Chapter 10 - What Matteo Owed
Abigail found Matteo in the hotel’s closed restaurant after midnight.
He sat alone at a table set for breakfast, looking at an old photograph.
Isabella at seventeen.
A hospital bracelet around her thin wrist.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Abigail said.
“Neither could I.”
She sat across from him.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then she asked the question she had been avoiding.
“Why couldn’t you find me?”
“The hospital wouldn’t give us your private information. They had an old address. You’d moved. Isabella remembered only Abby.”
“I used to go by Abby.”
“What changed?”
“Daniel called me Abigail when he wanted me to know he was serious.”
She smiled faintly.
“Eventually, I liked hearing it.”
Matteo turned the photograph toward her.
“I was in Chicago when she crashed. By the time I arrived, she’d already been through surgery.”
“She kept asking for you.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“I know.”
“She thought you’d be mad about the car.”
He laughed once, painfully.
“I would have bought every car in the world if it meant she walked out.”
Abigail studied him.
“You don’t owe me all this.”
“I know you didn’t ask.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
He leaned back.
“My family has spent years calling things business when they were really fear. Pressure. Men who never needed to raise their voices.”
“Like Richard.”
“Yes.”
“Like you?”
He didn’t look away.
“Sometimes.”
The honesty surprised her.
“Then don’t use me to feel better about it.”
He absorbed the words.
“All right.”
“I want a lawyer. I want my daughter safe. I want Daniel’s name back.”
“And you’ll have my help.”
“Help. Not orders.”
He nodded.
“Help.”
Her phone lit up.
A message from Nora.
Ben’s whereabouts during the alleged theft were supported by the event’s service logs and several witnesses. Nora had contacted the investigating officer.
A small win.
Abigail exhaled.
Then another message arrived.
Different number.
This is Vanessa Sinclair. My father wants me to take responsibility for deleting the footage. I have proof I didn’t.
Abigail read it twice.
A second message followed.
I also have something about your husband.
May you like
She turned the phone toward Matteo.
For once, he had no immediate answer.
