Chapter 3 - Echoes in the Hallway
Living in the Callahan mansion was like living inside a well-oiled machine,
silent,
efficient,
and deadly.
Every morning,
a tray of food was brought to our room,
and every afternoon,
Lily was allowed to play in the massive,
walled-in garden.
Roman was mostly a ghost,
a man seen in the back of black cars or heard in low,
urgent conversations in the study.
But I felt his eyes on us,
always,
through the security cameras that dotted the ceilings.
One evening,
after Lily had finally fallen asleep in the massive canopy bed,
I wandered out into the hallway.
The house was quiet,
save for the distant tick of a grandfather clock.
I found myself drawn to the study,
the heavy mahogany doors slightly ajar.
Roman was sitting behind his desk,
the only light coming from a single green-shaded lamp.
He was staring at a stack of old files,
his face lined with a weariness that made him look a decade older.
“You should be sleeping,”
he said,
not looking up.
“I can't,”
I replied,
stepping into the room.
“This house is too quiet.”
“It’s the silence of things left unsaid,”
he murmured,
finally closing the file.
He gestured to the chair across from him,
and I took it,
feeling the weight of his attention.
“Tell me about him,”
he commanded,
though his voice was surprisingly gentle.
“Tell me about the Caleb you knew.”
So I told him.
I told him about how Caleb would hum to Lily while she was still in my womb.
I told him about the way he’d fix cars for the elderly neighbors for free.
I told him about the night he bought a tiny pair of yellow boots,
even though we didn't know if we were having a girl.
Roman listened,
his hands steepled under his chin,
absorbing every detail like a starving man.
“He was always the better one,”
Roman said,
his voice cracking slightly.
“I was the one groomed for the business,
the one taught to be a fist.”
“Caleb was the heart.”
“When he ran away,
I thought he was just being rebellious.”
“I didn't realize he was trying to save something pure.”
He looked at me,
his gaze piercing.
“The people Caleb crossed...
they’re called the Syndicate.”
“They are the shadows that even I avoid.”
“He stole a ledger from them,
something that could bring down their entire operation.”
“He did it to buy his way out,
to buy a life with you.”
My heart skipped a beat,
a cold dread settling in my stomach.
“Then why did he leave us?”
“Because they found him,”
Roman said,
his voice dropping to a whisper.
“He didn't run away from you,
Maya.”
“He led them away from you.”
I felt a sob rise in my throat,
a mixture of relief and agonizing pain.
He hadn't abandoned us.
He had sacrificed everything to keep us invisible.
“And now they know about Lily?”
I asked,
my voice trembling.
“Not yet,”
Roman said,
his expression hardening.
“And they never will.”
“But I need to find that ledger.”
“If I have it,
I have the leverage to end this once and for all.”
“And maybe,”
he added,
May you like
looking at the photo on his desk,
“I can finally bring my brother home.”
