Chapter 18 - The Man Sheree Couldn’t ForgiveFor eight years, Anthony Russo had eaten Thanksgiving dinner at Sheree’s table.
He had taught Amelia to ride a bicycle.
He had held her when she was a baby.
He had stood beside Gabriel at their wedding.
And now Sheree knew his hands had killed her brother.
She did not cry.
That frightened Gabriel.
They returned to Chicago before dawn.
Anthony had disappeared.
Police searched.
Federal agents searched.
Gabriel’s remaining security searched.
Nothing.
Sheree went to work.
Gabriel found her twelve hours later in the trauma department.
“You need to come home.”
“No.”
“Sheree.”
“I have patients.”
“You haven’t slept.”
“Neither has half this hospital.”
He lowered his voice.
“You don’t have to pretend you’re okay.”
She turned.
“I’m not pretending.”
Then she walked into a supply room.
Gabriel followed.
She closed the door.
And broke.
“I let him hold my daughter.”
Gabriel caught her.
“I know.”
“I loved him.”
“I know.”
“He sat at Marcus’s memorial.”
Gabriel held her tighter.
“I know.”
She hit his chest.
“You knew he was involved.”
“No.”
“You knew he was in that photograph.”
“I believed his explanation.”
“So did I!”
She pushed away.
“I’m so tired of discovering that every person connected to your family has another secret.”
Gabriel absorbed the blow.
Then quietly:
“So am I.”
Sheree looked at him.
He was crying too.
That stopped her.
Gabriel sat on a box of medical gloves.
“Anthony saved my life more times than I can count.”
“He murdered Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“I want to hate him.”
“You can.”
“I do hate him.”
Gabriel nodded.
Then Sheree whispered:
“And I still love him.”
Gabriel looked down.
“That’s the cruel part.”
They found Anthony two days later.
Not through security.
Through Amelia.
She came home from school carrying an envelope.
“Uncle Anthony gave this to my teacher.”
Gabriel nearly had a heart attack.
Inside was a key.
Sheree recognized it.
Her old apartment.
2B.
They went alone.
Anthony sat on the couch where Gabriel had nearly died eight years earlier.
No weapon.
No guards.
He looked twenty years older.
Sheree entered.
Anthony stood.
She slapped him.
Hard.
He accepted it.
Then she slapped him again.
Gabriel did not interfere.
“Tell me.”
Anthony sat.
Twenty-one years earlier, he had been nineteen and working for Salvatore.
His father owed money.
His younger sister needed surgery.
Salvatore owned him.
Years later, Salvatore ordered Anthony to kill Marcus.
Anthony went to do it.
But Marcus knew.
“He was waiting for me,” Anthony said.
Sheree’s eyes filled.
“He offered me coffee.”
That sounded exactly like Marcus.
Anthony’s voice broke.
“He knew why I was there.”
“Did you shoot him?”
“No.”
Sheree froze.
Anthony looked at her.
“I couldn’t.”
“Then why did you say you killed him?”
“Because I caused his death.”
Anthony warned Marcus to run.
Marcus refused.
He wanted to retrieve evidence first.
Anthony gave him one hour.
Salvatore sent another man.
Nolan Pierce tried to save Marcus.
Failed.
Anthony arrived afterward.
Marcus was still alive.
Barely.
Sheree could hardly breathe.
“What did he say?”
Anthony cried.
“He asked me to protect you.”
She covered her mouth.
“He made me promise.”
Anthony had spent six years watching from a distance.
When Gabriel learned who Sheree was, Anthony volunteered to protect her.
Not because Gabriel ordered it.
Because Marcus had.
Sheree stared.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the Covenant files list me as the assigned killer. If I ran, they would come after you. I needed everyone to believe I was guilty long enough to release the files.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Who actually shot Marcus?”
Anthony looked at him.
“Evelyn Ward.”
Silence.
“She was there?”
“She personally killed him because Marcus knew her family controlled the Covenant.”
Sheree’s grief transformed.
Not into rage.
Into clarity.
“Where is she?”
Anthony shook his head.
“Gone.”
Gabriel’s phone rang.
Sofia.
He answered.
Her voice was panicked.
“Turn on the television.”
They did.
Evelyn Ward stood before cameras at a press conference.
She denied everything.
Then announced she had evidence proving the Covenant documents were fabricated by Gabriel Moretti.
Reporters shouted.
Evelyn smiled.
And beside her stood someone Gabriel had not seen in years.
A former federal investigator.
The man held up a file.
Sheree recognized the photograph on the front.
Marcus.
Evelyn looked into the cameras.
“Tomorrow, America will learn who Marcus Carter really was.”
Sheree stared.
May you like
Anthony whispered:
“She’s going to destroy his name before we can prove she killed him.”
