Chapter 2 - The Photograph With the Red X
Hazel did not remember crossing the garage.
One moment she was holding the tablet.
The next she was inside the armored SUV with Luca beside her.
“My mother is dead.”
“That’s what you were told.”
“I went to her funeral.”
“Was the casket open?”
Hazel turned toward him.
“No.”
“Did you see her body?”
“I was eleven.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
Luca tapped the privacy glass.
The vehicle moved.
Hazel’s hands shook.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
“Three days.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Three days ago, you were Daniel Mercer’s fiancée and potentially involved in stealing eight million dollars.”
“And now?”
“Now you’re either the unluckiest woman in Chicago or the center of something people have been planning for seventeen years.”
Hazel stared at him.
“Comforting.”
“I’m not good at comforting people.”
“I noticed.”
They drove toward Union Station.
Luca refused to let Hazel enter.
Instead, his men retrieved the locker’s contents.
There was no passport.
No money.
Only an envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Hazel’s father stood beside Luca’s father, Antonio Moretti.
Between them was Hazel’s mother.
All three were much younger.
On the back were five words.
THE CHILD MUST NEVER KNOW.
Hazel’s knees nearly buckled.
“What child?”
Luca looked at her.
“I think we both know.”
“No.”
Hazel turned the photograph over again.
Her father had been an accountant.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
He had driven an old Buick and clipped grocery coupons.
“What was my father doing with Antonio Moretti?”
Luca’s answer came slowly.
“Keeping him out of prison.”
Hazel looked up.
“My father worked for your family?”
“For fifteen years.”
Everything she knew began breaking apart.
Her mother.
Her father.
Daniel.
Even her childhood.
“Take me home.”
“No.”
“I need to see my father’s things.”
“I already had them moved.”
Hazel stared at him.
“You did what?”
“Daniel searched your apartment this afternoon.”
The anger vanished.
“He was inside?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was looking for something.”
“What?”
“That photograph suggests your father left you something.”
Hazel suddenly remembered.
A key.
After her father’s funeral, his attorney had given Hazel a small brass key.
No explanation.
Her father’s instructions had simply said: Keep it somewhere safe. One day you’ll understand.
Hazel had forgotten it.
Until now.
Luca saw her face change.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed.
Hazel almost laughed.
“See? I can do it too.”
Luca leaned closer.
“What did your father leave you?”
She met his stare.
“If I tell you, how do I know you won’t kill me after you get it?”
“You don’t.”
At least he didn’t lie.
Hazel looked out the window.
“I have a key.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
Luca immediately changed direction.
When they reached Hazel’s building, the front door was unlocked.
Luca drew a gun.
Hazel stopped.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered.
Her apartment had been destroyed.
Drawers overturned.
Books ripped open.
Cushions slashed.
Hazel stared at the wreckage of her life.
Then she ran to the kitchen.
“Hazel.”
She ignored Luca.
She pulled open the freezer.
Behind an old bag of frozen peas was a small plastic container.
Inside lay the brass key.
Luca looked at it.
“No number.”
Hazel turned it over.
Three letters had been scratched into the metal.
CMB.
Luca’s face changed.
“What?”
He took the key.
“Chicago Mercantile Bank.”
“A safety deposit box?”
“Probably.”
Hazel took it back.
“Then we go tomorrow.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if Daniel knows about the key, he’ll be watching.”
“How would Daniel know?”
A floorboard creaked.
Luca spun.
His gun rose.
Hazel stopped breathing.
The bedroom door moved.
Slowly.
Someone was inside.
Luca stepped forward.
“Come out.”
Nothing.
Then Hazel heard a woman crying.
Her entire body went rigid.
The door opened.
A woman stepped into the hallway.
Older now.
Gray threaded through her dark hair.
But Hazel knew those eyes.
The woman covered her mouth.
“Hazel.”
Hazel could not move.
The dead woman took one trembling step toward her.
“My baby.”
Hazel whispered, “Mom?”
Before the woman could answer, Luca’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Then at Hazel’s mother.
His expression hardened.
“Don’t touch her.”
Hazel stared at him.
“Why?”
Luca raised the phone.
On the screen was a live security feed from his penthouse.
Another woman stood inside.
May you like
She had the same face as Hazel’s mother.
And she was holding a gun to Luca’s younger sister’s head.
