Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF KEEPING QUIET
“You saw Uncle Victor give a man money?”
Gabriel kept his voice gentle.
Benjamin nodded.
The child trauma specialist raised one hand slightly.
Gabriel understood.
He stopped questioning.
Benjamin had finally begun speaking again.
The last thing Gabriel wanted was to turn every conversation with his son into an interrogation.
The specialist placed the wooden figures back on the table.
“You did a good job telling us what you remember, Benjamin,” she said.
The boy looked toward Olivia, who was waiting by the library door.
“Can I have my book?”
“Of course,” Olivia answered.
He took Catherine's storybook and sat beside her.
Gabriel watched him turn the pages.
The revelation had shaken him.
But Benjamin's comfort mattered more than forcing another answer.
Later, the specialist spoke privately with Gabriel.
“His memories may come in pieces,” she explained. “Don't pressure him to make them fit what adults already believe.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He's been silent for eighteen months.”
“And now he's beginning to feel safe enough to speak. Protect that.”
Gabriel looked through the window toward the library.
“I will.”
That afternoon, Miles reviewed the estate's old financial records.
A payment had been made from Victor's private operating account the day Catherine died.
The amount was $8,500.
The recipient was a small maintenance company that had closed sixteen months earlier.
Miles found the owner's name.
Daniel Mercer.
Mercer had previously worked as a security technician on several DeMarco properties.
He had also been employed at the shipping terminals.
Gabriel remembered him vaguely.
A quiet man with graying hair who always carried a metal tool case.
Miles located Mercer at a repair shop near the industrial district.
He agreed to speak only after Miles explained that independent investigators were reviewing Catherine's death.
Gabriel accompanied him.
Mercer stood behind a workbench, wiping grease from his hands.
When he saw Gabriel, his face changed.
“Mr. DeMarco.”
“We need to discuss the staircase.”
Mercer looked toward the door.
“I don't know anything about that.”
Gabriel placed a copy of the payment record on the workbench.
“Then explain this.”
Mercer stared at the paper.
His shoulders sagged.
“I thought they wanted an inspection.”
“Who hired you?”
“Victor.”
“Did you remove the mounting screws?”
Mercer hesitated.
“Yes.”
Gabriel felt a wave of anger.
“Why?”
“Mr. Victor said the railing needed to look damaged so the insurance company would approve a complete replacement.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“You made a staircase unsafe for an insurance claim?”
“I was supposed to put everything back.”
“Did you?”
Mercer swallowed.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Someone came upstairs while I was working. I panicked and left.”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Catherine.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Mercer continued.
“She asked what I was doing. I told her there was an inspection. She said she'd already had a carpenter there.”
“What happened next?”
“She told me to leave the tools and get out.”
Gabriel remembered Catherine's handwritten note.
She had seen someone working on the railing.
She had understood something was wrong.
“Did Victor know you hadn't fixed it?”
Mercer looked ashamed.
“I told him.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“And what did he say?”
“He told me not to worry about it.”
Miles spoke quietly.
“Did he know Mrs. DeMarco would be using those stairs?”
“Yes.”
Mercer lowered his head.
“He said she'd be busy downstairs with a family meeting. He promised he'd keep everyone away from the landing.”
Gabriel wanted to grab the man.
Instead, he stepped back.
“Will you repeat that to the investigator?”
Mercer's eyes filled.
“Mr. DeMarco, I have grandchildren.”
“And my son lost his mother.”
Mercer looked down.
After a long silence, he nodded.
“I'll tell them.”
Gabriel left the shop without another word.
Outside, he stood beside his car, struggling to breathe.
Victor had hired Mercer.
Victor knew the railing was unsafe.
And Victor had brought Catherine into a confrontation that ended at the staircase.
The pieces were coming together.
But one question still haunted Gabriel.
Why had Victor allowed Catherine onto that landing?
At the estate, Rebecca was waiting in the guesthouse.
She had asked for a private conversation.
Gabriel almost refused.
