Chapter 2 - Three Knocks at the Door
“Back exit,” Adrian whispered.
Charlotte stared at him.
“There is no other back exit.”
“Then where does that hallway go?”
“Storage room.”
“Window?”
“Too small.”
The key scraped inside the lock.
Adrian moved.
Fast.
Whatever injury he had suffered didn't stop him from crossing the kitchen and positioning himself beside the door.
Charlotte grabbed his sleeve.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing your poor decision.”
“My poor decision saved your life.”
“Yes.”
His eyes met hers.
“And now it may have endangered yours.”
The lock clicked.
Before the door could open, someone outside shouted.
There was sudden movement.
A crash.
Then silence.
Charlotte stood frozen.
Another knock followed.
Two quick knocks.
Pause.
One.
Adrian relaxed slightly.
“Our signal.”
“You couldn't have mentioned that before?”
The door opened.
A tall man entered first.
Forties.
Gray at his temples.
Dark suit.
His gaze moved immediately to Adrian's side.
“Sir.”
“I'm fine, Marco.”
Marco looked at Charlotte.
Something close to disbelief crossed his face.
“This is her?”
Adrian's voice sharpened.
“Careful.”
Charlotte pointed between them.
“Would someone please explain why everybody talks like I'm not standing here?”
Marco studied her.
“You pulled him out of that alley?”
“Yes.”
“And kissed him?”
Charlotte's mouth fell open.
“How do you know that?”
Marco looked at Adrian.
Adrian looked mildly annoyed.
“There are cameras everywhere,” Marco explained.
“Wonderful.”
Two more men entered.
Neither appeared hostile toward her.
That didn't make Charlotte comfortable.
Marco placed a tablet on the counter.
“We have a problem.”
Adrian looked at the screen.
Charlotte watched his face.
Nothing.
Then his jaw tightened.
“What?”
Marco glanced at Charlotte.
Adrian said, “She already knows too much.”
“Excuse me?”
Marco turned the tablet.
Security footage showed the alley.
Charlotte watched herself emerge.
Watched the kiss.
Watched herself drag Adrian toward the diner.
Then Marco rewound the footage.
“There.”
Charlotte leaned closer.
A vehicle was visible at the far end of the alley.
“What's important about it?”
“The driver,” Adrian said.
Charlotte squinted.
A shadowed figure sat behind the wheel.
“Can you identify him?”
“No.”
“I can,” Adrian said.
Marco nodded.
“And that's why we have a problem.”
Charlotte looked between them.
“Who?”
Adrian ignored the question.
“Where are the two men?”
“Gone.”
“You let them leave?”
“They weren't the priority.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Find them.”
Marco nodded.
Charlotte had reached her limit.
“Stop.”
Every man in the room looked at her.
“I don't know what this is. I don't know who you are. I don't know why somebody sent me that photograph. But this is my diner, and you're going to tell me what's happening.”
Marco almost looked impressed.
Adrian simply watched her.
Finally he said, “The men outside weren't trying to rob me.”
“I figured that out.”
“They were sent to frighten me.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Charlotte frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if the person wanted me alive.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward Marco.
Marco remained silent.
Charlotte suddenly understood.
“You're hiding something.”
Adrian's gaze returned to her.
“Yes.”
The simple admission surprised her.
“What?”
“My life is complicated.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
Charlotte threw up her hands.
“I kissed a bleeding stranger in an alley, lied to two dangerous men, patched him up, and now somebody knows my name. I think I've earned more than mysterious one-word answers.”
Adrian considered this.
“You have.”
He reached inside his coat.
Marco tensed.
Adrian withdrew a wallet.
Not a weapon.
He removed a business card and placed it on the counter.
Charlotte read it.
ADRIAN DELUCA
No title.
No company.
Only a telephone number.
“That's useless.”
“Usually people think the opposite.”
“Well, I'm not usually people.”
“I noticed.”
Marco cleared his throat.
“Sir, we need to move.”
Adrian nodded.
