Chapter 3 - Nobody Touches Marlowe Quinn
Elena drew Marlowe down below the dashboard.
"Stay here."
The knock came again.
Marlowe's heart hammered.
Elena opened her coat, one hand near her waistband.
Then a familiar voice came through the glass.
"It's me."
Nico.
Elena cursed.
She unlocked the door.
"You trying to get shot?"
Nico frowned.
"I knocked."
"Like a serial killer."
He looked at Marlowe.
"Oliver is safe."
"Where is he?"
"School office."
Marlowe grabbed his sleeve.
"Why isn't he here?"
"Gabriel ordered the school not to release him until we secured the area."
"You don't order my son's school."
"They agreed because somebody photographed him."
Marlowe released Nico.
Her fear overpowered her anger.
"Take me there."
They reached the school within six minutes.
Gabriel was already inside.
He stood near the principal's office, black coat open, talking quietly with two uniformed officers.
Oliver sat on a chair eating crackers.
The moment he saw Marlowe, he ran.
"Mom!"
She dropped to her knees.
She held him so tightly he complained.
"Mom, squishing."
"Sorry."
She did not loosen her arms immediately.
Gabriel watched from several feet away.
His face was calm.
His eyes were not.
Marlowe finally stood.
"Who took the picture?"
"We don't know."
"Then find out."
Gabriel nodded.
"I will."
"Not by hurting anybody."
His gaze met hers.
"I said I'll find out."
"That wasn't an answer."
"No."
"Gabriel."
He lowered his voice.
"I won't touch anyone without knowing what happened."
"That's still not—"
"Marlowe."
Something in his tone stopped her.
"I'm trying."
She realized he meant it.
Not merely trying to reassure her.
Trying to operate by rules that were not his.
For her.
She nodded slowly.
The police collected the messages.
One officer asked whether she knew anyone who might threaten her.
"Darren Pike."
Gabriel looked over.
"Why him?"
"He was furious when I left."
"Furious enough to photograph Oliver?"
"I don't know."
The officer wrote the name.
Gabriel said, "We already have evidence of contact between Pike and Victor Saye."
The officer's pen stopped.
"You've been investigating independently?"
Nico answered before Gabriel could.
"Corporate security."
The officer gave him a look.
"Sure."
Marlowe almost groaned.
By evening, word had spread.
Not about the threat.
About Gabriel Vescari appearing at Oliver's school.
The gossip page updated its story.
MOB HEIR CLAIMS SINGLE MOM.
Marlowe read the headline twice.
Then threw her phone onto the couch.
Oliver looked up from coloring.
"What's a mob heir?"
"Nothing you need to know."
"Is Gabriel one?"
She stared at him.
"Where did you hear that?"
"The lunch lady."
Marlowe closed her eyes.
"Fantastic."
Oliver returned to coloring.
"He's nice."
"He's complicated."
"So is division."
Marlowe laughed despite herself.
A knock came.
Elena checked first.
Gabriel.
Marlowe let him inside.
He carried no folder.
No gifts.
No groceries.
Progress.
"I found the source of the article."
Marlowe stood.
"Who?"
"The photograph was submitted anonymously through a masked account. But payment for promoted placement came from a prepaid card."
"That sounds like a dead end."
"It was purchased near Clifton Distribution."
"Darren."
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
"Camera footage shows someone wearing a Clifton jacket buying it."
Marlowe's pulse quickened.
"Can you see the face?"
"No."
Oliver looked up.
"Can I show Gabriel my picture?"
Marlowe almost said no.
Then stopped.
"Sure."
Oliver carried over a drawing.
It showed the snowy road.
The van.
Marlowe.
The old man.
And a giant black figure with arms down to his knees.
Gabriel examined it.
"Is that me?"
"Yes."
"Why am I nine feet tall?"
"Because you're scary."
Marlowe covered her mouth.
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
"Accurate."
Oliver pointed to another shape.
"And that's the bad car."
Gabriel's expression changed.
"What bad car?"
Marlowe frowned.
Oliver pointed toward the drawing.
A gray sedan near a tree.
"The one that was there before the black car."
Gabriel crouched.
"You saw another car?"
Oliver nodded.
"When Mom stopped."
"What did it look like?"
"Gray."
"Anything else?"
"It had a bird."
Gabriel looked at Marlowe.
"A bird?"
Oliver drew a shape with his finger.
"On the back window."
Nico, standing near the door, straightened.
"What kind?"
"Like wings."
Nico looked at Gabriel.
"Vantage Courier."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
Marlowe saw it.
"Who are they?"
"A subcontractor."
"The one connected to Victor Saye?"
"Yes."
Marlowe's skin went cold.
Gabriel turned to Oliver.
"You did very well."
Oliver smiled proudly.
"Do I get five dollars?"
Marlowe blinked.
"Why would you get five dollars?"
"Detectives get paid."
Gabriel reached for his wallet.
Marlowe pointed.
"Don't."
He stopped.
Oliver sighed.
"Mom ruins everything."
Gabriel put the wallet away.
"Your mother has strong economic policy."
Marlowe laughed again.
It annoyed her how easy he was becoming to laugh around.
