Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE PIER
Gabriel stared at his uncle for so long that the grandfather clock behind us became unbearable.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Finally he said, “My father stopped you from meeting Daniel?”
Salvatore nodded.
“Where?”
“At the old Romano restaurant in the North End.”
“What time?”
“Shortly after midnight.”
Daniel’s watch had stopped at 2:17.
The numbers suddenly felt closer.
Gabriel crossed his arms.
“Why?”
“Anthony had discovered Daniel planned to leave Boston with Enzo Bellini.”
“And?”
“And your father believed Enzo was stealing his son.”
Sofia’s mouth tightened.
“My father wasn’t stealing anyone.”
“I know that now.”
“But not then.”
“No.”
Salvatore looked tired.
“Anthony told me Daniel had changed the meeting from Pier Seven to Pier Nine and that I was not to go.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“Daniel changed it?”
“That’s what Anthony said.”
Sofia looked at Elena.
Elena shook her head before anyone asked.
Then she signed.
DANIEL HATED PIER NINE.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Why?”
BAD LIGHTING. NO PUBLIC ROAD. HE NEVER USED IT FOR PRIVATE MEETINGS.
I translated.
Salvatore frowned.
“That I didn’t know.”
Sofia spoke slowly.
“So someone chose a place Daniel would never choose, then told different people Daniel had chosen it.”
Gabriel picked up Daniel’s watch.
“And my father knew enough afterward to hide him.”
No one answered.
The room was no longer divided between innocent and guilty.
It was filled with people who had hidden pieces of the same night for different reasons.
That was worse.
Gabriel looked at Sofia.
“You came into my life looking for proof.”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone encourage you?”
Sofia stiffened.
I saw it before he did.
She was frightened of this question.
“Answer him,” Salvatore said.
Her head snapped toward him.
“Don’t you dare.”
Gabriel looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Sofia pressed her lips together.
Then she walked to the window.
“When I moved back to Boston three years ago, I attended the Saint Matthew winter benefit.”
Gabriel nodded.
“That’s where we met.”
“It’s where you and I met.”
She turned.
“But two hours before that, Salvatore spoke to me.”
Gabriel looked at his uncle.
Salvatore said nothing.
Sofia continued.
“He recognized me. Told me he was sorry about my father. Told me Daniel’s death had ruined both families.”
“What else?”
“He asked if my mother had ever given me anything belonging to Enzo.”
Gabriel’s gaze dropped to the torn photograph.
Sofia nodded.
“I lied. Said no.”
Salvatore exhaled.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“You knew she had something before she ever became part of my life.”
“I suspected.”
“And you watched us get engaged.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“I thought if Sofia found answers, maybe the past could finally stay buried afterward.”
Sofia laughed.
“You mean you thought I could search places you couldn’t.”
Salvatore didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Sofia had used Gabriel.
But Salvatore had used Sofia first.
The villain and the victim had switched places without either becoming innocent.
Elena signed.
HE ALWAYS DOES THIS.
Gabriel looked at her.
“What?”
MAKES PEOPLE CARRY THE PART HE DOES NOT WANT TO TOUCH.
Salvatore’s face hardened.
“That’s unfair.”
Elena’s hands moved faster.
YOU LET ANTHONY BE THE TYRANT.
YOU LET ENZO BE THE TRAITOR.
YOU LET SOFIA BE THE THIEF.
AND YOU STOOD BESIDE EVERY STORY.
Salvatore understood every word.
His face changed with each one.
Gabriel whispered, “Translate it.”
I did.
When I finished, Salvatore looked ten years older.
“I did not hurt Daniel.”
Elena signed.
THEN HELP US PROVE WHO DID.
Salvatore stared at her.
Finally he nodded.
“Father Michael.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“What about him?”
“He knew who changed the pier.”
“Why didn’t he tell anyone?”
“He tried.”
Salvatore sat again.
“After Daniel died, Michael demanded Anthony go to the police.”
Gabriel almost smiled at the absurdity.
“My father?”
“Exactly.”
“What happened?”
“Anthony told him there were things he didn’t understand. Men who would retaliate. Businesses that would collapse. Families who would choose sides.”
“And Michael?”
“He told Anthony fear did not become honorable just because a father felt it.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
She remembered.
Salvatore continued.
“Two weeks later, Michael left the parish.”
“Was he forced out?”
“No.”
That mattered.
“He left because he refused to bless another Romano family event.”
Sofia crossed her arms.
“And nobody thought that was suspicious?”
“In this family?” Salvatore said softly. “We called it disagreement.”
Gabriel picked up his coat.
“We’re going to Quincy.”
Elena stood.
Gabriel shook his head.
“Ma—”
She signed before he finished.
I AM GOING.
He stopped arguing.
Sofia reached for her own coat.
Gabriel looked at her.
She met his eyes.
“My father was part of those thirty-six hours. You don’t get to tell me this isn’t mine.”
A long pause.
Then Gabriel nodded.
Salvatore stood too.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You stay here.”
Salvatore’s expression darkened.
“You think I’ll run?”
“No.”
Gabriel looked at his security chief standing outside the study.
“I think you’ve had nine years to move pieces around. For the next two hours, you don’t move at all.”
Salvatore looked hurt.
Gabriel looked worse.
But nobody argued.
We left Boston just before nine.
The retirement home outside Quincy sat beside a small Catholic church overlooking gray water.
Father Michael Brennan was eighty-one.
Thin.
White-haired.
Sharp-eyed.
When Elena entered his room, he began crying before she reached the chair.
He signed badly.
But he signed.
SORRY.
Elena took his hands.
Then Gabriel placed Daniel’s watch on the table.
Father Michael stared at it.
“You found the coat.”
Gabriel’s voice was controlled.
“We found the ticket too.”
The priest looked at me.
“Hannah interprets for my mother.”
He nodded.
Then Gabriel asked the question.
“Who changed the meeting to Pier Nine?”
Father Michael looked at Elena.
She lowered her eyes.
He looked back at Gabriel.
“Your brother told us before he died.”
Gabriel’s fingers tightened around the watch.
“Who?”
Father Michael did not answer immediately.
Instead, he reached toward a small wooden box beside his bed.
Inside was a Romano family rosary.
Not Enzo’s.
Black beads.
Silver crucifix.
Gabriel recognized it.
“My father’s.”
“Anthony gave it to me the morning Daniel died.”
“Why?”
“He wanted me to hear his confession.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
I thought the answer had finally arrived.
It hadn’t.
Father Michael placed the rosary in Gabriel’s hand.
“Your father did not order what happened at Pier Nine.”
Gabriel exhaled.
Then Father Michael continued.
“But he knew who changed the meeting.”
Sofia leaned forward.
“Who?”
The old priest looked directly at Gabriel.
“The man Daniel trusted to drive him there.”
Gabriel went still.
“Daniel had his own car.”
“Not that night.”
“Who drove him?”
Father Michael’s eyes filled with grief.
“Your brother took Anthony’s car.”
Gabriel frowned.
Then Father Michael said the sentence that turned the story again.
May you like
“Daniel wasn’t the intended passenger.”
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