Chapter 4 - The Pocket Watch
"Leo," Roman said, his voice dangerously still. "Where did you get that watch?"
The boy looked down at his ankle, then pulled the heavy gold timepiece over his heel. It was far too big for him, secured only by a piece of twine tied through the chain loop.
"The nice nurse gave it to me," Leo whispered, wiping his nose. "Maria. She said I had to keep it secret. She said if the bad lady made me go to sleep, the watch would keep me safe."
Adriana let out a sharp, derisive laugh. "Oh, please. Maria stole that watch weeks ago. She probably gave it to the boy to hide her tracks when she realized I was onto her."
"Maria loved this family," I heard myself say. I stood up, my fear suddenly replaced by a burning, protective anger. I couldn't let her do this. Not to Maria. Not to this little boy. "She wouldn't steal a family heirloom and tie it to a child's ankle with twine."
"Shut your mouth, you desperate little maid," Adriana hissed.
"No," Roman said.
He stood up, holding the gold pocket watch. He pressed the latch. The cover popped open.
"My father," Roman said to the silent room, "was a paranoid man. He didn't just carry a watch to tell time. He had a jeweler in Sicily hollow out the back casing."
Roman dug his thumbnail into the edge of the gold dial. With a soft click, the face of the watch popped off, revealing a hidden compartment beneath the gears.
Adriana took a step back. She didn't know about the compartment. I could see the genuine shock on her face.
Roman pulled a tiny, folded slip of thick paper from the hidden space. He unfolded it.
It was a baggage claim ticket from 30th Street Station.
"Marco," Roman ordered, tossing the ticket to his head of security. "Take two men. Go to the station. Bring back whatever bag this belongs to. Do not open it until you are standing in front of me."
"Yes, Boss." Marco caught the ticket and vanished out the side door.
Roman turned his cold, dark eyes back to his fiancée. "Maria didn't steal this watch, Adriana. She used it to hide a message. Because she knew you were watching her."
"You're trusting a runaway nurse and a thieving maid over me?" Adriana cried, tears welling in her eyes. It was a beautiful performance. "I love you, Roman! I have done nothing but try to protect your estate!"
"Then why did you run a background check on my maid?" Roman asked.
Adriana froze. "What?"
Roman held up the child's drawing on the pharmacy receipt. "This receipt is dated three months ago, Lily. You started working here two months ago."
My heart pounded. Roman was smart. Too smart.
"She planted it," I said, my voice steadying. "She investigated me before I was even hired by the agency. She chose me."
"Why?" Roman asked, stepping closer to me. The scent of his cedar and amber cologne cut through the tension in the room.
"Because my younger brother works the night shift at a Sunoco gas station in South Philly," I said, locking eyes with Roman. "A gas station owned by the Moretti family."
A collective gasp went around the table.
Adriana’s family.
"She wanted a maid with a sick mother and a brother completely at the mercy of the Moretti payroll," I continued, the pieces finally clicking together in my own mind. "She needed someone vulnerable. Someone nobody would believe if they claimed they were being framed for poisoning the DeLuca matriarch."
Adriana’s face twisted with pure, unfiltered hatred. The elegant society woman vanished, replaced by the ruthlessness of a mobster's daughter.
"You're nothing," Adriana spat at me. "You scrub my toilets. You think anyone in this room believes a word you say?"
"I believe her," a voice said.
Everyone turned.
Roman’s mother, Carmela DeLuca, was standing in the doorway of the dining room, leaning heavily on a cane.
She looked pale, fragile, but her eyes burned with the same intense fire as her son's.
"Mother," Roman said, rushing to her side to support her arm. "You shouldn't be out of bed."
"If I stayed in bed, that viper would have me in a casket by Tuesday," Carmela rasped, glaring at Adriana.
Carmela looked at me. "The maid is right. Adriana didn't act alone."
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Carmela reached into the pocket of her silk robe and pulled out a heavy, rusted iron key.
"Maria gave this to me the night she disappeared," Carmela said. "She whispered that if she ever went missing, I should send Roman to the old greenhouse."
