Chapter 6 - The Night Ruth Could Never Forget
Agnes pulled Ruth behind the counter.
“Stay down.”
Glass covered the floor.
The computer monitor had gone black, but the USB remained plugged into the machine.
Ruth reached for it.
A shadow moved outside.
Then another.
The shop's owner, Daniel, crawled toward the back room.
“There is an emergency exit.”
Ruth ripped the USB from the computer.
“Go.”
They moved quickly.
No gunshots came.
That frightened Ruth more.
Whoever had broken the window did not want chaos.
They wanted something.
The drive.
Daniel unlocked the rear door.
They stepped into an alley.
A black SUV waited twenty yards away.
Its headlights turned on.
“Run,” Ruth whispered.
They reached Agnes's car.
The SUV moved.
Agnes accelerated into traffic.
Ruth looked behind them.
The SUV followed for four blocks.
Then vanished.
Neither woman spoke until they reached Saint Catherine's.
Agnes locked the doors.
“Police.”
Ruth shook her head.
“What?”
“Rafael went to police.”
“That was one detective three years ago.”
“And somebody knew where we were tonight.”
Agnes stared at her.
“You think the police leaked it?”
“I think someone did.”
Ruth immediately called Warden Doyle instead.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
“Mrs. Delgado.”
Nobody called her that anymore.
“Who is this?”
“You found something that doesn't belong to you.”
Ruth's blood turned cold.
Agnes watched her.
“What do you want?”
“The drive.”
Ruth said nothing.
The voice continued.
“Salvatore Bianke is going to die regardless. There is no reason for you to join him.”
The caller disconnected.
Ruth lowered the phone.
Agnes whispered, “Who?”
“I don't know.”
But Ruth did know one thing.
Salvatore had been telling the truth about danger.
At sunrise they made three copies of the drive.
One went into a bank safe-deposit box.
One Agnes mailed to an attorney outside Illinois with instructions not to open it unless Ruth called.
The original Ruth kept.
Then she returned to Stateville.
Salvatore sat down behind the glass.
He took one look at her face.
“You found it.”
Ruth placed Sophia's teddy bear against the glass.
Salvatore's composure broke.
He stared.
“Where?”
“Union Station.”
His eyes closed.
“Miguel did it.”
“You knew he might.”
“I hoped.”
Ruth sat.
“Why was Sophia's backpack there?”
Salvatore breathed slowly.
“Miguel called me that night.”
Ruth's heart stopped.
“When?”
“Forty minutes before the shooting.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me Rafael had given him something.”
“And?”
“I told him to bring it to Union Station.”
Ruth's voice shook.
“You arranged the locker.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I knew Caruso was watching Rafael.”
“Did Miguel tell you Sophia and I were with him?”
“No.”
Ruth looked away.
“If you had known?”
“I would have sent twenty men to protect you.”
“Your men.”
“Yes.”
“The same world that put us in danger.”
Salvatore absorbed the accusation.
“Yes.”
There was no defense in his answer.
That made Ruth's anger harder to hold.
“What happened after Miguel called?”
“I sent a driver.”
“To the station?”
“Yes.”
“He never came.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Salvatore's face darkened.
“The driver was found dead the next morning.”
Ruth closed her eyes.
“So Miguel walked toward the grocery store.”
“I think he realized he was being followed.”
“Why didn't he call police?”
“He probably thought they were compromised.”
Ruth remembered Rafael's recording.
“Rafael said Vincent controlled someone inside the department.”
Salvatore nodded.
“Valez.”
“The detective who died?”
“No.”
Ruth frowned.
“Then who?”
Salvatore shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You've had three years.”
“And no access to investigate.”
Ruth placed the drive against the glass.
“Rafael recorded everything.”
Salvatore looked at it.
“Everything?”
“He names Caruso. Says you didn't know Miguel had us with him. Says Caruso planned to frame you.”
Salvatore lowered his head.
For several seconds he said nothing.
“You can stop the execution,” Ruth said.
He looked up.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Evidence has to be authenticated.”
“We have almost three weeks.”
“Caruso has had three years.”
“Then we move faster.”
Something shifted between them.
For the first time Ruth said “we.”
Salvatore noticed.
He did not comment.
Instead he asked, “Did anyone follow you?”
Ruth hesitated.
His expression sharpened.
“What happened?”
“Someone broke into the shop.”
Salvatore stood abruptly.
The guard moved forward.
“Sit down.”
Salvatore ignored him.
“Were you hurt?”
“No.”
“Agnes?”
“No.”
“Did they see the drive?”
“I don't know.”
Salvatore's jaw tightened.
“Stop investigating.”
Ruth stared at him.
“What?”
“You found enough.”
“Enough to prove you may not have ordered the shooting.”
“Then give it to an attorney and stop.”
“No.”
“Ruth.”
“You spent three years protecting people and telling yourself secrecy would keep them safe.”
His face changed.
“How well did that work?”
The words hurt him.
She could see it.
Good.
He needed to hear them.
Ruth leaned closer.
“Miguel hid the truth because he wanted to protect us.”
Salvatore looked down.
“He died.”
She continued.
“You hid Tomas.”
Silence.
“You're about to die.”
Salvatore's eyes rose.
“So maybe secrecy is not protection.”
Ruth took a breath.
“Maybe truth is.”
Salvatore remained still.
Then he sat again.
“There is someone you need to find.”
Ruth waited.
“My sister.”
“You refused to name her.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Why?”
“Because Caruso knows you have the drive now.”
Ruth's stomach tightened.
“Name.”
“Elena Bianke.”
“Where?”
“Providence.”
Rhode Island.
“What does she know?”
Salvatore looked toward the guard.
Then whispered:
“She knows where Tomas Vale is.”
Ruth stared at him.
The supposedly vanished eyewitness.
Alive.
Potentially reachable.
The one person who could identify the men connected to the shooting.
Ruth stood.
“I'll find her.”
Salvatore reached toward the glass as if he could stop her.
“Ruth.”
She paused.
“If Elena refuses, do not force her.”
“Why?”
“Because she has spent three years believing silence was the only reason her son is alive.”
Ruth stared.
“Her son?”
Salvatore nodded.
“Tomas Vale isn't just a witness.”
He paused.
“He is the father of my sister's child.”
And Ruth realized the conspiracy had not simply surrounded Salvatore.
May you like
It had surrounded his family too.
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