Chapter 7 - The Little Girl Who Remembered Everything
Adeline wasn't crying.
That frightened Daniel Price more than if she had screamed.
She sat on an old wooden chair inside the boathouse with her legs swinging above the floor.
“Where Mama?”
Daniel stood near the window.
“She's coming.”
“Uncle Vin coming?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Probably.”
Adeline studied his hand.
“Funny finger.”
Daniel froze.
She remembered.
“You were office.”
He walked toward her.
Adeline hugged herself.
Daniel stopped.
Something about her face reminded him painfully of Gabriel.
His younger brother had looked at him that way once.
Not afraid.
Disappointed.
“You look like your father,” Daniel said.
Adeline frowned.
“My daddy in heaven.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Your mother told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you his name?”
“Daddy.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
Of course.
Vincent and Marcus approached the boathouse from opposite sides.
Camille was supposed to remain behind.
She ignored them.
“My daughter is in there.”
Vincent said, “Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Camille.”
“She is my child.”
Vincent looked at her.
Then nodded.
“Beside me.”
They entered.
Daniel stood behind Adeline.
No weapon was visible.
Marcus remained near the door.
Vincent stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Daniel smiled.
“Always giving orders.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with it.”
Camille's voice broke.
“She's your brother's daughter.”
“I know.”
“You killed him.”
Daniel's expression changed.
Adeline looked between the adults.
Camille immediately regretted saying it.
Daniel shook his head.
“Raymond killed Gabriel.”
Vincent said, “Raymond says you did.”
“Raymond lies.”
“So do you.”
Daniel laughed.
“Ask the girl.”
Everyone looked at Adeline.
Daniel crouched.
“Tell them what you saw in the office.”
Adeline frowned.
“Uncle Vin hurt.”
“Before that.”
“Hat man.”
“Yes.”
“What did Hat Man do?”
Adeline looked toward Vincent.
“He put paper.”
Daniel stopped smiling.
Vincent asked gently, “What paper, Addie?”
“Under desk.”
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“What paper?”
Daniel's face hardened.
Adeline continued.
“Hat man dropped it.”
Daniel suddenly moved toward her.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Adeline slid from the chair and ran toward Camille.
Camille caught her.
Daniel didn't stop her.
His attention had shifted entirely to the office.
“What did she see?” Vincent asked.
Daniel remained silent.
Marcus understood.
“You left something behind.”
Daniel backed toward the dock.
“What?”
Vincent pressed.
“Something you couldn't retrieve because Adeline entered the room.”
Daniel looked at him.
Then Vincent knew.
Evidence.
Daniel had attacked him, panicked, and fled.
But he had dropped something.
And Adeline had seen where it went.
Vincent crouched beside her.
“Addie, what did the man put under the desk?”
“Little black thing.”
“A phone?”
She shook her head.
“Smaller.”
“A key?”
“No.”
Marcus said, “Flash drive?”
Adeline brightened.
“Like Mama computer.”
Daniel ran.
Marcus's men were waiting outside.
Within seconds, he was surrounded.
Daniel stopped at the end of the dock.
There was nowhere left to go.
He looked at Vincent.
“You think you're different from me?”
Vincent said nothing.
“You built the same world.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel seemed surprised.
Vincent continued.
“But I'm ending mine.”
Daniel was arrested.
No gunfight.
No revenge.
No body in the bayou.
Just handcuffs.
For Vincent Castellano, that was perhaps the greatest proof that he had changed.
Back at the estate, Marcus searched beneath the desk.
Adeline stood beside him.
“Over there.”
She pointed.
Marcus moved a wooden panel.
Behind it was a tiny black flash drive.
Daniel had hidden it when Vincent began to regain consciousness.
He had intended to return.
The drive contained records of everything.
Transfers.
Threats.
Payments.
Recorded conversations.
And one audio file from the night Gabriel died.
Raymond's voice was unmistakable.
Daniel's too.
Together, the evidence destroyed the network they had spent years building.
Federal investigators arrested Raymond that afternoon.
Peter Vance cooperated.
Lena Morales surrendered and provided testimony about the financial operation and Daniel's attack on Vincent.
Her choices would have consequences, but her testimony helped establish the truth about Gabriel.
Sofia was cleared.
Anthony stayed beside Vincent.
And for the first time in decades, the Castellano family stopped solving its problems in shadows.
But Camille still intended to leave.
Three days later, Vincent found her packing.
Adeline was asleep on the bed.
“You're going.”
Camille folded a sweater.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“North Carolina. My cousin has a place.”
Vincent nodded.
“Good.”
Camille looked surprised.
“You're not going to argue?”
“No.”
“You always argue.”
“I've been told it's one of my less charming qualities.”
She almost smiled.
Vincent placed an envelope on the dresser.
Camille's expression hardened.
“I told you—”
“It's not money.”
She opened it.
Inside was a deed.
Not to a mansion.
Not to some extravagant property.
A modest house outside Asheville.
In Camille's name.
She stared at him.
“This is money.”
“Technically real estate.”
“Vincent.”
He sighed.
“Then don't take it.”
“What?”
“Sell it. Burn the deed. Give it away. I don't care.”
“Why?”
“Because your daughter saved my life.”
Camille's eyes filled.
“You don't owe us.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
Vincent looked at sleeping Adeline.
“Maybe not financially.”
He hesitated.
“But I owe her something bigger.”
“What?”
“A life where she doesn't need to know where emergency buttons are.”
Camille stopped packing.
Vincent continued.
“I can't change what happened. But I can change what happens next.”
For once, Camille had no answer.
Vincent walked toward the door.
Behind him, a sleepy voice said:
“Uncle Vin?”
He turned.
Adeline sat up.
“You leaving?”
“Yes.”
She held out Albert.
“Take.”
Vincent stared at the stuffed alligator.
“Why?”
“He keep you safe.”
Camille covered her mouth.
Vincent walked back.
He took the toy carefully.
“I'll return him.”
Adeline shook her head.
“Yours.”
Vincent looked at Camille.
Then at the child.
His voice became rough.
“Thank you.”
Adeline lay back down.
Vincent left carrying the ridiculous green alligator beneath one arm.
Camille watched him disappear down the corridor.
And suddenly she wasn't certain leaving the Castellano estate was the ending she wanted.
Because perhaps the dangerous house Adeline had entered wasn't the same house they would be leaving behind.
May you like
And perhaps Vincent Castellano wasn't the same man either.
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