Chapter 117 Answers
A van drove into the Morales compound as the head of the house stood right in front of the main door.
His palms sweaty as a result of the anxiousness, Mr Morales couldn't tell what the rest of his family must have been feeling.
The unlabeled dark blue van came to a halt right by the chicken coop, the spaced part of the compound. The urgency of the brakes squeaking frightening the chickens.
Mr James stepped out of his van, a file in hand as he circled the vehicle.
There in, Mr Morales was sure the man hadn't brought good news.
Mr James was a private American detective the family had hired to help them find Isabella without Luciano's consent.
They needed answers! Answers which Luciano wasn't willing to provide.
They had sent paycheck after paycheck to fund the search in various parts of Italy and Europe at large.
He had finally finished up with the last part of the search, and he brought news.
His shoulders, which were high from the expectancy, laxed as the man's body language made the impending news evident.
Mr Morales started to wonder if he had the balls to face The Mafia Don and question him.
To question the safety of his daughter.
His answers would still be something he couldn't affirm.
"My friend!", Mr Morales called out as Mr James approached where he stood.
He might not have brought the news they wanted, but that didn't mean they would turn the man away.
"Ahhhh! It has been a while!", Mr James replied, his accent very distinct from Mr Morales'. You could hear the Italian in his English sometimes.
"Come in my friend! There's food!", Mr Morales said as both men entered.
Isabella's older sisters who didn't reside with their father were present in the Morales living room as they expected news. News they hoped would be good.
"Go on!
Set out the table.
They're approaching the living room!", Mrs Morales said with unmatched happiness as she gave out orders to her daughters.
"Welcome...
How have you been!??", she inquired from the visitor, her enthusiasm and nervousness evident.
"We should sit down first!", Mr James said.
He had brought bad news, thus, the man couldn't sit and enjoy the warm welcome.
He looked at Mr Morales as the ladies shuffled from the kitchen to the living room.
He waited till the ladies were seated before he broke the news.
"Following my search, I have come to a conclusion concerning your daughter...
Isabella!", Mr James drawled.
Sweaty palms and flustered cheeks wondered what he meant, after all, they had expected good news.
"She's either no longer in Europe or...!", Mr James drawled, wondering how best to put the sentence.
"Or what?!", Mrs Morales asked, her tone a notch higher as she feared the worst.
Mr Morales remained calm as he already thought about it earlier.
His daughters...
All with a different look plastered on each of their faces, they all shared the same anxiousness.
"Or she's dead!", Mr James completed.
"No!
Amore...!", Mrs Morales called out as she stood up hurriedly.
Her heart might have stopped working as Mr James broke the news.
"digli che nostra figlia non è morta", Mrs Morales said as she rushed to her husband unable to believe the news.
It wasn't exactly to be taken lightly...
The loss of a child.
"No! mia figlia!", Mrs Morales shrieked again as her husband held her in his embrace.
"You don't need to cry! It's just an assumption!
She might still be in Europe!", Mr James chipped in.
An attempt to console the lady who had started crying. To console the entire family!
"It's fine Mr James!", Mr Morales said as he motioned for one of his daughters.
"Help your mother to her room!", Mr Morales ordered.
His daughters, still as shook from the news, obeyed their father and helped their mother up the stairs.
Mr James simply watched the entire ordeal, a grim look on his face.
"You don't need to think too much about it!
I assume you have work to catch up on!", Mr Morales said as Mr James faced him.
"I guess...!", Mr James started, his face distant.
"Anyways...
This is all I managed to recover before I hit a dead end!", Mr James said as he passed him the envelope he brought out of his van.
"Thank you detective!
Do you want me to escort you out of the compound!?!", Mr Morales offered.
Mr James was more than aware the family needed each other in that specific moment, he couldn't possibly ask him of that.
"No!
There'll be no need for that!
You go ahead and be with your family!", Mr James said as he took his leave.
As he heard the door close shut, the tears Mr Morales had held back flowed down freely.
As he sat alone in his living room, he questioned why he had made such a decision to borrow from The Ruthless Mafia Don.
He beat himself up for what happened with Isabella.
You could see by the evident weight loss and the white hair which weren't there before.
After what seemed like an hour, he cleaned his tears and reached for the envelope, the one Mr James had handed over to him.
"Isabella!", he called out as he traced his fingers over one of the pictures of his daughter.
'She was hiding', he thought.
The camera footage had been blurry, and it had been difficult to place her identity because of the layers of clothes she wore in each photo.
'What was she hiding from?!', he asked himself.
Regardless, he knew his attention was needed by his wife, thus he packed it and dropped it in his office.
He would tend to that later.
The question Mr Morales should have been asking was 'Who was she hiding from'
Her escape from Luciano,
her stay in Umbria, getting pregnant,
Giving birth and finally being found out.
Was that going to be the actual shock?
Translations;
Amore - love
digli che nostra figlia non è morta - Tell him our daughter isn't dead.
Mia figlia - My daughter.
\~~~~
Hi guys!!!!
You're probably wondering what this 'actual shock' is.
Stay tuned to find out.
Anyways, feel free to leave comments!