All Chapters of THE DON'S MAID: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Sal screamed my name so loud Sofia jumped in my arms and started crying again and I ran faster to the panic room because when Sal screams like that it means something is really really wrong and you don’t ask questions you just run.Marco was already in the glass garden by the time I got to the panic room door, I saw him on the security monitor inside the room, he had a flashlight and he was on his knees by the bench where Sofia feeds the birds every morning at 9am with her little cup of seeds that Sal pours for her.On the monitor I could see the red light blinking.Small. Fast. Under the wood.Marco lifted the bench.Under it taped with black tape was a small black box.Not a bomb.I thought it was a bomb.But it was worse in a different way.It was a listening device with a camera lens and a little red light that blinked every time it recorded and it had been there for who knows how long listening to me sing to Sofia and listening to Sal tell her bedtime stories and listening to us

Don Moretti lifted the shotgun and pointed it straight at us and said "You shouldn’t have come, Romano."His voice was old but not weak, old like gravel, old like a man who has killed and never said sorry.Elena was next to him crying "Papa no, please no, I told you not to, I told you to leave them alone" but he didn’t look at her, he looked at Sal like Sal was still 17 and asking for his daughter’s hand.Sal didn’t move from in front of me.His hand was behind his back holding mine so tight it hurt."Put the gun down, Don," Sal said and his voice was calm but I could feel his hand shaking in mine."You put bugs in my daughter’s garden," Sal continued. "You carved a bullet with my wife’s name. You used your own daughter as bait. Put the gun down and talk like men."Moretti laughed."Men. You call yourself a man. You stole my daughter’s future and then you married this — this little gallery girl who needed your kidney to live. You think that’s a man"Sal flinched but didn’t move."Don’

Sal drove so fast on the lake road that the trees blurred and the fog ate the headlights and Sofia kept saying "Papa fast, Papa fast" like it was a game but it wasn’t a game because the black SUV with no plates behind us stayed exactly three car lengths behind no matter how fast Sal went and when he sped up it sped up and when he slowed it slowed and I knew that game, I knew that game from 5 years ago when Victor used to follow me before he tried to take me.My phone buzzed and it was the same unknown number and it was a photo of our car from behind taken right now by the car following us and the text said Stop running Maya you know you want to see me and I showed it to Sal and his jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth.He called Marco on loudspeaker and said "Lake road north black SUV no plates following for 10 minutes" and Marco said "I’m 20 minutes away don’t stop keep driving to main road I’ll cut him off" but 20 minutes was too long, 20 minutes on this road at 4am with Sofia in

I stood upstairs with the photo in my hand shaking so hard I couldn’t breathe and downstairs someone laughed again, a woman’s laugh, and I heard Sal say "Mama more bread" and Elena say "This soup is good" and Ana say "Thank you" and I knew whoever took that photo at the docks was downstairs right now eating soup with my daughter asleep in my arms.I walked downstairs slowly with sofia in my armsPhoto hidden in my pajama pocketEveryone looked upSal smiled tiredHis mom stood up "Maya you should eat."I looked at each face.Ana - crying still, holding her mother’s hand tight.Ana’s mother - old, praying till, hands shakingElena - hair messy, lipstick gone, eating soup like she hadn’t eaten in 2 daysMarco - standing by door, not eating, guarding.Sal’s mom - servingWhoWho took photo of me hugging Daniel at the docks tonight.Only people there were us and police.Unless someone at docks was hidden watching.Unless someone told Daniel where to hide Elena’s photo on his wallUnless s

10 years laterCalifornia.Small house but same yellow kitchen, we painted it same yellow on first daySofia is 14 now and tall. She had same eyes as Sal but my mouthShe still collects rocksShe has boyfriend now, Jake, who is scared of Sal which is funny because Sal is soft now, he wears glasses and makes coffee and runs Maya Romano Gallery by beach, not guns.Leo is old now, 12, white face, sleeps all day in sun.Sal is 43, hair with little grey, still carries me when I’m brave, still sings to Sofia but now Sofia says "Papa stop you’re embarrassing" but she smiles.Ana still works with usHer mother lives with us in small house behind gallery, makes tamales every SundayAna never put note in pocket again, she puts love notes now, in Sofia’s lunch box.Marco is Don now in New York, he visits every summer with his wife and 2 kidsHe says business is clean now, no bullets, just buildingsElena —Elena moved to Italy.She married nice man who owns a bookstore, she sends Sofia birthday