Chapter 4 - The Photograph
We escaped through the drainage tunnel beneath the warehouse.
Peter barely survived the journey.
When we reached the street, two SUVs were waiting.
I ordered them to take Peter to a safe house.
Then I returned to the hospital.
Emma was awake.
Lucia sat beside her.
The moment Emma saw me, she knew something had changed.
“You found something.”
“Yes.”
I placed the photograph on the table.
Her eyes widened.
“That’s my mother.”
“You know this picture?”
She nodded.
“I’ve seen it before.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“My mother.”
“When?”
“Before she got sick.”
I stared at her.
“Did she ever mention my father?”
Emma frowned.
“No.”
“Did she ever mention the Castellano family?”
“No.”
“Kolov?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered, “Once.”
My heartbeat changed.
“What did she say?”
“She told me to stay away from men with snake tattoos.”
Lucia stood.
“What else?”
“She said some families carry debts for generations.”
I looked at my sister.
My father.
Emma’s mother.
Kolov.
There was a missing piece.
And I intended to find it.
“Emma,” I said, “your mother wasn’t only a housekeeper.”
She looked confused.
“My mother cleaned houses.”
“She worked for my father.”
Emma went still.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found records.”
“What kind?”
“Payments.”
Emma shook her head.
“My mother never worked for rich people.”
“Then someone lied to you.”
The room was silent.
I hated what I was about to ask.
“Do you remember your father?”
Emma looked down.
“My mother said he died before I was born.”
“Do you know his name?”
“No.”
“Your birth certificate?”
“Lost.”
“What about family photographs?”
“Most were destroyed.”
I looked at the photograph again.
There was a date written in the corner.
January 17, 2006.
Emma was born in October 2006.
Nine months.
My blood went cold.
“What is it?” Lucia asked.
I didn’t answer.
Emma noticed the expression on my face.
“Dominic?”
I showed her the date.
She stared.
“That was nine months before I was born.”
“Yes.”
The door opened.
Marco entered.
“Boss.”
He handed me a folder.
“We found Daniel.”
Emma sat upright.
“Where?”
Marco hesitated.
“He’s alive.”
She closed her eyes in relief.
“Where is he?”
“In a private clinic.”
“Why?”
“He was injured.”
“How?”
Marco looked at me.
“Two men grabbed him six days ago.”
Emma started crying.
“What did they do?”
“They questioned him.”
“About what?”
Marco placed another photograph on the bed.
It showed Daniel bound to a chair.
On the wall behind him was a snake painted in black.
Emma covered her mouth.
“They asked him about you,” Marco said.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the photograph.
There was writing beneath the snake.
TELL DOMINIC HIS FATHER LIED.
Emma looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Marco spoke.
“There’s more.”
He handed me a second photograph.
This one showed Daniel sitting beside another man.
An older man.
My father.
I stared at the image.
The room seemed to shrink.
Emma whispered, “Who is that?”
I couldn’t answer.
May you like
Because there was only one question in my head.
Why was my dead father photographed with Emma’s brother?
