Chapter 2 - The Dead Man’s Phone
The phone kept ringing.
Elena did not move.
Leo did.
He took the device from the locker and answered without speaking.
For two seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man laughed.
“Still curious, Castellano?”
Leo’s face hardened.
Elena grabbed his sleeve.
“Who is it?”
The caller continued.
“I wondered how long it would take you to notice her.”
Leo’s blood cooled.
“You put the bracelet in her bag.”
“I put many things where they needed to be.”
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
The call ended.
Leo stared at the dark screen.
Elena’s fingers were still wrapped around his sleeve.
She seemed to realize it and pulled away.
“That wasn’t Daniel.”
Leo said nothing.
“Tell me that wasn’t my brother.”
“I can’t.”
Her expression broke.
“Daniel is dead.”
“Maybe.”
She stepped back.
“No. I buried him.”
“You buried a closed casket.”
“How do you know?”
Leo regretted the question immediately.
Elena stared at him.
“How do you know?”
Marco and Dempsey exchanged a glance.
Leo dismissed them with one look.
“Upstairs.”
Marco hesitated.
“Leo—”
“Now.”
When they were alone, Elena folded her arms tightly across her body.
“Explain.”
Leo looked toward the phone.
“Six years ago, I knew someone who used that number.”
“Who?”
“A man named Gabriel Vieri.”
“Never heard of him.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“What does he have to do with Daniel?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
That stopped her.
Leo continued.
“You shouldn’t believe me. You don’t know me.”
“I know your name.”
He watched her reaction.
“So you recognized it.”
“Everyone in my neighborhood recognizes Castellano.”
There was no admiration in her voice.
Only wariness.
“Then you understand why I don’t expect trust.”
“I understand why I should leave.”
She turned.
Leo caught her wrist.
She froze.
He released her immediately.
“Sorry.”
She looked surprised.
Men like Leo were not known for apologizing.
“You can’t go home.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That sounded like an order.”
“It was a warning.”
“I don’t take orders from strangers.”
“Someone framed you for felony theft using your dead brother’s name.”
“I noticed.”
“They knew I would be here tonight.”
“So?”
“So this was designed to put you in front of me.”
Elena stared at him.
“Why?”
“That’s what worries me.”
Her expression shifted.
Fear again.
But beneath it, anger.
Good.
Leo trusted anger more than panic.
“What happened to Gabriel Vieri?” she asked.
“He betrayed people who don’t forgive betrayal.”
“Meaning your people?”
Leo did not answer.
“That’s a yes.”
“He disappeared.”
“Was he killed?”
“Everyone believed so.”
“Including you?”
“Yes.”
“And now my dead brother’s name is connected to his phone number.”
“Yes.”
Elena rubbed her forehead.
“This is insane.”
Leo almost agreed.
Upstairs, the restaurant had become a circus.
Cynthia Harrow demanded Elena be arrested.
Two guests had recorded the confrontation.
Police were reportedly on the way.
Leo used one call to delay the chaos long enough for Dempsey to review security footage.
Twenty minutes later, Marco entered the storage room.
“You need to see this.”
They went to the manager’s office.
Dempsey replayed footage from the service corridor.
Elena entered frame pushing her cleaning cart.
She left it outside a restroom.
Thirty seconds later, a man wearing a waiter’s jacket appeared.
His face was hidden by a cap.
He placed something inside Elena’s supply bag.
The bracelet.
Cynthia went silent when she saw it.
Elena did not.
She stood beside the desk, staring at the screen.
“Play it again.”
Dempsey did.
“Stop.”
The image froze.
Elena pointed.
“His left hand.”
Leo leaned closer.
The man’s hand rested briefly against the cart.
A pale scar crossed his wrist.
Elena whispered, “Daniel had that.”
Leo looked at her.
“From what?”
“When we were kids, he punched through a basement window because I got locked inside.”
Her voice trembled.
“He needed twelve stitches.”
Marco looked at Leo.
“You think it’s actually him?”
Elena stepped away.
“No.”
But this time the denial sounded weaker.
Leo turned to Dempsey.
“Copy the footage.”
Police arrived shortly afterward.
The footage cleared Elena immediately.
Cynthia left without apologizing.
Leo noticed Elena watched her go.
