Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HER NAME
Ruby was working at a small bakery on the north side when Tomas found her.
She had taken temporary shifts there after leaving the mansion. Her savings were limited, and she had learned never to depend on a single employer.
When Tomas entered, she recognized him immediately.
“Mr. Moretti wants to see you.”
Ruby placed a tray of rolls on the counter.
“I no longer work for him.”
“He knows.”
“Then he knows he has no authority over my schedule.”
Tomas looked uncomfortable.
“I can take you voluntarily, or I can return with a formal request.”
Ruby removed her apron.
“Give me five minutes.”
The ride to the mansion was silent.
Santiago waited in the study. The gray folder lay open on his desk, with Ruby's old clinic photograph placed on top.
She stopped when she saw it.
“You investigated me.”
“I investigate everyone who enters my home.”
“Then you should have done it before firing me.”
His jaw tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me you had worked with Sophia?”
Ruby looked at the photograph.
“Because I wanted her to decide whether she wanted to tell you.”
“She is my sister.”
“She is a person before she is your sister.”
Santiago's eyes narrowed.
“You have a talent for saying things people don't want to hear.”
“I learned it from people who wouldn't listen.”
He pointed to the chair.
“Sit.”
Ruby remained standing.
“What happened at St. Agnes?”
Her face changed.
For a moment, she seemed to be somewhere else.
“I met Sophia three years ago. She was sixteen. She had been transferred there after another failed treatment program. Everyone called her nonresponsive. They said she refused to cooperate.”
“She did refuse.”
“No. She refused to speak to people who treated her like a broken machine.”
Santiago looked away.
Ruby continued.
“She could understand everything. She could read, write, follow complicated instructions, and communicate with her hands. She had developed a small sign system with your mother before she died. It was simple, but it was hers.”
“My mother died when Sophia was twelve.”
“I know.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Your mother taught Sophia to use signs when she was little. After the accident, Sophia stopped speaking. But she never stopped communicating.”
Santiago's voice lowered.
“What accident?”
Ruby held his gaze.
“The night your mother died.”
He went completely still.
“My mother died of a stroke.”
“That is what the official record says.”
“You're suggesting something else?”
“I'm saying Sophia tried to tell people what she saw.”
Santiago stood so quickly that his chair scraped backward.
“What did she see?”
Ruby's hands tightened.
“I don't have the right to tell you without her permission.”
“You came into my house, communicated with my sister, and now you're telling me my mother's death wasn't what I was told.”
“I didn't come to your house to hurt you.”
“Then why did you come?”
Ruby looked toward the staircase.
“To give Sophia a chance to finish what she started.”
Santiago studied her.
“And your brother?”
Her face lost its color.
“Leave Evan out of this.”
“His name is in my security records.”
“He was not part of your business.”
“His employer was connected to my uncle.”
Ruby's eyes filled, but she did not cry.
“Evan was twenty-four. He was a mechanic. He fixed cars and played guitar badly. He had nothing to do with your family's business until someone asked him to repair a vehicle after a private clinic visit.”
Santiago felt the air leave his lungs.
“What vehicle?”
Ruby shook her head.
“I don't know. He called me that night. He said he had found something in the trunk. He said he was going to take it to the police.”
“And then?”
“Then he died.”
Silence filled the study.
Santiago looked at the file again.
“Did you come here to accuse my family?”
“No. I came here because Sophia sent me a message three years ago. I promised her I would come back.”
May you like
Ruby finally sat.
“And because I failed her once.”
