Chapter 5 - The Secret Behind the Cellar Door
Rafael did not fire Marin.
He suspended her with pay until the investigation was complete.
Marin hated that almost more.
“I don’t need charity.”
They stood in Rafael’s office the next morning.
“It isn’t charity.”
“I’m not working.”
“You’re under investigation.”
“Then stop paying me.”
“No.”
“Mr. Santoro—”
“Rafael.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“You can call me Rafael when you’re arguing with me.”
“I’m not arguing.”
“You’ve disagreed with every sentence I’ve said.”
Marin looked away.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Abel entered.
“We found something.”
He connected a laptop to the office screen.
Security footage appeared from the cellar corridor.
Marin entered at 12:14 a.m.
Three minutes later, another figure appeared.
Leo Danner.
Rafael leaned forward.
Leo unlocked the cellar.
Marin stepped outside.
They spoke briefly.
Then Leo entered alone.
At 12:31, he emerged carrying a shipping crate.
Rafael looked at Marin.
“You knew.”
She said nothing.
“Why protect him?”
“I wasn’t protecting him.”
“Then who?”
Marin closed her eyes.
“His daughter.”
Rafael frowned.
“Explain.”
“Leo has a daughter named Sophie.”
“I know.”
“She worked here last summer.”
Rafael nodded.
“She quit.”
“No. She was in rehab.”
Silence.
Marin continued.
“She got addicted to pain pills after a car accident. Leo didn’t want anyone to know. He was afraid people would use it against him.”
“What does that have to do with wine?”
“Someone was blackmailing him.”
Rafael’s expression changed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Marin.”
“I swear.”
She took a breath.
“Leo came to me because he knew my mother’s care center has an addiction recovery program attached to it. I helped him find Sophie a bed under another name.”
“And the cellar?”
“He told me he had to move something that night. He asked me to make sure nobody came down the corridor.”
“You agreed?”
“I thought it was paperwork.”
Rafael studied her.
“You never saw the crate?”
“Not until the footage.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because Sophie’s recovery isn’t evidence in your investigation.”
Rafael leaned back.
Abel said, “She’s right about one thing.”
Rafael glanced at him.
“She didn’t remove the bottles.”
“Find Leo.”
---
They found Leo at O’Hare Airport.
He had one suitcase.
Abel brought him back.
Rafael waited in the same warehouse where Warren Pike had signed his contract days earlier.
Leo sat across from him.
The black steel pen was nowhere in sight.
This was not a negotiation.
Rafael placed photographs of the missing wine on the table.
“You stole from me.”
Leo’s eyes were red.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Leo looked at Marin, who stood near the door.
“You told him?”
“I told him about Sophie.”
Leo shut his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Rafael said, “Who was blackmailing you?”
Leo laughed without humor.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“Celeste.”
The room went silent.
Rafael’s face became unreadable.
Leo continued.
“She found out about Sophie months ago. She said if I didn’t cooperate, she’d make sure every society page in Chicago knew Santoro’s financial director had a junkie daughter.”
Marin winced.
Leo looked at Rafael.
“She made me alter the gratuity reports.”
“How much?”
“Almost eighty thousand.”
Rafael’s jaw tightened.
“She took eighty thousand dollars from my staff?”
“Yes.”
“And the wine?”
“She needed cash she couldn’t trace.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Rafael leaned forward.
“Think carefully.”
Leo swallowed.
“She said she was building an emergency fund.”
“For what?”
“She never said.”
Abel stepped forward.
“Emergency fund or escape fund?”
Leo’s silence answered.
Rafael stood.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Rafael Santoro.”
Celeste’s voice came through.
“You humiliated me.”
Rafael looked at Abel.
“How did you get this number?”
“You think I spent four years beside you without learning anything?”
“What do you want?”
“What I’m owed.”
“You stole from waitresses.”
“They’re tips.”
“They earned them.”
Celeste laughed.
“You really have become sentimental.”
Rafael’s voice hardened.
“Return every dollar.”
“No.”
“Then this conversation is over.”
“Not quite.”
A photograph arrived on Rafael’s phone.
Marin’s old silver sedan.
Parked outside Saint Agnes Care Center.
Another photograph followed.
An elderly woman being helped through the entrance.
Marin saw the screen.
Her face went white.
“My mother.”
Rafael’s eyes changed instantly.
Celeste said, “Now we can have a real conversation.”
Marin grabbed the phone.
“If you touch her—”
Celeste laughed.
“So the little waitress does have a voice.”
Rafael took the phone back.
“Celeste.”
His tone was cold enough that Abel looked up.
“You made a mistake.”
“No. You did.”
“What do you want?”
“The engagement isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then the Santoro name is going to suffer a very public scandal.”
“Try me.”
“You’ll meet me tonight. Alone.”
“Where?”
She gave him an address.
Then disconnected.
Marin stepped forward.
“You are not going alone.”
Rafael looked at her.
“That wasn’t a request.”
“Neither is this.”
Abel muttered, “I’m starting to like her.”
Rafael ignored him.
Marin pointed at the phone.
“She dragged my mother into this. I’m coming.”
Rafael shook his head.
“No.”
“You said nobody puts their hands on someone who can’t fight back.”
“Yes.”
“My mother can’t.”
Rafael stared at her.
Marin lifted her chin.
“So don’t ask me to stand behind you while somebody threatens her.”
Rafael considered her for several seconds.
Then he looked at Abel.
May you like
“Get the car.”
---
