Chapter 1 - The Wrong Number
“Please, somebody help me!”
Olivia Marshall stumbled backward as Felix’s man grabbed her arm.
The mysterious businessman who had arrived in the black SUV heard everything through the phone lying on the wet pavement.
Then Felix looked toward the headlights.
And Olivia realized the man she had accidentally called was not coming to save her.
He was already there.
Twenty minutes earlier, Olivia had been carrying two coffees across the crowded floor of the little diner where she worked under the name Anna.
She had almost reached the table when the front door opened.
Felix Kesler walked inside.
The tray slipped from her hands.
Two ceramic cups shattered across the floor.
Coffee spread beneath her shoes.
For three weeks, Olivia had believed she had finally escaped him.
She had changed her phone number.
She had paid cash for a tiny room in Bridgeport.
She had stopped using her real name.
She had told almost no one where she was.
Most importantly, she had never contacted her older brother Ryan.
Not because she didn't trust him.
Because she knew Felix would find him first.
The moment Felix saw her, he smiled.
That smile had frightened her more than anger ever could.
“Olivia.”
Her entire body went cold.
She ran.
She pushed through the kitchen, knocked over a stack of plastic containers, burst through the rear exit, and disappeared into the rain.
She didn't stop until her lungs burned.
Now she was trapped behind an old hardware store near Thirty-Fifth and Halsted.
The November rain soaked through her thin coat.
Her gray sweater clung to her arms.
Her knees were pulled tightly against her chest.
She heard footsteps.
Three men.
Maybe four.
“Spread out,” Felix ordered.
Olivia covered her mouth.
She could hear her own heartbeat.
“Olivia,” Felix called again.
His voice sounded almost gentle.
“I'm not angry.”
She closed her eyes.
That was the lie she feared most.
Felix was always gentle before he became dangerous.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
Ryan.
She needed Ryan.
He was the only person she knew who might get her out.
She typed his number from memory.
Her fingers shook so badly that she almost dropped the phone.
One digit was wrong.
She didn't know it.
The call connected.
A man's voice answered.
“Who is this?”
Olivia froze.
“Ryan?”
“No.”
She looked at the screen.
The number wasn't Ryan's.
“Oh God. I'm sorry. Wrong number.”
“Don't hang up.”
Something in the man's voice stopped her.
It wasn't panic.
It wasn't curiosity.
It was control.
Olivia lowered her voice.
“I need to call my brother.”
“Do that.”
She swallowed.
Then the man asked quietly:
“Did you say Felix?”
Olivia stared into the darkness.
“How do you know that name?”
There was a pause.
“Give me your name.”
She hesitated.
“Olivia.”
The stranger breathed out slowly.
“Olivia, call emergency services.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“He's right here.”
“I know.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Stay behind the dumpster.”
“How do you know where I am?”
The man didn't answer.
Instead, she heard a chair move somewhere on his end.
Then his voice became colder.
“Call 911.”
Olivia did.
She whispered the location to the dispatcher.
She explained that Felix had found her and that two men were searching the alley.
Then she called the stranger again.
He answered immediately.
“Stay low.”
Olivia crouched behind the dumpster.
A flashlight passed across the brick wall.
She held her breath.
The stranger remained silent.
Then a boot stepped into view.
Olivia's heart stopped.
A man's voice said:
“Found you.”
She screamed.
The man grabbed her arm.
Her phone slipped from her fingers and landed on the wet pavement.
“Let go of me!”
Felix appeared behind him.
Rain ran down his dark coat.
He walked toward her slowly.
“You were going to call Ryan.”
Olivia stared at him.
“How do you know Ryan?”
Felix smiled.
“You should have asked yourself that three weeks ago.”
The phone remained connected.
The stranger heard every word.
Felix crouched in front of Olivia.
“You've made this much harder than it needed to be.”
Then headlights exploded across the alley.
Two black SUVs blocked the entrance.
Doors opened.
Several men stepped out.
Felix stood.
The expression on his face changed.
Olivia looked toward the vehicles.
A tall man in a black tailored suit stepped into the rain.
He didn't hurry.
He didn't shout.
He simply looked at Felix.
Then at Olivia.
Then at the phone on the ground.
The stranger's voice came through the speaker.
“Tell Leo not to let Kesler take her.”
A second man stepped forward.
“Understood.”
Olivia stared at the stranger.
She had never seen him before.
But he knew her name.
He knew Felix.
He knew where she was.
And somehow, he had known exactly when she would need him.
The man in the black suit looked at Felix.
“Walk away.”
Felix smiled faintly.
“You don't know what you're protecting.”
The stranger's expression didn't change.
“No.”
He glanced at Olivia.
“But I know what you're hiding.”
Felix's smile disappeared.
Olivia felt the air leave her lungs.
Because for the first time that night, Felix looked afraid.
And then the mysterious man said something that made Olivia's blood run cold.
“Ask her what happened to Ryan.”
Olivia turned toward him.
“What do you know about my brother?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward Leo.
“Get her into the car.”
Leo approached.
Olivia stepped backward.
“No.”
She didn't know who these men were.
She didn't know why they had come.
She only knew that everyone seemed to know something about Ryan.
Then her phone vibrated on the pavement.
A message appeared.
From Ryan's number.
The message contained only four words:
DON'T TRUST THE MAN.
Olivia looked up.
May you like
The mysterious man was watching her.
And Felix was smiling again.
