Chapter 4 - The Betrayal in Room 317
“Put it down,” Dominic said.
Catherine’s hand did not shake.
“You first.”
Penelope stood between them.
“This is becoming repetitive.”
Neither looked at her.
Dominic’s eyes remained fixed on Catherine.
“You knew about the tape.”
“No.”
“You brought us here.”
“No.”
“You told her Gabriel was alive.”
“I told her what I saw.”
Penelope stepped away from the line between their guns.
“What exactly are you accusing each other of?”
Dominic answered first.
“Catherine had access to Room 317.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
“And my parents.”
“Yes.”
“So all four of you could have betrayed him.”
Catherine’s jaw tightened.
“That is not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Silence.
Penelope laughed without humor.
“Unbelievable.”
She reached for the recorder.
Dominic said, “Don’t.”
“Why?”
“There may be more.”
“That’s the idea.”
She flipped the cassette.
Side B.
She pressed play.
Nothing.
Then faint static.
Then Gabriel again.
“If this tape survives, Anthony Costa will search for it.”
Dominic lowered his gun slightly.
Catherine did not.
Gabriel continued.
“But Costa wasn’t the one who sold me out.”
Penelope’s heart hammered.
“I made the mistake of trusting someone I loved.”
A sound interrupted the recording.
A child crying.
Penelope frowned.
She looked at Dominic.
He looked equally confused.
Gabriel’s voice softened on tape.
“Eleanor, take Penny downstairs.”
Penelope froze.
“I was here?”
Dominic whispered, “Once.”
She turned.
“You said nothing.”
“You were a baby.”
“That counts as something.”
The tape continued.
“I’m leaving proof in the wall safe. If anything happens to me, Eleanor knows what to do.”
A pause.
Then Gabriel said:
“Dominic, if you’re hearing this, I’m sorry.”
Dominic’s face changed.
Penelope saw pain there.
Real pain.
“I should have listened to you.”
Another pause.
Then:
“Catherine, if you’re hearing this, I forgive you.”
Everyone went still.
Catherine’s gun dropped.
Penelope stared at her.
“What did you do?”
Catherine’s eyes filled with tears.
“I made a phone call.”
Dominic’s expression became lethal.
“To Anthony?”
“No.”
“To whom?”
Catherine looked at Penelope.
“Your grandfather.”
Penelope frowned.
“My grandfather was dead before I was born.”
“No.”
The word hit harder than the slap she had given Vincent.
“My mother said—”
“Your mother lied.”
Penelope backed away.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Catherine lowered herself into the chair.
For the first time she looked old.
Tired.
Human.
“Eleanor’s father was Samuel Vale.”
Dominic swore under his breath.
Penelope recognized the name.
Everyone in New York did.
Vale Industries.
Shipping.
Construction.
Ports.
Politics.
Samuel Vale had been one of the richest men in the city before his death fourteen years earlier.
He had also been connected to decades of corruption investigations.
No convictions.
Of course.
Penelope whispered, “My grandfather was Samuel Vale?”
Catherine nodded.
“Eleanor ran away from him at nineteen.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to control everything. Her education. Her marriage. Her friends.”
“And she met my father.”
“Yes.”
“Who was working for Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Dominic corrected her.
“With me.”
Penelope looked at him.
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes.”
She almost snapped back.
Then stopped.
There were too many truths arriving at once.
Catherine continued.
“Samuel considered Gabriel beneath her. Worse, he considered him dangerous.”
“So you called Samuel.”
“I was frightened.”
“Why?”
“Gabriel had evidence involving the ports. Samuel was implicated.”
Penelope stared.
“You betrayed my father to protect my grandfather.”
“No.”
Catherine stood.
“I called Samuel because I thought he could stop Anthony Costa from killing Gabriel.”
“And?”
“He told me he would.”
Dominic said coldly, “Samuel never stopped anyone from doing anything unless it benefited him.”
“I know that now.”
“What happened?”
Catherine swallowed.
“Samuel told Anthony where Gabriel would be.”
Penelope felt sick.
“So you did betray him.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more.
Catherine’s voice cracked.
“I did.”
Penelope looked away.
Her eyes burned.
“And my mother stayed friends with you?”
“No.”
“She hated me.”
“As she should.”
Dominic turned toward the wall.
“The safe.”
They searched.
Behind a faded painting, they found a recessed panel.
The key fit.
Penelope inserted it.
Turned.
The wall compartment opened.
Empty.
Dominic stared.
“No.”
Catherine stepped closer.
“There was something here.”
Scratches marked the bottom of the safe.
Fresh scratches.
Someone had removed an object recently.
Penelope noticed a folded scrap of paper wedged in the corner.
