Chapter 3 - The Promise
Santiago knocked once.
Ruby opened the apartment door with a suitcase in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other.
She lowered the knife when she saw him.
Then raised it again.
“You have ten seconds.”
Tomas almost smiled behind Santiago.
Santiago did not.
“You worked at Lakeview.”
Ruby’s face changed.
“Eight seconds.”
“You knew Sophia three years ago.”
“Seven.”
“You came into my house using a dead woman as a reference.”
Ruby looked past him toward the hallway.
“Six.”
“Who were you talking to?”
The knife went still.
That was the wrong question.
Santiago knew it immediately.
Ruby’s voice dropped.
“You investigated me.”
“You lied to get near my sister.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hit harder than denial.
“Why?”
Ruby looked at Tomas.
“Is he staying?”
“He is.”
“Then no.”
Santiago stepped closer.
“Ruby.”
“No.”
Her hand shook now, but not from fear of him.
“Three years ago, Sophia asked me not to tell you anything until I had proof.”
Santiago felt the hallway narrow around him.
“She asked you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“ASL.”
“She could sign three years ago?”
“She could sign more fluently than I could.”
He stared.
“Who taught her?”
Ruby’s expression softened.
“A deaf patient at Lakeview. They communicated through a window during recreation hour.”
Santiago pressed a hand against the doorframe.
“She was in that place ten days.”
“Long enough to learn that signing was the first language adults around her couldn’t interrupt.”
He winced.
“What promise?”
Ruby did not answer.
Santiago’s temper rose.
“What promise did you make my sister?”
Ruby’s eyes flashed.
“The promise that I would not get you killed.”
Silence.
Tomas stopped smiling.
Santiago’s voice became very quiet.
“Explain.”
Ruby set the knife on a table.
Then she closed the apartment door behind them.
Her home was small.
Two rooms.
Secondhand furniture.
A row of framed photographs on one wall.
Most showed Ruby with Owen.
One frame was empty.
She noticed Santiago looking at it.
“That one used to hold the last picture of my brother.”
“Used to?”
“Someone broke in six months ago and took it.”
Santiago looked at Tomas.
Tomas’s jaw tightened.
Ruby continued.
“At Lakeview, I cleaned the east wing at night. Sophia was supposed to be asleep by ten.”
“She wasn’t.”
“One night she saw me signing on a video call with my mother.”
“She tapped on the glass.”
Ruby swallowed.
“She signed one word.”
“Help.”
Santiago looked away.
He had spent millions trying to help.
Yet his sister had asked a housekeeper.
“What did she tell you?”
“At first? Almost nothing.”
“She asked my name.”
“Asked whether I worked for you.”
“Asked whether Dr. Voss could see the security cameras.”
Santiago’s head snapped up.
“Why?”
“Because she believed he watched every attempt she made to communicate.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
Santiago had no answer.
Ruby continued.
“On the fourth night, she told me why she stopped speaking.”
His breath caught.
“What did she say?”
Ruby shook her head.
“I’m not telling you without her permission.”
Santiago stepped forward.
“You expect me to accept that?”
“Yes.”
“She’s my sister.”
“And she’s nineteen.”
That stopped him.
Ruby crossed her arms.
“You can threaten me. You can drag me back to the mansion. You can put ten men outside my door.”
“But I will not turn Sophia into evidence for you.”
Santiago hated how much that sounded like something Sophia would want.
He pulled out his phone.
“Fine.”
Ruby frowned.
He called the mansion.
Mrs. DeLuca, the longtime house manager, answered.
“Put Sophia on video.”
A minute later Sophia appeared on-screen.
She looked at Santiago.
Then saw Ruby standing beside him.
Her face changed immediately.
Her hands moved.
Santiago did not understand.
Ruby did.
“What did she say?” he asked.
Ruby swallowed.
“She said you came alone?”
Santiago glanced at Tomas.
“Close enough.”
Sophia signed again.
Faster this time.
Ruby’s face lost color.
“What?” Santiago demanded.
Ruby did not answer.
“Ruby.”
She looked at him.
“She says someone searched her room after I left.”
Santiago’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
Sophia signed one name.
Ruby’s hands fell to her sides.
“No.”
Santiago looked between them.
“Who?”
Ruby finally whispered it.
May you like
“Matteo.”
