Chapter 4 - The Photograph Beneath Her Door
Daniel Whitaker smiled when Sophie entered the café the next morning.
That was the worst part.
He looked exactly as he always had.
Gray hair.
Wire-framed glasses.
Brown cardigan.
A retired school administrator drinking black coffee while reading a newspaper folded precisely in half.
Normal.
Comforting.
Familiar.
“Sophie.”
He stood and hugged her.
She forced herself to hug him back.
“Everything okay?”
“I need to ask you about my dad.”
Something changed in his eyes.
Only for a second.
But after spending hours around Julian Romano, Sophie had learned to notice tiny changes.
She sat.
Daniel did too.
“What about Thomas?”
“Were you at Grand Central Storage yesterday?”
His fingers stopped around his coffee cup.
“No.”
Sophie placed her phone on the table.
A still image from the security footage appeared.
Daniel stared at it.
“That’s not me.”
“It is.”
“Sophie—”
“Why were you there?”
He looked toward the window.
“There are things you don’t understand.”
“Then explain them.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Your father got involved with dangerous people.”
“The Romanos?”
“Yes.”
“Julian says someone inside his family killed him.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You talked to Julian Romano?”
“I sat next to him at a concert.”
“Stay away from him.”
“Why?”
“Because men like that destroy everything around them.”
“Did he destroy my father?”
Daniel said nothing.
Sophie leaned forward.
“You were driving behind Dad when he crashed.”
His eyes closed.
“I should have stopped him.”
“Stopped him from what?”
“From going to meet Alessandro Romano.”
Sophie’s pulse jumped.
“Why was he meeting Alessandro?”
“Your father had proof.”
“Of what?”
Daniel looked around the café.
Then reached into his coat.
For one terrifying second, Sophie wondered if Julian’s world had already changed how she saw ordinary gestures.
Daniel produced a folded sheet of paper.
An old bank statement.
Several transfers had been highlighted.
Millions of dollars.
From Romano Maritime.
To shell companies.
Daniel pointed to a signature.
Vittorio Romano.
“Julian’s uncle?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father believed Vittorio was laundering money through construction projects.”
“For himself?”
“No.”
“Then for whom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A coalition of men who wanted control of the docks. Politicians. Contractors. Criminal organizations. Vittorio was one piece.”
“And you knew?”
“I helped Thomas.”
Sophie stared at him.
“You followed me yesterday.”
“I saw the photo from the concert online.”
“What photo?”
Daniel turned his phone toward her.
A gossip account had posted Sophie and Julian sitting together.
ROMANO’S MYSTERY WOMAN?
Thousands of comments.
Sophie’s stomach dropped.
Daniel continued.
“I knew the moment your name became connected to his, someone would start looking into you.”
“Someone already did.”
She told him about the envelope.
Daniel went pale.
“Then you need to leave Chicago.”
“I have twenty-six students who think multiplication is a human-rights violation. I’m not abandoning them because someone sent a creepy photograph.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“I know.”
Daniel took her hand.
“Thomas died because he wouldn’t walk away.”
“Or because the people around him were too afraid to help.”
The words hurt them both.
Daniel released her.
“I tried.”
“Then help now.”
Before he could answer, the café door opened.
Julian entered.
The room seemed to notice him.
Conversation dropped slightly.
Daniel stood.
“You brought him?”
“I did not.”
Julian approached.
“I told you not to go anywhere alone.”
Sophie sighed.
“Good morning to you too.”
Daniel stared at Julian with open hatred.
“You’re Alessandro’s boy.”
Julian’s expression cooled.
“You’re Whitaker.”
“You know me?”
“My father mentioned you.”
“Before or after your family got Thomas killed?”
Sophie stood.
“Enough.”
Both men looked at her.
“This may surprise you, but I’m the person whose father actually died. So perhaps the two powerful men in the room could stop competing over who gets to be angrier.”
Neither responded.
Sophie pointed at Daniel.
“You’re going to tell Julian everything.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Neither do I.”
Julian glanced at her.
Sophie continued.
“But my father’s recording specifically mentioned Julian.”
Daniel froze.
“What recording?”
That reaction told Sophie something.
He had not known about the tape.
She explained.
Daniel sat slowly.
When she finished, he whispered, “Then Thomas trusted Alessandro more than he told me.”
Julian pulled out a chair.
“What did Thomas find?”
Daniel looked at him.
“A ledger.”
“I know.”
“He separated the pages.”
“Where?”
“I only knew about one location.”
Sophie leaned forward.
“Saint Agnes?”
Daniel’s face confirmed it.
That afternoon, they entered the abandoned community center.
Dust covered the old hallways.
Sophie had taken piano lessons there until she was sixteen.
Her mother had taught children in Room 4B.
The piano was still there.
Out of tune.
Covered with a sheet.
Sophie sat on the bench.
Her father’s clue echoed in her mind.
Where your mother taught you that courage sometimes looks like music.
She pressed middle C.
Nothing.
The key stuck.
Sophie frowned.
She lifted it.
Something metallic clicked beneath.
Julian removed the panel.
Inside was a narrow envelope wrapped in plastic.
Sophie pulled it free.
Ledger pages.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
One name appeared repeatedly.
V. Romano.
Another appeared beside it.
D. Vale.
Dominic Vale.
Julian’s family attorney.
Sophie looked at Julian.
“Your lawyer.”
“My godfather.”
Before either could say more, a sound came from the hallway.
Glass breaking.
Julian pushed Sophie behind the piano.
“Stay down.”
“Don’t order—”
“Please.”
That single word silenced her.
Footsteps approached.
Marco’s voice sounded through Julian’s earpiece.
“We have movement outside.”
A shadow crossed beneath the door.
Then stopped.
The handle turned.
Julian moved in front of Sophie.
The door opened.
But instead of an attacker, an elderly woman stood there.
She raised both hands.
“Please don’t hurt me.”
Sophie recognized her.
“Mrs. DeLuca?”
The woman had worked at Saint Agnes when Sophie was a child.
Mrs. DeLuca stared at Sophie.
Then began crying.
“I knew you’d come eventually.”
“You knew about this?”
“I knew your father hid something.”
She reached into her purse.
“I promised Thomas I would give you this only if you came back with a Romano.”
She handed Sophie a sealed envelope.
On the front was written:
FOR SOPHIE AND JULIAN.
Inside was one photograph.
Thomas Carter.
Alessandro Romano.
And a third man.
Dominic Vale.
On the back, Thomas had written:
ONE OF US IS LYING.
Sophie looked up.
Julian had gone pale.
“Dominic was with my father the night he died.”
“And mine?”
Julian nodded.
Sophie’s breath caught.
May you like
Suddenly, the most trusted man in the Romano organization had become the most dangerous suspect in the city.
And he was expecting Julian for dinner that very night.
