Then I'm going."
Stefano stepped closer.
"And if he kills you?"
The question came out raw.
Alice stopped.
For a second, neither spoke.
Then Nero growled.
Not at Alice.
Not Stefano.
At the hallway.
Danny reached for his weapon.
The door opened.
One of his men rushed in.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We found a tracking device under Nurse Brennan's car."
Alice's breath caught.
The guard held up a small black unit.
Danny examined it.
"This is ours."
Stefano's expression changed.
"What?"
"Our equipment. Internal inventory."
Only a handful of people had access.
Danny looked toward the security roster.
Then slowly back at Stefano.
One name was missing from the house.
A man who had been with Stefano since childhood.
A man responsible for every route, every safe property and every emergency protocol.
Danny whispered the name.
"Marco."
Stefano stared at him.
Alice felt the trap closing.
Because Marco wasn't merely another guard.
He was Danny's younger brother.
And according to the tracking log, Marco had activated the device three days before Stefano was attacked.
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Which meant Carmine had someone inside Stefano's security team the entire time.
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