Chapter 4 - A Father at the Other End of the Table
They met in Maya’s conference room.
Griffin chose the chair nearest the door.
Roman sat beside the window.
Salvatore arrived with Luca and a lawyer, but Griffin told him she wanted Luca outside.
Salvatore agreed.
Then she asked his lawyer to wait too.
Maya remained.
“This isn’t a negotiation,” Griffin said.
“No,” Salvatore replied. “It isn’t.”
He looked at Roman.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Griffin watched the years move across their faces.
Anger.
Grief.
The terrible embarrassment of having loved someone whose life continued without you.
“You look tired,” he said finally.
Roman laughed without humor.
“I’m fifty years old and frightened. It’s not a flattering combination.”
He lowered his eyes.
Griffin pushed the investigator’s invoice across the table.
“Why was your brother looking for her?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted the records before he knew I was questioning them.”
Maya spoke.
“We’ve advised preserving evidence and avoiding any confrontation that could place people at risk.”
Salvatore nodded once.
Griffin studied him.
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
His face changed.
“Yes.”
“What did you think happened to me?”
He swallowed.
“I thought you died with her.”
For the first time since the restaurant, Griffin felt something beyond anger.
Not trust.
Something more dangerous.
Pity.
Salvatore took a small leather wallet from his jacket and removed a folded piece of paper.
He placed it on the table rather than handing it to her.
An ultrasound photograph.
The edges had softened almost to cloth.
Griffin looked at Roman.
Her mother was crying silently.
“He had another copy,” she whispered.
Salvatore stared at the image.
“I carried it through six different wallets.”
Griffin did not touch it.
Not yet.
“Why didn’t you identify her yourself?”
“I was injured the night the car was found.”
Roman lifted her head.
“What?”
“Someone shot at my car outside a warehouse. I spent nine days in the hospital.”
Roman stared at him.
“Adrian said you were away.”
“He handled the arrangements. He told me the remains were too badly damaged.”
Griffin felt the room shift.
Two stories.
Carefully separated.
One man moving between them.
Maya made a note.
“Who else dealt with the identification?”
“An investigator named Paul Voss. A funeral director. My brother’s attorney.”
“Are they alive?”
“Voss is. The attorney retired. The funeral director died.”
Roman pressed a hand against her chest.
Griffin turned.
“Mom?”
“I’m all right.”
“You don’t have to be.”
Salvatore started to rise, then stopped when Griffin moved first.
She brought water.
Adjusted the chair.
Waited until Roman’s breathing settled.
When Griffin sat again, Salvatore looked devastated.
“What?”
“I should have known how to help her.”
“You haven’t been here.”
“I know.”
The simple answer made her angrier than an argument.
She wanted somewhere to put everything.
Finally, she said, “You can pay for a test if you want confirmation. Through a proper lab. No private doctor in your house.”
“Yes.”
“And if you’re my father, that still doesn’t mean I move into your life.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t think you do.”
He looked at the ultrasound.
“Then you can tell me until I do.”
Before leaving, Griffin asked one more question.
“Are people afraid of you because of stories, or because you’ve hurt them?”
His lawyer might have stopped him.
His brother might have lied.
Salvatore looked directly at her.
“Because I’ve given them reasons.”
Griffin nodded slowly.
It was the worst answer.
It was also the first one that made her think he might be capable of telling her the truth.
Outside, Luca was waiting.
His phone rang.
He answered, listened, and went pale.
May you like
Then he looked at Salvatore.
“Adrian knows.”
