Chapter 3 - The Girl in the Photograph
Sophie spent the next morning at Saint Vincent's.
She nearly turned around three times before entering.
She didn't know what she expected to find.
A record.
A name.
A mistake.
Instead, she found an elderly records clerk named Mrs. Alvarez who remembered the Russo family.
“Twenty-seven years ago?” the woman asked.
“Yes.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“I know.”
“What's your mother's name?”
“Claire Bennett.”
Mrs. Alvarez typed.
Then stopped.
Sophie watched her expression change.
“What?”
The older woman looked up.
“Your mother's file is restricted.”
“Why?”
“I can't access it.”
“You just did.”
“I can see that it exists.”
Mrs. Alvarez lowered her voice.
“You need legal authorization.”
Sophie felt her heartbeat increase.
“Was my mother here when I was born?”
“I can't discuss that.”
“Please.”
“I said I can't.”
Sophie reached into her purse.
She pulled out the photograph of Maria.
Mrs. Alvarez stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“She gave it to me.”
The woman's face went pale.
“Maria Russo?”
Sophie nodded.
Mrs. Alvarez sat back.
“Then you shouldn't be asking me.”
“Why?”
“Because if Maria is involved, then someone is already trying to uncover what happened.”
Sophie leaned forward.
“What happened?”
Mrs. Alvarez looked around.
Then whispered, “A baby disappeared.”
Sophie stopped breathing.
“What baby?”
“The Russo baby.”
Silence.
“Antonio's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
Sophie felt dizzy.
“Was the baby alive?”
Mrs. Alvarez looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did someone take her?”
“No one knows.”
Then the woman's gaze moved to Sophie's face.
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“You have your mother's eyes.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Mrs. Alvarez shook her head.
“You have Claire's eyes.”
Sophie felt cold.
“And?”
The woman stared at the photograph.
“You have Maria's eyes too.”
That made no sense.
Sophie left the hospital with more questions than answers.
Outside, a black SUV waited.
Antonio stood beside it.
She stopped.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I followed you.”
“You followed me?”
“Yes.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“I didn't know where else you would go.”
Sophie folded her arms.
“My life is my business.”
Antonio nodded.
“You're right.”
She wasn't expecting that.
“Why are you here?”
He studied her face.
“My mother told me what she showed you.”
Sophie froze.
“The photograph.”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
She almost laughed.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I know my mother.”
He paused.
“She doesn't give people pieces of the past unless she believes they can handle the truth.”
Sophie stared.
“Do you?”
“Handle it?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Honest.”
“I try to be with you.”
That caught her off guard.
Before she could answer, Antonio's expression changed.
He looked over her shoulder.
“Sophie, get in the car.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
Three men emerged from a parked van.
Antonio pushed Sophie behind him.
Luca appeared from the other side of the SUV.
The street erupted into confusion.
No graphic violence.
Just shouting.
Running footsteps.
Sirens in the distance.
Within seconds, the three men fled.
Antonio turned.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked anyway.
His hands stopped at her shoulders.
She stared up at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
“Why do you care?”
His eyes remained on hers.
“I don't know.”
Then Luca approached.
“We found something.”
He handed Antonio an envelope.
Inside was an old hospital bracelet.
BABY GIRL BENNETT.
Date of birth.
Twenty-seven years ago.
Sophie looked at it.
Her knees weakened.
“You said Bennett.”
Luca nodded.
Antonio's expression changed.
“Sophie.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“No, that can't be.”
Antonio took the bracelet.
He looked at the date.
Then at Sophie.
The same date.
The same hospital.
He whispered, “Your birthday.”
Sophie stared at him.
He looked at her as though seeing her for the first time.
The impossible possibility became real.
“You might be…”
He couldn't finish.
Sophie did.
“Your daughter?”
The words hung between them.
Antonio's face became unreadable.
Then he stepped back.
“No.”
Sophie felt a strange flash of disappointment at his refusal.
“You don't believe me?”
“I don't believe anything until I have proof.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
“You should come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to tell you what I know.”
He took a breath.
“My daughter was supposed to have been killed.”
Sophie stared at him.
“What?”
“That's what I was told.”
“By whom?”
“My wife.”
“Your wife?”
“Claire Bennett.”
Sophie stopped.
“My mother.”
Antonio nodded.
She didn't understand.
“Why would she tell you the baby died?”
“Because the night she disappeared, someone came to the house.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened?”
“She left with the baby.”
“Then where did I come from?”
Antonio looked at her.
“That is what we're going to find out.”
They returned to Maria.
When Maria saw Sophie standing beside Antonio, tears appeared in her eyes.
“You know.”
Sophie nodded.
“I think I might.”
Maria stood slowly.
“Come here.”
Sophie approached.
Maria touched her cheek.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Antonio stared.
“Mama.”
Maria looked at him.
“She is your daughter.”
The room went silent.
Antonio's face drained of color.
“No.”
Maria nodded.
“Yes.”
“But the baby died.”
“That is what I let you believe.”
His voice sharpened.
“You lied to me for twenty-seven years?”
“I was protecting her.”
“From what?”
Maria looked at Sophie.
“From your father.”
Antonio froze.
“My father?”
Maria nodded.
“Your father ordered the baby killed.”
The room became silent.
Sophie felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath her.
Antonio's father had been dead for years.
But his influence had never died.
And suddenly, the most feared mafia boss in Brooklyn realized that the woman he'd been protecting for years was not a stranger.
May you like
She was his daughter.
And someone had already tried to kill her once.
