Chapter 11 - The Woman My Father Saved Was Missing, and I Would Not Wait Quietly
Police officers searched the safe apartment.
There was no broken lock.
No overturned furniture.
Sofia's coat hung beside the door.
Her canvas bag was gone.
I stood in the hallway while an investigator asked me to describe her last conversation.
“She was afraid of Marco.”
“Did she say where she might go?”
“No.”
Then I remembered something.
She had mentioned a church where my father used to bring her food.
A small parish near the old industrial district.
I told the detective.
Alessio asked to accompany us.
The detective hesitated.
“Your name complicates this.”
“Then I'll stay outside,” he said.
At the church, an elderly caretaker recognized Sofia's photograph.
“She came here yesterday.”
“Was she alone?”
“No. A young woman met her.”
He described a red coat.
Livia owned a red coat.
I called her.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Where is Sofia?”
“I don't know.”
“Stop lying to me.”
A long pause.
Then she whispered an address.
“Marco told me to bring her there. I didn't know what he'd do.”
I gave the address to the detective.
We waited in a parked car while officers approached the building.
My nails dug into my palms.
Alessio reached across the seat.
“You can be afraid.”
“I know.”
“You don't have to earn anyone's respect by suffering.”
I looked at him.
Those words broke something open inside me.
For years, I had confused being useful with being loved.
He held my hand until the radio crackled.
The officers had found Sofia.
She was frightened but alive.
Marco had fled through a rear exit.
Sofia clutched a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Marco meeting Vittorio beside the loading platform.
May you like
On the back, my father had written a date.
The day before his accident.
Related Stories
