"The first thing I remember after the... you know, ten years ago, was waking up in a hospital room in Chicago. I can remember every detail of that room's ceiling, even today.. the cracks in the stucco plaster, the tea-colored waterstains. But I'd never been so grateful for the sight of anything in my life.
I started to call for a nurse, I wanted,...I NEEDED to make sure you were all right, when one of the shadows in the corner of the room started moving. At first I thought it was a hallucination, maybe it the drugs to keep me under during the surgery, but then it started talking.
'Well, well, well, Danny,' it sneered, 'Have a nice nap?'
And then I knew...
'You know, Danny...,' it continued., 'We really didn't want to hurt you.'
'This was only supposed to be a warning, a calling card...
A wedding gift.'
I knew.
You see, Michelle, they weren't after me.
They were after you.
There were a lot of ... people who weren't so happy when the family went legitimate. A lot of longstanding arrangements got killed, some contracts were broken. Of course, we tried to grease what palms we needed to in order to get out but... the mob life doesn't breed stable people who good self-esteem.
I realized then that the one thing I promised you from the beginning, the one thing that was my special gift to you, what I thought I could give you that no one else could, that you would always be protected, I couldn't give you after all. In fact, I had it totally wrong, I was the one man who could never give that to you.
You would never be safe as long as I was in your life.
And as long as I was alive, I would never be able to stay out of your life.
And you deserve a life, Michelle, a full, long, happy one. With a career, family, a husband who adores you, children. I wanted that for you. I want that for you.
The feds came next. I guess my hospital room was a kind of no man's land. They offered a deal.
It turned out to be a devil's bargain, I guess. Fitting.
I know what you're going to ask, and I couldn't sign you onto that pact. I knew you'd never be able to say no if I asked and so I couldn't ask you. You'd be dead to everyone who knew you. No family, no friends, no career, and what about children? Could you raise children like that-one eye on your baby the other over your shoulder.
Would it have been worse if I had shot you on the docks that day?
And so I died. Daniel Santos, beloved husband, brother, son. I really liked the headstone you picked out for me. I knew it couldn't have been Mama or Pilar, it was simple, but the words were real.
The feds had to show me a picture to convince me that everyone really thought I was dead.
The Renaissance drama? I spent a lot of time at the UCLA medical center in therapy after the surgeries. I spent a lot of time reading, then took classes, and one thing led to another... Even Romeo and Juliet grew on me.
They were still dumb kids, though...
I guess someone found out about me. I don't know how. I don't think anyone's been tailing you for ten years to look for me.
You were just caught in the middle, Michelle. Again.
We're going north, up to Yorkshire. The feds have always made sure I had a contact person. The fellowship's real... I get to pontificate to Oxonians on the genius of Marlowe and Shakespeare... but I have a contact in Yorkshire, Mr. MacGuffin, in case of emergency, and I think this qualifies as an emergency.
We really do have to move on, Michelle."