Chapter 2 - The Stranger in My Apartment
Elena stared at the turning handle.
Dante moved before she could speak.
He caught her hand and pulled her away from the doorway.
"Fire escape."
"That's a police detective."
"Exactly."
Elena stopped.
Dante looked at her.
"You have five seconds to decide whether tonight has taught you anything."
Another knock.
"Elena?"
Bell's voice.
"We need to talk."
She looked at her phone.
DON'T TRUST ROSSI.
Who had sent it?
Why?
Dante opened the window.
"Choose."
Elena hated him for making it sound simple.
She climbed through.
Cold night air hit her face.
Dante followed.
They descended one level before the apartment door opened above them.
Elena heard footsteps.
Then Bell said something she couldn't make out.
Dante guided her downward.
"Quiet."
They reached the alley.
A black sedan waited at the curb.
Elena stopped.
"I'm not getting into that."
"You preferred the apartment?"
"I prefer knowing where I'm being taken."
"Fair."
That surprised her.
Dante opened the rear door but didn't touch her.
"A hotel two blocks from Vespers. Public lobby. Cameras everywhere. Police are still surrounding the neighborhood."
"Why?"
"Because I need to find out who sent those messages."
Elena stared.
"How did you know about them?"
"I saw your screen."
She hesitated.
Then entered.
Dante sat opposite her.
The car moved.
Elena immediately tested the door.
Unlocked.
Dante noticed.
"I told you I wasn't kidnapping you."
"You never told me that."
"I'm telling you now."
"Comforting."
For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally Elena said, "What is 417?"
Dante looked through the window.
"A room."
"Where?"
"The Calder Hotel."
"What's inside?"
"I don't know anymore."
"Anymore?"
Dante looked at her.
"My brother died six months ago."
Elena's anger paused.
"His name was Luca."
Dante continued.
"Before he died, he left me a voicemail. He said if anything happened to him, I should find 417."
"And?"
"When I arrived, the room had been emptied."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"I didn't know."
"Until Tuesday?"
"Until tonight."
Elena remembered the two men.
"Those men knew about the room."
"Yes."
"And you thought I heard them."
"I thought you might have."
"So you sent men into Vespers?"
"I sent two people to find you before someone else did."
"There were more than two."
"I know."
Dante's voice hardened.
"Those weren't all my people."
Elena understood.
Two groups had arrived almost simultaneously.
One looking for her.
Another perhaps looking for Dante.
The window exploding hadn't begun his search.
It had interrupted it.
"Why didn't you go to police?"
Dante laughed once without humor.
"My brother did."
Elena waited.
"Three days later, he was dead."
The car stopped beneath a hotel canopy.
Dante got out first.
Inside, the lobby was bright and crowded despite the hour.
Elena relaxed slightly.
Dante chose a booth in the lounge where cameras were visible overhead.
"Happy?"
"No."
"Safer?"
"Marginally."
A waiter approached.
Dante ordered coffee.
Elena stared at him.
"Coffee?"
"It's three in the morning."
"Exactly."
"I have a long night."
"So apparently do I."
For the first time, his expression softened.
Then police lights appeared outside.
Elena straightened.
Two officers entered.
Then two more.
Dante watched their reflections in a mirror.
"Don't look."
"You brought me somewhere full of police."
"That was the idea."
"They're coming toward us."
Dante looked at Elena.
"Do you trust me for ten seconds?"
"No."
"Good enough."
He shifted closer.
"What are you doing?"
"Making us boring."
Before Elena understood, Dante gently drew her sideways across his lap.
She stiffened.
"What—"
"Look at me."
"Dante."
"Elena."
His voice remained quiet.
"Look at me."
She did.
The officers walked closer.
Dante rested one arm along the back of the booth.
To anyone passing, they looked like a tired couple having a private moment after a terrible night.
Elena could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
"Why are you helping me?" she whispered.
Dante's gaze held hers.
"Because whoever came for you won't get a second chance."
The officers passed.
Dante didn't move immediately.
"Stay with me," he said quietly. "I'll keep you safe."
Something about his voice unsettled her more than a threat would have.
Because she believed he meant it.
The officers continued toward the bar.
Elena slid away from Dante.
"Never do that without warning me again."
"Understood."
The immediate answer surprised her.
Dante's phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He turned the screen.
A photograph.
Marcus.
Sitting alone inside Vespers.
Timestamped two minutes earlier.
Elena frowned.
"Police cleared the building."
"Yes."
"So why is Marcus there?"
Another photograph arrived.
Marcus was kneeling behind the bar.
Opening a hidden compartment Elena had never seen.
Then a third image.
Marcus held a small black recorder.
Elena leaned closer.
Her stomach dropped.
"I've seen that."
Dante looked sharply at her.
"Where?"
"Tuesday."
"Where?"
"Booth six."
Silence.
Elena remembered.
One of the two men had left it beneath a napkin.
She had picked it up while clearing glasses.
Marcus had immediately taken it from her.
He'd said it belonged to a customer.
Dante stood.
"We're going back."
"No."
"Elena—"
"Police are there."
"Not anymore."
"How do you know?"
His phone rang.
Dante answered.
Listened.
Then looked toward Elena.
"Because someone just ordered every officer away from Vespers."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
The hotel lights suddenly went out.
Only emergency lighting remained.
People murmured.
Elena's phone vibrated.
Another unknown message.
She opened it.
This time there were only six words.
ASK DANTE WHO KILLED HIS BROTHER.
Elena looked up.
Dante was already staring at her.
Behind him, the elevator doors opened.
Marcus stepped out.
His face was pale.
The black recorder was in his hand.
May you like
And he whispered:
"Elena, don't let Dante hear this."
