Chapter 3 - The Locked Pantry
Chloe did not run.
Her knees wanted to.
Every practical instinct she possessed told her to grab her coat, leave through the alley, and never come back to Il Canto.
But Beatrice was still holding her wrist.
Gabriel was still staring at the words on the back of Leo's newspaper clipping.
And someone was still standing outside the mahogany doors.
Gabriel raised one finger to his lips.
It was not a request for silence.
It was an order.
He crossed the room without making a sound.
Chloe watched his hand disappear beneath his jacket.
She did not want to know what was there.
Beatrice squeezed her wrist harder.
Gabriel opened the door.
Marco nearly fell into the room.
He carried a tray with three untouched desserts.
His face went white.
"Mr. Costello."
Gabriel looked past him.
The corridor was empty.
"Were you listening?"
Marco shook his head too quickly.
"No."
"Then why were you standing against my door?"
"I was bringing dessert."
"You usually knock with your ear?"
Marco looked at Chloe.
It was the wrong thing to do.
Gabriel's attention shifted with his gaze.
"You two have a problem?"
"No," Chloe said.
Marco answered at the same time.
"Yes."
Chloe closed her eyes.
Gabriel waited.
Marco swallowed.
"Her shift ended an hour ago."
"Then pay her overtime."
"I don't think she should stay."
Gabriel's expression changed by less than an inch.
It was enough to make Marco step backward.
"Why?"
Marco looked at Beatrice.
Then at the clipping.
Then at Chloe again.
"Because nothing good happens when employees get involved in family business."
Chloe stared at him.
"How do you know this is family business?"
Marco's face went blank.
The question landed harder than she expected.
Gabriel closed the door behind him.
"Put the desserts down."
Marco obeyed.
"Now answer her."
"I don't know anything."
"You knew enough to tell her to leave."
"I know your reputation."
Gabriel's mouth tightened.
"That answer insults both of us."
Beatrice signed something sharply.
Chloe watched.
He is scared of Rocco.
Chloe's eyes went to Marco.
He could not understand Beatrice's hands.
But he understood that she had said something about him.
His breathing changed.
Gabriel saw it too.
"Translate."
Chloe did.
"She says Marco is scared of Rocco."
Marco's shoulders dropped.
For a moment, he looked older than his fifty-three years.
"Everybody is scared of Rocco."
"Not me," Gabriel said.
Marco met his eyes.
"Maybe you should be."
Silence swallowed the room.
Chloe felt Beatrice's grip tighten again.
Gabriel's voice went quiet.
"Explain."
Marco looked toward the camera in the corner.
"Not here."
Gabriel followed his gaze.
Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and made one call.
"Kill the camera feed in VIP."
He waited.
"Now."
A tiny red light in the corner blinked off.
Marco exhaled.
"Rocco asked me who served your mother last week."
Gabriel's face stayed still.
"Why?"
"He wanted to know if she had tried to communicate with anyone."
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
The older woman's expression was grim.
"And what did you tell him?" Gabriel asked.
"That nobody here signs."
Marco looked at Chloe.
"Until tonight, I thought that was true."
A cold feeling moved down Chloe's back.
"Did he ask about me?"
"Not by name."
"That's not an answer."
Marco rubbed one hand over his mouth.
"He asked whether the new server with the dead brother still worked here."
Chloe stopped breathing.
Gabriel turned very slowly toward her.
"How would Rocco know about Leo?"
"I don't know."
"Who here knows?"
"Human resources."
Marco hesitated.
"And me."
"Anyone else?"
"I don't know."
Chloe felt anger begin to burn through the fear.
"You told me he was dangerous five minutes ago."
"I told you everyone around that table was dangerous."
"You didn't mention that one of them had been asking about my dead brother."
"Because I was trying to keep you alive."
"By keeping me ignorant?"
Marco flinched.
Beatrice signed.
Men love that method.
Chloe almost laughed.
She did not translate.
