Chapter 4 - The Photograph Maria Tried to Hide
The safe house was two hours north of New York.
It looked nothing like a place Daniel Hale would own.
That was the point.
A modest cedar house sat at the edge of several wooded acres near a lake. No gates. No marble. No chandeliers. No visible guards.
Only four people in Daniel's organization knew the property existed.
After Anthony Rizzo was murdered, Daniel trusted three of them less than he had the day before.
He brought Maria and Sofia there himself.
Marcus followed in a second vehicle with two men Daniel had personally selected.
Sofia slept most of the drive.
Maria did not speak.
Rain streaked the windows.
Daniel drove with both hands on the wheel, eyes moving constantly between the road and mirrors.
After almost an hour, Maria said quietly, "This is because of us."
"No."
"Anthony would be alive if I hadn't come to your house."
"Anthony was involved before you ever walked through my door."
"He was killed because you started asking questions."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"He was killed because someone decided his life was worth less than their secret."
Maria looked out the window.
"That's how Gabriel died."
Daniel said nothing.
At the house, Sofia woke and immediately asked whether there were ducks in the lake.
Daniel stared at her.
"We just survived a sniper attack."
Maria covered Sofia's ears.
"She doesn't understand."
"I gathered that."
Sofia pulled Maria's hands away.
"Are there ducks?"
Daniel looked toward the water.
"Probably."
"Can we feed them?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because they become dependent on people."
Sofia frowned.
"You're weird."
Maria nearly choked.
Daniel gave the child a long look.
Then Sofia smiled.
And against his better judgment, Daniel found himself smiling too.
It vanished when Marcus arrived with news.
Anthony was dead.
No surprise.
The sniper had escaped.
That was worse.
But security footage from a road two miles from Daniel's estate captured part of the vehicle.
A black sedan.
The license plate was stolen.
Daniel sat at the small kitchen table while Marcus spread photographs and reports before him.
Maria made Sofia hot chocolate nearby.
It was an oddly domestic scene.
A mafia boss reviewing an assassination.
A maid stirring milk.
A four-year-old drawing ducks.
Daniel tried not to think about how strange it felt.
Marcus pointed to a photograph.
"We found this in Anthony's office."
It showed Anthony, Gabriel, and several employees at Pier 17 years earlier.
Daniel picked it up.
Gabriel stood in the back row.
Young.
Dark-haired.
Smiling.
Maria approached.
She saw the photograph.
The mug slipped slightly in her hand.
Daniel looked up.
"You've seen this before."
Maria shook her head.
"Maria."
Her eyes stayed fixed on the photograph.
Daniel stood.
"What?"
Maria set the mug down.
Then she walked toward the bedroom where her bag had been placed.
She returned carrying a small wallet.
From inside, she removed an old photograph.
Daniel recognized Gabriel immediately.
The image showed Gabriel standing beside another man outside a diner.
The second man had his back partly turned.
Daniel took the photograph.
"Who is this?"
"I don't know."
"You've had this for four years?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you show me?"
"Because Gabriel told me to burn it."
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
"You didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Maria's voice trembled.
"Because it was the last photograph of him."
Daniel studied the background.
A street sign.
Part of a building.
The other man's profile.
Something about it felt familiar.
Marcus leaned closer.
"Can I?"
Daniel handed him the picture.
Marcus stared.
Then his face changed.
"Boss."
Daniel looked at him.
Marcus pointed toward the second man.
"I think that's Richard."
Daniel stopped breathing.
Richard Hale.
His uncle.
His father's younger brother.
The man who had attended Daniel's school events after his mother died.
The man who had taught him how to drive.
The man who had loaned Daniel money for his first legitimate business.
The man who had told him after Vincent's betrayal, "Family is the only thing you can trust."
Daniel grabbed the photograph.
"No."
Marcus said nothing.
Daniel looked again.
The angle was poor.
But the jawline.
The gray hair.
The posture.
Richard.
Maria whispered, "You know him."
Daniel's voice was flat.
"He's my uncle."
Sofia looked up from her drawing.
"Is he nice?"
Nobody answered.
Daniel walked outside.
The cold air hit his face.
He stood near the lake for several minutes.
Maria eventually joined him.
"Daniel."
He kept looking at the water.
"My father wasn't a kind man."
Maria remained silent.
"But Richard was different."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"At least I thought he was."
"What if it isn't him?"
"It is."
Maria moved beside him.
"You can't know from one photograph."
"I know."
Daniel's voice became quieter.
"He taught me to shoot when I was thirteen."
