Chapter 9 - What the Tablet Heard
Dante reached for the tablet.
Gabriel pulled it back.
“Are you taking it?”
The fear in his voice stopped his father.
“I need to hear the recording.”
“Last time something bad happened, everybody took Mom’s things.”
Dante lowered his hand.
“You can sit beside me.”
They moved to the kitchen.
Rosa took Rafael and Miguel to finish a puzzle, and Marina sat close enough for Gabriel to lean against her if he wanted.
The video showed mostly carpet.
Gabriel’s younger voice announced a disappearing coin trick.
Then footsteps.
The tablet had apparently been left recording near the hallway.
Elena spoke again.
“I looked at the account statements.”
Beatrice answered too quietly to make out.
Then Elena said, “That money was for families who needed it.
Not for your debts.”
Dante paused the video.
“Elena ran a relief fund,” he said.
Marina glanced at Gabriel.
“Maybe we should finish this without him.”
“I want to know,” the boy said.
“I know.
But knowing every adult problem won’t make you safer.”
Gabriel looked at his father.
For once, Dante didn’t hide behind silence.
“Your mom found something wrong.
We’re checking it.
You helped.”
“Is she in trouble?”
“No,” Dante said.
“She never was.”
After Gabriel left, they played the rest.
A scrape.
A door closing.
Beatrice saying, “Give me until Friday.”
Then the recording ended.
No confession.
No fire.
But the argument was real.
Dante called an attorney, then an independent investigator.
Marina watched him pace.
“Not one of your men?” she asked.
He stopped.
“No.”
“Good.”
He almost smiled.
“You don’t hide what you think.”
“I’ve wasted enough time doing that.”
The relief fund records arrived the next morning.
Payments had gone to companies Elena never approved.
One address led to a mailbox rental.
Another company had been closed for years.
Beatrice controlled the bookkeeping.
By noon, she was gone.
Her closet was half empty.
Her car wasn’t in the garage.
On Marina’s bed lay an envelope.
Inside were photocopies of her overdue rent notices.
Across the top, someone had written:
ASK YOURSELF WHAT SHE’LL DO FOR MONEY.
Marina carried them downstairs.
Dante took one look and called Nico.
Before he could speak, Rosa appeared in the doorway.
May you like
“The boys aren’t in the playroom.”
Outside, a car engine started.