“You expected one?” he asked.
“No.”
“That sounded disappointed.”
“It sounded realistic.”
He almost smiled.
She picked up her coat.
“I’m leaving.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“We discussed your habit of issuing orders.”
“Someone impersonating your dead brother just framed you.”
“And your solution is what? Kidnap me for safety?”
Marco coughed.
Leo glanced at him.
Marco lifted both hands.
“I said nothing.”
Leo looked back at Elena.
“I’ll take you home.”
“No.”
“Then Marco will.”
“Absolutely not.”
Marco looked offended.
“I’m delightful.”
Elena stared at him.
“You look like you charge people interest for borrowing napkins.”
Marco blinked.
Leo laughed.
Actually laughed.
Marco looked betrayed.
Elena seemed startled by the sound.
For a fraction of a second, the tension broke.
Then the office phone rang.
Dempsey answered.
His face changed.
He looked toward Elena.
“Someone is outside asking for you.”
Her shoulders tightened.
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t give a name.”
Leo moved first.
“Stay here.”
Elena followed him anyway.
The service entrance opened into a narrow side alley.
A man stood beneath a streetlamp.
Long coat.
Cap pulled low.
He was perhaps thirty-five.
Elena stopped.
The man lifted his head.
Her breath left her.
“Daniel?”
The man smiled.
Elena made a sound Leo would remember for years.
Not a scream.
Something smaller.
More broken.
She ran toward him.
Leo caught her around the waist.
“Let me go!”
“Elena.”
“That’s my brother!”
The man across the alley backed away.
“Ellie.”
She froze.
Nobody had called her that in years.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Daniel?”
The man turned and ran.
Leo released her and chased him.
The stranger cut through traffic.
Leo followed.
A horn blared.
The man reached the opposite sidewalk and disappeared down a narrow passage.
Leo caught sight of him once more.
Then a black SUV pulled between them.
By the time it passed, the alley was empty.
Leo returned to the restaurant.
Elena stood against the wall.
She looked furious.
“You stopped me.”
“I stopped you from running toward a man connected to a setup.”
“He called me Ellie.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“He had Daniel’s voice.”
Leo had no answer.
Elena wiped her tears angrily.
“I need to go home.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“I’m not arguing.”
“I am.”
“Fine. Argue in the car.”
She glared at him.
Marco whispered, “I think I like her.”
Leo ignored him.
Elena lived in a narrow apartment building in Queens.
Third floor.
No elevator.
Leo noticed the broken lobby light.
The damaged lock.
The camera above the front entrance that had not worked in years.
“You live here alone?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t live here.”
He looked at her.
“That may be the problem.”
She stopped halfway up the stairs.
“What does that mean?”
Leo did not know.
So he said nothing.
At her apartment door, Elena found the lock already broken.
Everything inside had been turned upside down.
Drawers emptied.
Couch cushions sliced.
Mattress overturned.
She walked through the wreckage silently.
Leo followed.
Nothing valuable appeared missing.
Someone had been searching.
“For what?” Elena whispered.
Leo noticed an old photograph on the floor.
Elena and Daniel as teenagers.
Daniel had one arm around her shoulders.
Leo picked it up.
The man in the photograph looked like the man from the alley.
Older now.
But unmistakable.
Elena sat on the edge of the overturned couch.
“He was alive.”
“Maybe.”
“He was alive all this time.”
Her voice cracked.
“And he never came back.”
Leo looked around.
Something on the kitchen counter caught his eye.
A single white envelope.
Same paper as the one from the restaurant.
Elena saw it too.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Leo beside his father fifteen years earlier.
Behind them stood Gabriel Vieri.
On the back were five handwritten words.
ASK LEO WHO KILLED DANIEL.
Elena’s eyes lifted slowly.
Leo said nothing.
The color drained from her face.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew something.”
“Elena—”
“You knew!”
She backed away from him.
Leo reached toward her.
She slapped his hand aside.
“Get out.”
“Elena.”
“Get out!”
Leo did not move.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
ONE LIE DOWN.
TWO TO GO.
Leo looked toward the shattered apartment window.
Across the street, a figure stood on a rooftop.
Watching them.
May you like
The figure raised a phone.
And Elena’s phone began to ring.