Then Miles told him she had provided the investigators with foundation banking records that Victor hadn't disclosed.
Gabriel entered the sitting room.
Rebecca stood immediately.
“I heard you found the maintenance man.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He admitted removing the screws.”
She looked relieved.
“Then you know I didn't do it.”
“You knew Victor planned to frighten Catherine. You signed the access authorization and said nothing about the danger.”
Rebecca's relief vanished.
“I know.”
Gabriel sat opposite her.
“Why did you stay involved with me after Catherine died?”
Rebecca looked down.
“I didn't plan it.”
“That's not an answer.”
“We were spending time together through the foundation. You were grieving. I thought you needed someone who understood your world.”
“And you understood it because you'd helped hide what happened?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“At first, I was afraid of what Victor would do if I stayed away.”
“And later?”
Rebecca's voice dropped.
“I fell in love with you.”
Gabriel looked at her sadly.
“Love doesn't survive without honesty.”
“I know that now.”
Rebecca pressed a hand to her forehead.
“I kept thinking I could become someone different. That if I loved you enough, the terrible things I'd done would somehow disappear.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“They don't disappear.”
She nodded.
Then she handed him a small photograph.
It showed Catherine and Rebecca standing outside the children's foundation two weeks before Catherine died.
Both women were smiling.
Gabriel stared at it.
“Why do you have this?”
“Catherine gave it to me.”
Rebecca began crying again.
“She told me I could still do the right thing.”
Gabriel studied his wife's face.
Even then, Catherine had been trying to help someone who was betraying her.
“What happened on the landing?” he asked.
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“I told you. Victor grabbed Catherine's arm. She pulled away.”
“And then?”
Rebecca stared toward the window.
“The railing moved.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“She grabbed it?”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor push her?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't think he meant to.”
“Rebecca.”
She closed her eyes.
“I saw her lose her balance.”
“And?”
Rebecca's voice broke.
“I reached for her.”
Gabriel waited.
“Did you catch her?”
Rebecca began trembling.
“For a second.”
Gabriel's chest tightened.
“You were holding Catherine?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Her hand. I had her hand.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Then why did she fall?”
Rebecca couldn't answer.
Gabriel stood.
“Why did my wife fall if you were holding her?”
Rebecca covered her face.
“Because I was scared.”
He felt the world grow strangely quiet.
“Scared of what?”
“Victor was screaming. Catherine was shouting for help. I thought the railing was going to break completely.”
“And you let go?”
Rebecca sobbed.
“I didn't know what to do.”
Gabriel stepped backward.
He imagined Catherine reaching toward another woman.
Someone she'd tried to protect.
Someone who had promised to help her.
And that woman releasing her hand.
Gabriel turned away.
He couldn't bear to look at Rebecca.
But before he reached the door, she called after him.
“Gabriel, there's something else.”
He stopped.
“After Catherine fell, Victor told me she was dead.”
Gabriel looked back.
Rebecca's face was wet with tears.
“But she wasn't.”
Gabriel went completely still.
“What?”
Rebecca gripped the chair.
“I heard her breathing. I told Victor we needed an ambulance.”
Gabriel felt his knees weaken.
“What did he do?”
“He told me to go downstairs and keep Evelyn away from Benjamin.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Did you call for help?”
Rebecca began crying harder.
“Not immediately.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
Gabriel's voice became a whisper.
“How long, Rebecca?”
She couldn't look at him.
“Almost twenty minutes.”
Gabriel pressed his hand against the wall.
He remembered waiting outside the hospital that night, praying Catherine would wake up.
He remembered the surgeon explaining that her injuries were catastrophic.
And now he understood that she had been left lying on the staircase while the people around her protected themselves.
Gabriel turned toward the door.
Rebecca called after him.
“There's one thing you still don't understand.”
He looked back.
She swallowed.
“Victor wasn't the person Catherine was trying to get away from when she reached for the railing.”
Gabriel stared.
May you like
Rebecca's next words barely escaped her lips.
“She was trying to get away from me.”
