“Every employee who has worked here for years has accepted gifts from my family. Jewelry. Money. Favors. Every one of them has a connection to someone.”
“And me?”
“You never asked for anything.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Then Emilio reached beneath his chair and pulled out an old photograph.
He handed it to me.
It showed a younger Emilio standing beside a woman.
She was holding a little girl.
I stared at the girl’s face.
Something about her looked familiar.
“Who is she?”
Emilio’s expression changed.
“My daughter.”
I looked at him.
“You have a daughter?”
“Had.”
He swallowed.
“She disappeared nineteen years ago.”
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
“How?”
“We were told she died.”
“Were you told?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Emilio looked directly at Rafe.
“By my brother.”
The door suddenly rattled.
Someone outside was trying to open it.
Emilio reached for his cane.
“Don’t unlock it.”
I stepped away.
Then we heard Mrs. Tunney’s voice.
“Mr. Corsaro?”
Emilio didn’t answer.
She called again.
“Mr. Corsaro, you need to come upstairs immediately.”
Emilio looked at me.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Mrs. Tunney is standing beside you.”
I turned.
There was no one there.
Then the voice came again.