Maria looked disturbed.
Daniel noticed.
"It was a different childhood."
"I assumed."
Daniel stared across the dark water.
"When my mother died, my father became colder. Richard was the one who sometimes remembered I was a kid."
Maria said, "Then don't decide he's guilty until you know."
Daniel turned toward her.
"That's unusually generous advice from someone whose husband may have been murdered because of him."
"I need the truth. Not revenge against the wrong person."
Daniel studied her.
Gabriel had chosen well.
He almost said it.
Instead, he asked, "Did Gabriel ever mention Richard?"
"No."
"Vincent?"
"Once."
Daniel waited.
"He said Vincent wasn't the smartest man in the room."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
"Anything else?"
Maria thought.
"Gabriel said the person behind everything had been close to your father."
Daniel's expression hardened.
Richard had been his father's closest adviser.
Daniel returned inside.
He called his uncle.
Richard answered on the third ring.
"Daniel."
"Where are you?"
"At home. Why?"
"Stay there."
A pause.
"That sounds dramatic."
"I'll be there tomorrow."
Richard laughed lightly.
"Should I be worried?"
Daniel looked at the old photograph.
"Should you?"
Silence.
Only one second.
Maybe less.
But Daniel heard it.
Richard's voice returned.
"You sound tired."
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Daniel hung up.
Marcus looked at him.
"You heard it too."
"Yes."
Maria watched them.
"What?"
Daniel placed the phone down.
"He was afraid."
That night, Sofia woke from a nightmare.
Maria was in the shower.
Daniel heard the child crying softly from the bedroom.
He stood outside the door for several seconds.
He didn't know what to do.
Confronting armed men was easier.
Eventually, he entered.
Sofia sat beneath the blankets.
Her eyes were wet.
"Mommy?"
"She's in the bathroom."
Sofia sniffed.
"I dreamed Daddy was cold."
Daniel felt the words hit him again.
He sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed.
"What did your mother do when you had bad dreams?"
"Hug me."
Daniel nodded.
He remained seated.
Sofia stared.
"You're supposed to hug me."
Daniel blinked.
"Right."
He opened his arms stiffly.
Sofia climbed into them without hesitation.
Daniel froze.
The child's head rested against his chest.
He could feel her breathing gradually slow.
Something painful moved through him.
Not weakness.
Something else.
Something almost forgotten.
After several minutes, Sofia whispered, "You're warm."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Maria appeared in the doorway.
She stopped when she saw them.
Daniel expected embarrassment.
Instead, she smiled sadly.
He whispered, "Don't."
She whispered back, "I didn't say anything."
"You were going to."
"No."
"Your face was."
Maria leaned against the doorway.
"Sofia likes you."
"She has poor judgment."
The little girl was already falling asleep.
Maria approached carefully.
Daniel looked down at Sofia.
"What was Gabriel like?"
Maria sat beside him.
"He was kind."
"Kind men usually don't survive long around people like me."
"He survived until he tried to protect someone."
"Who?"
Maria looked directly at Daniel.
"You."
Daniel stared.
"Gabriel told me the secret he found could destroy your entire organization. I asked why he cared. You barely knew him."
Her voice softened.
"He said, 'Because Daniel Hale isn't the man everyone thinks he is. And somebody has been turning him into a monster for years.'"
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
Maria continued.
"Gabriel believed someone was manipulating you. Creating attacks. Starting rivalries. Making you retaliate."
Daniel's mind raced through years of violence.
Warehouses attacked.
Deals sabotaged.
Anonymous information.
Enemies identified by Vincent.
Richard advising retaliation.
How many decisions had truly been his?
How many had been engineered?
The question sickened him.
Maria took Sofia gently from Daniel's arms.
As she lifted the child, a small piece of paper slipped from Sofia's pajama pocket.
Daniel picked it up.
A drawing.
Three figures.
Maria.
Sofia.
And a tall man in black.
Daniel.
Above them, in shaky child handwriting, Sofia had written three words.
OUR NEW FAMILY.
Daniel stared at the picture long after Maria carried Sofia back to bed.
He had spent decades building walls so nobody could become something he might lose.
Now a four-year-old had drawn him inside her family without asking permission.
And the next morning, Daniel would confront the man who had once been his closest living relative.
A man who might have helped murder Sofia's father.
A man who might have manufactured half the bloodshed of Daniel's adult life.
But Daniel had no idea that Richard Hale was already preparing for his arrival.
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And this time, Daniel was walking directly into the trap.
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