Code Of Silence

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to think about it. It’s hard enough to focus on reading my mom’s journal without reminders that we’re really not safe in the safe room.”

His lips formed a grim line. “Understood.”

That feeling she remembered from college returned. Peace, even if temporary, relaxed her shoulders. Luke had a way of making her feel like she was acting reasonable, even when logically she knew she wasn’t. He listened...he empathized. He made her feel calm despite the storm surrounding her. “Thank you,” she said. “If I remember anything, I’ll say.”

He gave her an encouraging grin. She opened to the first page. Her mother’s familiar script lined the pages.

I’m so hopeful to give this baby the life she deserves. At church today they read a Bible verse in Philippians about forgetting about the past and pressing on. There was more to it, but just the reminder that I can leave my past behind and focus on my future as a mom gives me hope. Maybe I can be the woman—the mom—God desires me to be, even though if you’d asked me a year ago I would’ve thought it impossible.

Gabriella’s fingers drifted across the page. “I’ve read this before.”

“You have?” Luke lifted his arms while raised on his tiptoes and grabbed a plastic storage container. He lowered it to the ground and faced her. A sudden high-pitched growl erupted from the other side of the wall. His eyes widened. “I can’t imagine how loud that had to be out there if we can hear it through the steel.”

“Another broken drill bit?”

“That’d be my guess.” He dropped to a knee and flipped the latches holding the top of the container down. “You’ve read your mother’s diary before?” he asked again.

“Yes.” Her cheeks heated. Nothing like revealing every horrible thing about herself, and her family, to a guy. “But I think she knew I peeked sometimes. All her entries are very vague except for the scriptures she loved. Those she’d go on and on about in detail. Or at least she did early on in it.” Her eyes lingered on her mom’s first words, wishing she could have the woman who penned them. Her eyes welled. “I thought she wrote about the Bible verses for my benefit. Except, now if it’s true...if my mom had a life in the mafia—” She stopped and pressed a hand to her closed eyelids. She wouldn’t let herself cry. “It has a different meaning.”

“We don’t know that yet. Don’t give up hope.”

The sound of the lid popping open snapped her out of it. “What’s in there? More clothes?”

Luke grinned as he reached inside. “A flashlight, bottled water—” he tossed a twenty-ounce bottle to her “—blankets, granola bars.” He frowned and pulled out a dangling Pinocchio wooden puppet and a ten-inch doll dressed in a traditional Sicilian costume. “Were these yours?”

Gabriella moved to a kneeling position. “I think they used to be my mom’s toys, but I did play with them once.”

He pulled out a canister of pepper spray, his expression hopeful. “You think this still works?”

She reached past his outstretched arms and picked up a granola bar. “Check the expiration date.”

He twisted the can and squinted at the small print. “Three years old.”

“Then, no.”

He gave her a side glance. “I can’t imagine it wouldn’t still be effective even after the expiration date.”

“Oh, it’d still be potent, but that’s not the problem. It’s the aerosol spray part. After the expiration, there is a higher probability it’ll get clogged.” She opened the wrapper to the bar. “Not worth the risk. The last thing we need is to pepper spray ourselves.”

She could feel his eyes studying her. “How’d you know that?” he asked.

“Mom sent me with pepper spray to college. She never did anything without making sure she had all the facts. She was the queen of preparation, and she made sure I was, as well.” The metal screeching sound started up again. She jerked and accidentally brushed against his arm. The touch made her long for a hug, but she didn’t want to send mixed signals—or worse, open herself up for rejection. No doubt he was wishing she’d never stepped into his office. “Clock is ticking, Luke. We need to get out of here.”

“I’m aware.” He ran a hand through his still-damp golden hair. It spiked up. “I’ve checked the walls and the tops of the shelves. I don’t know what else we can do.”

Her stomach grew hot and heavy as if her veins pumped molten lead. “You’re not implying we should give up and wait to die? To let my aunt die?”

SIX

Luke gritted his teeth. An unseen vacuum in his chest made his rib cage seem hollow with the pure frustration of not being able to fix things. His memory taunted him with what he should have done differently, both years ago and today, but that wouldn’t help them now. “You know I’m not implying we give up, Gabriella.”

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