Gabriel looked at his mother.
"What now?"
Beatrice pointed at Chloe.
Then she touched two fingers to her own eyes.
Then she pointed toward the door.
Chloe understood.
Watch her.
Gabriel misunderstood.
"You want her watched?"
Beatrice slapped the table in frustration.
Chloe raised her hands.
No.
She wants someone to keep eyes on me because she thinks I'm in danger.
Beatrice nodded.
Gabriel looked at the newspaper clipping again.
"You're not going home alone."
Chloe laughed once.
"You don't get to decide that."
"Someone in my organization knew your brother before you walked into that room."
"That is exactly why I don't want one of your people following me home."
Gabriel stared at her.
She stared back.
Beatrice raised both hands between them.
Stop.
Neither noticed.
She slapped Gabriel's arm again.
He looked down.
She pointed to Chloe and then to herself.
Chloe translated.
"She says she'll come with me."
Gabriel's answer was immediate.
"Absolutely not."
Beatrice folded her arms.
The family resemblance became obvious.
"Ma."
She looked away.
Gabriel spoke more slowly, as if volume had ever been the problem.
"You are not leaving with a waitress I met thirty minutes ago."
Beatrice's eyes flashed.
Chloe signed before she could stop herself.
He called me a waitress like it's a disease.
Beatrice smirked.
Gabriel saw the smirk.
"What did you say?"
"Confidential communication."
His jaw flexed.
Marco coughed into his hand.
Then the kitchen lights went out.
The entire restaurant dropped into darkness.
Someone screamed near the bar.
A pan crashed in the kitchen.
Emergency lights flickered on a second later, painting the corridor red.
Gabriel moved instantly.
He stepped between the door and his mother.
"Stay here."
Beatrice grabbed Chloe's sleeve.
Marco opened the door a crack.
"Generator should have kicked in."
"It didn't," Gabriel said.
His phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
"What?" Chloe asked.
He turned the phone toward her.
The security system showed twelve cameras.
Eleven were black.
One was still working.
It showed the kitchen pantry.
A man in a dark suit was standing beside the shelves.
Rocco.
He was looking directly into the camera.
Then he lifted one hand.
He held a green hoodie.
Chloe's stomach dropped.
Leo's green hoodie.
The same one from the newspaper photograph.
Rocco smiled at the camera.
Then the feed went black.
Chloe reached for the door.
Gabriel caught her.
"No."
"That's my brother's."
"I know."
"Let go of me."
"He's baiting you."
"Then it worked."
She tore free and ran.
Gabriel swore and followed.
The kitchen was chaos under red emergency lights.
Employees crowded near the back exit.
Marco shouted for everyone to stay calm.
Chloe pushed past him.
The pantry door was closed.
She pulled the handle.
Locked.
"Rocco!"
No answer.
Gabriel arrived behind her.
"Move."
He kicked the door beside the latch.
The frame cracked.
He kicked it again.
The door flew inward.
The pantry was empty.
No Rocco.
No green hoodie.
Only one thing rested on the floor beneath the camera.
A small silver pendant.
Chloe recognized it immediately.
Leo had worn it every day from the time he was fourteen.
She bent down slowly.
Her fingers closed around the metal.
Something sharp pressed into her palm.
The pendant had been opened.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Taped beneath it was a strip of paper.
Chloe unfolded it.
There was an address she did not recognize.
Beneath the address were two words.
ASK BEATRICE.
A sound came from the doorway.
Chloe turned.
Beatrice stood there with Marco behind her.
The moment she saw the pendant, all color left her face.
Her hands rose slowly.
Chloe watched.
I told him to hide that.
Chloe's throat tightened.
"You gave this to Leo?"
Beatrice nodded.
Gabriel stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Chloe showed him the key.
Beatrice signed again.
The truth your father buried.
Gabriel's face emptied.
"Translate."
Chloe did.
May you like
For the first time that night, Gabriel Costello looked afraid.
