Page 24 of Code Name: Dante

I stared at the screen, wishing I could talk to him instead, hear his voice.Everything’s good,I typed back.Found some old factory photos. Will show you when you return.

His response was immediate.Looking forward to it. Wish I was there instead of here.

“Miss Gregory?” Tank’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Admiral wants to discuss logistics for tomorrow. About getting you to and from the shop.”

Reality crashed back in. Tomorrow, I’d have to face going back to Gloversville, to the damage left behind. But tonight, surrounded by pieces of my family’s past and people determined to protect our future, all I could feel was grateful.

After dinner,I sat in front of the downstairs fireplace, still studying the photos from the metal box. When I looked up, Gram was approaching from the hallway. “Want to see?” I asked.

She sat beside me on the sofa.

“Look, isn’t this Papa Werner in front of the factory?”

“I remember that day. The town had just given him an award for businessman of the year, or something like that. I can’t remember exactly.” Her finger traced the outline of the building. “Look how proud he was.”

More memories spilled out as we went through the photos together. Stories of the workers who’d been like family, of summer afternoons spent playing hide-and-seek among the leather rolls, of the exact way sunlight used to stream through the plant’s windows.

“Alessandro’s men found these,” I told her. “They searched until everything was recovered.”

Gram was quiet for a moment, studying another photograph. “Perhaps we were too quick to judge him,” she finally said.

Her admission surprised me, though maybe it shouldn’t have. Gram had always valued actions over words, and Alessandro’s efforts to save our family’s legacy spoke volumes.

My phone buzzed with another text.Trial prep going late. How’s your grandmother settling in?

The simple question warmed something inside me. Even amid preparing for tomorrow’s ordeal, he was thinking of us.

“Tell him I’m fine,” Gram said, glancing at my phone. “And thank him for saving these. And…” She hesitated. “Tell him to be careful tomorrow.”

I typed out the message, adding my own thanks for the recovered photos. His response came quickly.Your family’s history matters. To you, to your grandmother, and now, to me too.

Alice appeared with fresh tea and settled into one of the oversized chairs. “Find anything interesting?”

“More than we imagined.” I showed her a photo of the factory’s interior. “Look at the detail in these gloves. Each one handmade.”

“The craftsmanship was extraordinary,” Gram added, her voice proud. “Every pair had to be perfect.” I remembered her saying that was how she chose the name of the shop—the Perfect Fit Coffee & Tea.

We were still looking at photos when Tank and Grit came downstairs. When one of them paused to admire the photographs, asking questions about the equipment shown, Gram launched into an enthusiastic explanation of the glove-making process.

The sky outside was pitch black when Pershing joined us, carrying a tablet with security plans for tomorrow’s trip into Gloversville. “We’ll have three vehicles,” he explained. “Different routes each time. No patterns they can track.”

“This seems like too much,” I said, trying not to sound ungrateful.

“About tomorrow,” Gram said. “I’d like to come to the shop too.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She lifted her chin. “Don’t forget, little bird, I’m the one who built it into what it is today.”

“I know, Gram. It’s just?—”

Pershing put his hand on my arm. “We’ll make it work.”

Later, after Gram had gone to bed and Alice had retreated upstairs, I stood at the windows, watching the moonlight silver the lake. The day’s events replayed in my mind—the flooding, the rescued photographs that meant everything to my grandmother and me, and Alessandro’s fierce protectiveness.

My phone lit up one last time with a message from him.Get some rest. Tomorrow will be challenging for both of us.

I smiled at his choice of words. Challenging. Such an understated way to describe testifying against his brother or reopening a vandalized business.

---