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He pulled a little box from his pocket. “I have Brenna’s birthday present.”
Brenna stilled next to me for a brief moment, until she pulled herself from her shock and got up. Nicoli and Dario tracked her with their eyes as she rounded the table, and when she was just a handful of feet from them, their gazes roamed over her pajamas and slippers.
Nicoli opened the small, black velvet box for her to see what was inside. “It wasn’t easy getting these from police evidence.”
She clearly loved what she saw, because a bright smile graced her face. She reached into the box and pulled out earrings. Right away she put them in her ears.
“I had them melted down and reformed,” Nicoli explained.
After Brenna finished putting the earrings on, she pushed her hair back from her ears. “How do they look?”
Nicoli admired his gift on her. “Beautiful.”
“I love them,” she said, her words genuine. "Thank you.”
Nicoli’s eyes bounced all over her gorgeous, smiling face as if greedily wanting to absorb every inch of it. “You’re welcome.”
“We need to get going,” Dario said, his voice bordering the edge of angry.
Nicoli politely said goodbye and the two of them left.
As soon as Brenna sat down, she showed off her new jewelry. Nicoli had melted down the lead bullets into Celtic shamrock-shaped studs. They were stunning and suited her.
* * *
Later that afternoon, while I was doing tummy time with Kieran in the nursery, Brody showed up holding a package. The stricken expression on his face made me sit up quickly. “What is it?”
“This was delivered for you today,” he said, staring down at the package. “I’m sorry, Maura, but I had to open it.”
I got to my feet and took it from him. “Go be with Kieran,” I ordered, knowing the distraction would be good for him.
Brody didn’t argue. He scooped Kieran off the floor and hugged him close.
I set the package on Kieran’s dresser and took a deep breath before I opened it. The entire box was full of photos of Stefan. Or at least that was what I thought at first. Hidden beneath the photos was a burner phone.
I laid out all the photos on top of the dresser. There were so many of them taken from afar over the years. Some were with me. Some with Brody. Most were of Stefan getting in and out of an Escalade or going in and out of the manor. The last of the photos were up close. They were of him tied up, gagged, and beaten. His clothes were dirty and ripped. Seeing that pissed me all the way the fuck off, but it could mean that he was alive. Reassuring myself of that kept me from losing it.
Staring down at the photos, I now knew who had taken Stefan. I picked up the cell phone and powered it on. There was only one number programmed on it.
“Stay or go, Brody?”
He was currently rocking Kieran. “I need to know, Maura.” His voice wobbled as he spoke.
I hit call on the phone and brought it to my ear. It rang four times before the line was picked up.
“Hello, daughter,” a feminine voice with a thick Irish accent said.
“Riona.”
“Is that how you’re going to address your mother?” she asked.
“It is your name, is it not?” I responded with an unbothered voice. “I received your message. I’m assuming you want something.”
She scoffed. “You really are just like your father, aren’t you? Always straight to the point. All you do is search and search, absorbing as much information as you can so you can use it to strike at your enemies. We won’t be playing such games.”
“And what game would you like to play?” I asked her.
She paused and I could hear the smile in her voice as soon as she resumed speaking. “A game of truth.”
