Ashes Learned Human Names novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: Not This Time
Lucia pushed Elvira's chair through the dining room door behind the detective.
Elvira had not been to a dinner in this house for nine years.
She had called the detective herself on Monday night and asked to be present, and the detective had said yes.
"Tell me what you see, mija," Elvira said, very low.
"Gabriel is standing up," Lucia said. "Two officers. His mother has her hand on her throat."
"Good."
At the head of the table, the stepmother had risen to her full height in her black dress.
"You have no right," she said. "This is my home."
"This is a warrant for his arrest," the detective said. "Aggravated assault with a chemical agent, conspiracy, and drugging a person without consent. Gabriel Castellanos, put your hands behind your back."
"Do something!" the stepmother screamed at the lawyer.
The lawyer in charcoal said, "I'll meet you at the station," in the voice of a man who was already thinking about his bill.
Gabriel did not put his hands behind his back.
He looked down the table, and then he found Rafael.
His eyes were wet.
His chin shook the exact way it had on the stage at the gala, and the tears came exactly when he needed them.
"Rafa," he said. "Please. You know I didn't mean it. You know me."
Nobody moved.
Lucia watched the room as it waited to see what Rafael would do.
He stood at the foot of the table with the pen still in his hand.
His shoulders did not turn.
"I do know you," Rafael said. "That's why I'm here."
An officer took Gabriel's arm and pulled it back.
The cuffs clicked.
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