That night, Gabriel stayed in the hallway while Nico and Elena discussed surveillance.
Marlowe brought him coffee.
"Milk?"
"Black."
"Of course."
He accepted the cup.
"How's your father?"
"Annoying the nurses."
"So recovering."
"Exactly."
"He remember what happened?"
"Not much."
Gabriel leaned against the wall.
"He had dinner with an old associate. His driver picked him up. Then there's a gap."
"Why would anyone abandon an elderly man in a snowstorm?"
"To scare me."
"Why?"
"Because fear can make people careless."
Marlowe studied him.
"Did it?"
"Almost."
She handed him the coffee.
"Don't let it."
Their fingers touched briefly.
Both noticed.
Neither acknowledged it.
Gabriel looked away first.
"Your job."
"What about it?"
"You need one."
"Thank you for the reminder."
"I know a company hiring administrative staff."
"No."
"You haven't heard the job."
"If it's yours, no."
"It isn't."
"Your cousin's?"
"No."
"Friend?"
"No."
"Someone who owes you a favor?"
Gabriel hesitated.
"Define favor."
She rolled her eyes.
"I'll find my own job."
"Fine."
"You don't believe me."
"I believe you."
"You sound surprised."
"I'm learning not to sound surprised."
"Good."
At nine the next morning, Marlowe had an interview at a medical supply warehouse.
She arrived twenty minutes early.
The manager looked at her résumé.
"You were terminated from Clifton?"
"Yes."
"For what reason?"
"I stopped to help a man experiencing a medical emergency."
The manager looked skeptical.
"Darren Pike reported abandonment of duty."
"I hadn't started my shift."
"He also noted chronic attendance issues."
"Three late arrivals in eleven months."
"Childcare?"
"Yes."
The manager closed the folder.
"We need reliability."
Marlowe knew the interview was over.
As she walked outside, she saw another employee staring at his phone.
Then at her.
The gossip article.
By the time she reached the van, her cheeks burned.
Elena was waiting beside it.
"How'd it go?"
"Great. I think they loved the part where the internet thinks I'm a criminal's mistress."
Elena winced.
Marlowe got in.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
"Ms. Quinn?"
"Yes."
"My name is Patricia Lowell. I'm director at Fairmont Senior Residence."
Marlowe frowned.
"Okay."
"We received your application."
"I didn't apply."
"Someone submitted your résumé."
Marlowe closed her eyes.
"Gabriel."
"I don't know anyone by that name."
In the background Elena suddenly became fascinated by a lamppost.
Marlowe glared at her.
Patricia continued.
"We need a night operations coordinator. Your warehouse background fits. Would you like to interview?"
Marlowe hesitated.
"Is this job real?"
Patricia laughed.
"Very."
"Did anyone ask you to hire me?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"Ms. Quinn, if somebody tried to order me to hire an unqualified person, I'd order them out."
Marlowe smiled.
"When can I come?"
"Today."
She interviewed at two.
She was hired at four.
The pay was three dollars higher than Clifton.
Health insurance began immediately.
The schedule aligned better with Oliver's school.
When she returned home, Gabriel was waiting outside.
She held up one finger.
"You sent my résumé."
"Yes."
"You didn't tell them to hire me."
"No."
"You didn't buy the company."
"No."
"You didn't threaten anyone."
"No."
"Did you donate anything?"
Gabriel paused.
"Not this week."
"Gabriel."
"I did not influence the hiring decision."
Marlowe stared at him.
Then smiled.
"Thank you."
He seemed genuinely surprised.
"For what?"
"For opening a door and letting me walk through it myself."
He nodded.
"You're welcome."
The moment was interrupted by shouting from across the street.
A man stood beside a news van.
"Ms. Quinn! Did Gabriel Vescari pay you for saving his father?"
Marlowe froze.
Another reporter appeared.
"Are you living in a Vescari-owned building?"
Then another.
"Is Mr. Vescari providing protection because you're romantically involved?"
Gabriel stepped in front of Marlowe.
She grabbed his arm.
"No."
He looked down.
"I'll handle it."
"Not your way."
The reporters pushed closer.
One shouted, "Mr. Vescari, is she under your protection?"
Gabriel's face became unreadable.
Marlowe whispered, "Don't."
He turned toward the cameras.
Too late.
His voice carried across the sidewalk.
"Yes."
Silence.
Then cameras erupted.
Gabriel continued.
"Marlowe Quinn helped my father when everyone else drove past him. She and her child have since been threatened for doing the decent thing. So hear me clearly."
Marlowe's stomach tightened.
Gabriel looked directly into the nearest camera.
"Anyone who humiliates her, threatens her, follows her son, or tries to punish her for saving an old man's life will answer to me."
Every reporter went silent.
Marlowe whispered, "Oh, God."
Gabriel turned.
He saw her expression.
And realized exactly what he had done.
Her phone began vibrating with notifications.
Then Elena's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face drained.
"What?"
Gabriel turned.
Elena lowered the phone.
"Salvatore's hospital room is empty."
Gabriel went still.
"The security guard is unconscious."
Marlowe's breath caught.
May you like
Elena looked directly at him.
"And somebody left Oliver's rocket blanket on the bed..."
