Chapter 6 - The Driver Who Disappeared After Elena Died

Tomas Rivas refused to return to New York.

He agreed to meet investigators in a county office in New Jersey.

Rico wanted to go.

Dante told him no.

For once, Rico listened.

Clara learned later that Tomas had spent six months moving between cheap apartments because he believed both the Moretti family and Gabriel wanted him dead.

Neither was true.

Not exactly.

Gabriel had wanted him silent.

Rico had not known he existed.

Tomas gave his statement with an attorney present.

Six months earlier, Gabriel had called him personally.

Change Elena’s vehicle.

Use the blue SUV.

Do not list the actual driver until after departure.

Tomas had argued.

Gabriel told him Rico approved it.

Then he offered him twenty thousand dollars.

Tomas accepted.

“What happened after the shooting?” Rico asked over speakerphone.

“I called Mr. Gabriel.”

“Why?”

“Because he told me to report when Mrs. Moretti left the event.”

Rico stopped breathing.

Tomas continued.

“He didn’t answer before. He answered after.”

“How long after?”

“Maybe two minutes.”

“And what did he say?”

“Go home. Delete our messages. Leave town for a while.”

Dante placed an old phone on the table.

Tomas had kept it.

Fear had made him disobedient.

The messages were still there.

GABRIEL: BLUE VEHICLE ONLY.

TOMAS: MRS M DOESN’T LIKE LAST MINUTE CHANGES.

GABRIEL: RICO APPROVED.

TOMAS: DRIVER?

GABRIEL: I’LL HANDLE IT.

That was not proof of murder.

But it was proof Gabriel had lied.

He had told Rico he knew nothing about the vehicle change.

There was more.

Tomas had also kept a voicemail Elena left him the afternoon she died.

“Tomas, someone changed my car again. Please call me before I leave tonight.”

Her voice was calm.

Almost annoyed.

Not frightened.

That made it worse.

Rico listened three times.

Then he walked away from the table.

Clara found him in the hallway.

His hands were shaking.

“I should have known.”

“No.”

“I should have known something was wrong.”

“You were not inside her head.”

“She was my wife.”

“That doesn’t make you psychic.”

His eyes flashed.

“Do not make excuses for me.”

“I’m not.”

Clara lowered her voice.

“I’m telling you guilt is not evidence.”

He stared at her.

She continued.

“Your son needs you to find out what happened. Not punish yourself until there’s nothing left of you.”

For a long moment, Rico said nothing.

Then he nodded.

“Stay tonight.”

It was not an order.

Clara noticed.

“I can’t keep staying every night.”

“Why?”

“Because Leo is starting to believe he needs me to be okay.”

Rico’s face tightened.

“He does need you.”

“No.”

She shook her head.

“He needs safety. Routine. Therapy. You.”

“I don’t know how to do what you do.”

“Then learn.”

The words were blunt.

But this time Rico did not look offended.

He looked frightened.

That was different.

The next morning, Leo’s psychologist came to the mansion.

Clara sat outside the playroom.

Rico sat beside her.

For forty minutes, neither of them heard crying.

When the door opened, the psychologist smiled.

“He spoke about his mother.”

Rico stood.

“What did he say?”

“I’m not going to give you every detail of his session.”

Rico blinked.

Clara almost smiled.

Apparently there were two women in Brooklyn who could tell Rico Moretti no.

The psychologist continued.

“But he remembers more about that week than anyone realized.”

“About Gabriel?”

“Possibly.”

She looked at Clara.

“He associates the lion ring with an argument.”

Rico’s face hardened.

“Between Gabriel and Elena?”

“Yes.”

“Did he see the shooting?”

“No.”

Rico exhaled.

The doctor continued.

“But he remembers his mother saying, ‘If Uncle Gabe comes, stay with Daddy.’”

Clara felt cold.

That afternoon, investigators began rebuilding Elena’s final week.

Gabriel had visited the mansion twice.

He had argued with her once in the garage.

Security cameras showed them.

There was no audio.

Then Dante found another detail.

On the day Elena died, Gabriel had canceled one of her usual bodyguards.

He claimed the man was needed elsewhere.

The replacement had been delayed in traffic.

For eleven minutes, Elena’s security detail was smaller than normal.

The shooting happened inside that window.

Rico stared at the timeline.

“Where is Gabriel now?”

Dante answered.

“His attorney says he’s out of town.”

“Where?”

“No one knows.”

Clara’s phone rang.

Her younger brother Evan.

She answered.

“Hey.”

He was breathing too fast.

“Clara.”

She stood.

“What happened?”

“Someone was in your apartment.”

Her stomach dropped.

“What?”

“The door was open when I got here.”

Rico was already watching her.

“Evan, get outside.”

“I did.”

“Call the police.”

“I already did.”

His voice shook.

“There’s something on your kitchen table.”

Clara closed her eyes.

“What?”

“A picture of Mom.”

Rico stood.

Evan continued.

“It was taken yesterday.”

Clara stopped breathing.

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On the back of the photograph were seven words.

TELL MORETTI THE WAITRESS SHOULD STAY QUIET.