Chapter 3 - The Song With No Ending
By dinner, every servant in the mansion knew the new maid had survived being fired by a miracle.
Marisol knew better. A miracle didn’t come with two armed shadows following her to the laundry room.
Mrs. Constance found her folding sheets. “Where did your father learn that tune?”
“He made it up. At least, that’s what he told us.”
“Lena Barlow played it on the piano here. Over and over. Three nights before the crash.”
“Did she know my father?”
“Everyone knew Mateo. He drove Giata to rehearsals. He carried her music, fixed the heating, made the guards laugh. He was a good man.”
“Then why didn’t anybody say so?”
Constance’s eyes filled. “Because good men can still be buried under bad stories.”
Upstairs, Giata had refused her evening sedative. Dr. Mercer’s instructions were posted beside her bed in block letters, but she had hidden the tablet beneath a napkin.
“You’re not supposed to do that,” Marisol said when Giata showed her.
“I’m also not supposed to stay awake after eight, get angry, or ask questions. Apparently those are all symptoms.”
Marisol pulled a chair near the window. “Want to talk about Lena?”
Giata glanced toward the covered piano. “She was the only person who told me when I played badly. Everyone else applauded because my last name scared them.”
“Sounds like somebody worth missing.”
“She was.” Giata swallowed. “We were leaving Chicago. We had tickets. Lena said she had proof something ugly was happening at my brother’s foundation.”
Marisol leaned forward. “What proof?”
“I don’t remember. Just that she was terrified, and I kept telling her Elias would protect us.”
“You thought he knew?”
“I thought he knew everything.”
A soft click came from the ceiling vent.
Marisol looked up. “Your heating on?”
“No.”
Another click. Almost electrical.
Marisol climbed onto the low stool, reached into the vent, and felt cold metal under her fingers. She pulled free a black device no bigger than a matchbox. A tiny green light blinked on its side.
Giata stared at it. “What is that?”
Marisol had once cleaned offices for a private security company. She knew a wireless microphone when she saw one.
May you like
Before she could answer, the device vibrated in her palm. Its green light turned red.
Someone had just realized they were listening.