Then looked at Charlotte.
“You're coming with us.”
“No.”
“That wasn't a request.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Then here's my answer anyway. No.”
Marco stared at the ceiling as if asking for patience.
Adrian lowered his voice.
“The person who photographed us knows where you work.”
“I can call the police.”
“You should.”
Charlotte hadn't expected that.
“But until we know who sent the message,” Adrian continued, “you shouldn't stay here.”
“And I should trust you?”
“No.”
Again, the honesty disarmed her.
“You should trust the fact that whoever threatened you did it because you helped me. That makes protecting you my responsibility.”
Charlotte hated that the logic made sense.
“What about my apartment?”
“Not tonight.”
“My mother?”
Adrian immediately looked at Marco.
“Name?”
Charlotte stiffened.
“No.”
“If she's vulnerable—”
“Don't involve my mother.”
“Charlotte.”
Something in his tone made her stop.
“If someone is watching you, they may already know about her.”
Fear hit harder than anything in the alley.
Charlotte gave Marco her mother's name.
He stepped away and made a call.
Thirty seconds later he returned.
“She is home. Building is quiet. We'll have someone nearby.”
Charlotte looked at Adrian.
“Who exactly are you?”
His answer came quietly.
“A man with enemies.”
“That part I understood.”
They left through the front.
Rain still fell.
A black sedan waited.
Charlotte climbed into the back beside Adrian.
For the first several minutes, neither spoke.
She stared out the window.
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
“That sounds like the beginning of another bad decision.”
“Your record tonight isn't encouraging.”
Charlotte looked at him.
He was smiling.
Barely.
“You're enjoying this.”
“Parts of it.”
“The part where someone threatened me?”
“No.”
His smile disappeared.
“The part where you don't seem impressed by me.”
“Should I be?”
“Most people are.”
“Most people probably haven't seen you bleeding behind a dumpster.”
That made him laugh again.
Charlotte realized she liked the sound.
That worried her more than it should have.
The car eventually turned through tall iron gates.
Beyond them stood a massive stone house.
Charlotte stared.
“You live here?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“Usually.”
“Why?”
Adrian glanced at her.
“Because I bought it.”
“You know what I meant.”
He didn't answer.
Inside, the house was elegant but surprisingly quiet.
No gold statues.
No ridiculous displays.
Dark wood.
Books.
Art.
A fireplace.
Charlotte noticed security cameras immediately.
“You really do have enemies.”
Adrian removed his coat.
Marco summoned a private doctor.
While Adrian's wound was treated in another room, Charlotte wandered only as far as the library.
She found photographs on a shelf.
Adrian younger.
Adrian with an older man.
Adrian beside a beautiful dark-haired woman.
Charlotte stopped.
The woman was smiling.
Adrian wasn't.
A voice behind her said, “My sister.”
Charlotte turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway, fresh bandage beneath his shirt.
“She died five years ago.”
“I'm sorry.”
“So am I.”
He picked up the photograph.
“She trusted someone she shouldn't have.”
Something about the words carried more weight than grief.
Charlotte didn't ask.
Adrian set it down.
“You should sleep.”
“In a stranger's house?”
“You've already kissed the stranger.”
“That argument is getting old.”
“It has been two hours.”
Before Charlotte could respond, Marco appeared.
His expression was grim.
“We identified the car.”
Adrian went still.
“Who owns it?”
Marco handed him a folder.
Adrian opened it.
Charlotte saw a photograph inside.
A man.
Older.
Distinguished.
Familiar.
Adrian stared at it for a long time.
Then he said something Charlotte hadn't expected.
“My uncle.”
Marco nodded.
Adrian closed the folder.
Charlotte's phone rang.
Her mother's number.
She answered instantly.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then a man's voice spoke.
“Charlotte?”
Her blood froze.
It wasn't her mother.
The man continued.
“You've already saved Adrian DeLuca once.”
A pause.
May you like
“Let's see if you can save your mother.”
The call ended.