She pulled it free.
One line.
PENNY — IF THE LEDGER IS GONE, FIND THE MAN WITH THE BROKEN WATCH.
Penelope looked at Dominic.
“What ledger?”
He did not answer quickly enough.
“What ledger?”
Dominic exhaled.
“Gabriel kept records.”
“Of what?”
“Payments. Names. Judges. Police. politicians. Business owners.”
Catherine added, “Enough to destroy half the city’s old power structure.”
“And someone took it.”
Dominic nodded.
“Recently.”
“How do you know?”
“Dust.”
He pointed to the clean rectangle inside the safe.
Penelope looked at the note again.
“The man with the broken watch.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“What?”
“I know who that is.”
Catherine stared.
“So do I.”
Penelope looked between them.
“Who?”
Neither answered.
Penelope slammed the safe shut.
“I am done with dramatic pauses.”
Dominic rubbed his jaw.
“Anthony Costa.”
“Vincent’s father?”
“Yes.”
“But he’s dead.”
Catherine looked at Dominic.
“Is he?”
Penelope groaned.
“Please tell me at least one dead person in this story is actually dead.”
Neither did.
Before she could ask another question, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Dominic killed the lamp.
Darkness.
He pulled Penelope behind the wall.
Catherine took the opposite side.
The footsteps stopped outside.
A shadow entered.
Then another.
Dominic waited.
Penelope held her breath.
A flashlight beam swept across the room.
One man whispered, “Safe’s open.”
Another answered, “They were here.”
Penelope recognized the second voice.
Vincent.
Dominic moved silently.
Penelope grabbed his sleeve.
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
Not yet.
Vincent entered farther.
“Find the tape.”
The first man opened drawers.
“There’s nothing.”
“Then Moretti has it.”
Vincent sounded angry.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
Silence.
His expression changed.
“When?”
Another pause.
“No. Don’t touch her. I’m coming.”
He ended the call.
Penelope exchanged a glance with Dominic.
Her?
Vincent turned to leave.
Penelope made a decision.
She stepped from the shadows.
“Looking for me?”
Vincent froze.
His guard reached for his weapon.
Dominic appeared behind Penelope.
“Bad idea.”
Catherine emerged too.
Vincent laughed.
“You brought the whole family.”
Penelope crossed her arms.
“Who called you?”
“No one.”
“A woman?”
“None of your concern.”
She stepped closer.
“Everything tonight seems to become my concern eventually.”
Vincent’s gaze dropped to the recorder.
“You heard it.”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Enough.”
His smile disappeared.
“Then you know Moretti lied.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Vincent continued.
“Ask him why your father’s blood was found in Dominic’s car.”
Penelope looked at Dominic.
He went still.
“What?”
Vincent smiled.
“Still leaving out details, Dominic?”
“Shut up.”
“No.”
Vincent looked at Penelope.
“The police found Gabriel’s blood in the trunk of Dominic Moretti’s car the night he disappeared.”
Penelope stared at Dominic.
“Is that true?”
Dominic did not deny it.
Her chest tightened.
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Why?”
“I can explain.”
“Of course you can.”
Vincent chuckled.
Penelope turned on him.
“And you’re enjoying this too much for someone innocent.”
“Never said I was innocent.”
“Did your father kill mine?”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“I don’t know.”
“Is Anthony Costa alive?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Penelope stepped toward him.
“Where is he?”
Vincent shook his head.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
He looked at the note in her hand.
“Who has the broken watch now?”
Penelope frowned.
“You said that was your father.”
“It was.”
“Was?”
Vincent reached beneath his jacket.
Dominic raised his gun.
Vincent slowly removed a photograph.
He tossed it onto the floor.
Penelope picked it up.
A recent image.
Her mother’s grave.
A man stood beside it.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Face partly turned away.
But Penelope knew the profile.
She had spent twenty years trying to forget it.
Her father.
Gabriel.
Alive.
On his wrist was a broken gold watch.
Penelope could barely breathe.
“When was this taken?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Yesterday.”
Then the corridor lights flickered on.
A phone began ringing from somewhere inside the room.
Not Penelope’s.
Not Dominic’s.
An old landline sat on the bedside table.
Impossible.
The hotel had no active service.
Yet it rang again.
And again.
Penelope walked toward it.
Dominic said, “Don’t answer.”
She picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man’s voice.
Older.
Familiar.
“Penny?”
Her knees nearly collapsed.
“Dad?”
A soft breath came through the line.
Then:
“If Dominic is standing beside you, get away from him now.”
The line went dead.
May you like
Behind Penelope, Dominic whispered one word.
“Gabriel.”
