Chapter 4 - THE BLUE BRACELET
Dante called me before noon the next day.
“Can you come earlier?”
“Is Sophia okay?”
“She had a difficult night.”
“I'll be there in an hour.”
When I arrived, Mrs. Alvarez met me at the door. “She's been waiting.”
Sophia was sitting on the floor beside the stairs. Her stuffed rabbit rested in her lap. She looked up the moment I entered and held out her hand.
I took it gently. “Would you like to draw?”
She nodded.
Dante was in the study with two men. He came out when he heard us.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.”
His eyes looked tired. “Did you speak to Salvatore?”
“Yes. He says he has no idea why Sophia wrote his name.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I don't know what I believe yet.”
We sat in the family room. Sophia drew a small blue circle, rubbed it out, then drew it again, larger this time.
“Is that a bracelet?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Does your mommy wear a blue bracelet?”
Another nod.
“Do you know where it is?”
Sophia's eyes filled. She pointed toward the upstairs hallway.
Dante moved closer. “Isabella's bracelet?”
Sophia pressed the paper against her chest.
He led us upstairs to a room that had been kept exactly as Isabella left it. A pale blue scarf hung over a chair. A book lay open on the nightstand. Photographs of Sophia as a baby lined the dresser.
Dante stopped at the doorway.
“I haven't changed anything.”
Sophia walked to the dresser and pointed at the top drawer.
Dante opened it. Inside were jewelry boxes, folded scarves, and a small velvet pouch. The blue bracelet was missing.
“Was it here?” he asked.
Sophia nodded.
“Did someone take it?”
Her face crumpled. She pressed her hands to her ears.
I crouched beside her. “It's okay. You don't have to tell us everything.”
She reached into the pocket of her cardigan and pulled out a small silver charm shaped like a star.
Dante stared. “That's from the bracelet.”
Sophia nodded and held it out.
“Did Mommy give it to you?” I asked.
Another nod.
“Do you remember what she said?”
Sophia's lips moved. No sound came.
I hummed the little melody my grandmother had taught me.
Sophia looked at me.
Then she whispered, barely audible, “Hide.”
Dante went still.
“What, sweetheart?”
Sophia pressed the charm into my palm and pointed toward the closet.
I opened it. Behind a row of dresses, a small wooden panel sat slightly loose near the floor. I eased it open.
Inside was a narrow space.
There was a folded envelope.
Dante reached for it, but stopped.
“Do you want me to?” I asked.
He nodded.
The envelope had no name. Inside was a single sheet of paper, written in a hurried hand.
Dante,
If Sophia is showing you the star, then she remembers more than I hoped she would. Do not trust the people who tell you I left willingly. I had to go before they took her too.
Keep her away from Salvatore.
I will contact you when it is safe.
I love you both.
I.
Dante read it twice. His face had become very still.
Sophia began to cry without making a sound.
He knelt in front of her.
“Your mommy didn't leave because she stopped loving you.”
Sophia stared at him.
“She loves you. She wanted you safe.”
The little girl reached toward him, then hesitated.
Dante did not move closer.
He waited.
At last, Sophia placed one hand on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes.
I stepped away to give them space. Then I noticed something else inside the hiding place: a tiny brass key taped to the back of the panel.
I lifted it carefully.
“Mr. Russo?”
He turned.
I held out the key.
He looked at it, then at the letter.
“Where does it go?”
“I don't know.”
Dante closed his fingers around it.
May you like
“But I think we're about to find out.”
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