Chapter 6 - THE FOURTH FLOOR SECRET
The fourth floor of Ravenscliffe was a place the other servants spoke of only in whispers.
No one went up there. Not Bernadette, not the cooks, not even the senior guards, unless they were summoned by a red light flashing on the wall near the elevator shaft.
Nell stood in the center of a room that was larger than her entire apartment in South Boston.
The walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with leather-bound volumes on maritime law, Italian history, and Boston real estate records. A massive stone fireplace dominated the far wall, unlit but smelling faintly of old ash and cedar.
Her single cardboard box—containing two changes of clothes, a framed photograph of her mother, and the silver locket—sat on the edge of a king-sized bed covered in dark velvet sheets.
The door opened behind her.
Abel walked in, carrying a tray with a steaming mug of black coffee and a small plate of buttered toast. He set it on the mahogany desk near the window.
"The boss doesn't bring people up here," Abel said, his voice flat as he straightened his vest. "In thirty years, I've seen two living souls cross this threshold. One was a U.S. senator who tried to blackmail him. The other was a rival boss from Providence who didn't leave the way he came in."
Nell turned around, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. "Why am I here, Abel? If he wanted me dead, he could have let Teddy's man take me. If he wanted me gone, he could have fired me."
"He doesn't waste useful things, girl," Abel said, walking toward the door. "And right now, you're the only person in this city who knows where Arthur Whitaker hid the microfilm before he went off that bridge."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, her voice tightening.
Abel paused with his hand on the brass doorknob. He didn't turn around.
"Your father was smarter than they gave him credit for, Nell. He knew the department was dirty. He knew Vain and Santoro's uncle had a deal to launder the dock union funds through the city's housing project."
He looked back over his shoulder, his old eyes sharp as needles.
"The locket around your neck? It's not just a picture of your old man. It's the key to the safety deposit box at the Commonwealth Bank where the original ledger is kept. Teddy wants it. The governor wants it. And Rafe Santoro?"
Abel shook his head slowly.
"Rafe wants to know if you're smart enough to use it before they kill you."
The door clicked shut.
Nell was alone.
She walked to the window and looked out across the sprawling grounds of the estate. The rain had stopped, leaving a thick, grey fog rolling in off the harbor, swallowing the iron gates and the winding drive.
Her hand went to the locket at her throat.
For eleven months, she had lived like a ghost, hiding in plain sight, scrubbing floors, waiting for the right moment to avenge her father.
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She hadn't realized that the wolf she was hiding from was the very man who had just invited her into his den.
THE END OF CHAPTER 6
