Chapter 2 - The Man Outside the Window
Damien pulled Sophie away from the glass.
“Turn off the lights.”
She obeyed immediately.
The apartment dropped into darkness except for the weak orange glow of the space heater.
Toby coughed from the futon.
Damien looked down at the street again.
Frank stood beside the SUV with his phone pressed to his ear.
Damien’s own phone began vibrating.
Frank.
Damien declined the call.
Sophie stared at him.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No. You don’t.”
Damien turned.
Sophie held Jackie’s paper tightly.
“Frank knew where we lived years ago.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“He paid for Toby’s treatment once.”
“When?”
“After Jackie died.”
Damien felt something cold move through him.
“Why would Frank do that?”
“He said Jackie had been loyal before he made his mistake.”
“That doesn’t sound like Frank.”
“I know.”
The phone vibrated again.
Damien answered this time.
“What?”
Frank’s voice came casually.
“You disappeared.”
“That happens.”
“Three days before your wedding?”
Damien looked through the curtain.
Frank had not moved.
“You tracking me now?”
“Your security system tracks every vehicle leaving the estate.”
A lie.
Damien had disabled the sedan’s transponder years ago.
Frank continued.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
Damien smiled without humor.
“You called me to ask something you already know.”
Silence.
Then Frank said, “Come home.”
The line disconnected.
Damien looked at Sophie.
“Pack a bag for the boy.”
“What?”
“You’re leaving.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“His oxygen equipment—”
“I’ll replace it.”
“You don’t understand.”
Damien stepped closer.
“Sophie. Frank didn’t accidentally arrive outside your building at one-thirty in the morning.”
Her eyes filled with dread.
“Exactly.”
Damien took out his phone and called a number known to only a handful of people.
“Marco.”
A sleepy voice answered.
“Boss?”
“I need a vehicle at Thirty-First Street in Astoria. No company plates. Ten minutes.”
There was a pause.
“Yes, boss.”
“And Marco?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell nobody.”
Damien ended the call.
Toby coughed again.
Sophie knelt beside him and began disconnecting portable tubing.
Damien watched her move.
Fast.
Practiced.
Too practiced.
“You’ve run before.”
Sophie did not look up.
“Once.”
“From who?”
She closed a medicine bag.
“Jackie.”
Damien went still.
“He told me to take Toby to my sister’s apartment the night before he disappeared.”
“You said he knew he was going to die.”
“He knew something was wrong.”
Sophie stood.
“He said Frank had asked him to sign something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Damien looked at Jackie’s sheet again.
F.M.
Dates.
Account numbers.
One entry had a location beside it.
Pier 17.
Another said V.C.
Damien’s heart tightened.
Victoria Calabresi.
He folded the paper.
Sophie noticed his reaction.
“You know what that means?”
“I know someone with those initials.”
Outside, the building entrance opened.
Footsteps sounded below.
Damien moved instantly.
“Bathroom.”
Sophie lifted Toby.
“No.”
“Take him.”
She carried the child into the narrow bathroom.
Damien closed the door halfway.
Footsteps reached the fourth floor.
Slow.
No attempt to hide them.
Frank knocked once.
“Damien.”
Damien opened the apartment door.
Frank stood alone.
Dark coat.
Hands empty.
Expression calm.
His eyes traveled past Damien into the apartment.
“You followed me.”
“I protect you.”
“From maids?”
Frank smiled.
“From mistakes.”
Damien stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
“Careful.”
“I’m always careful.”
Frank leaned closer.
“Victoria’s father arrives tomorrow morning. Half the organization is already nervous. You disappearing into Queens to visit staff isn’t exactly reassuring.”
“How did you know whose apartment this was?”
Frank’s smile weakened.
“Personnel records.”
“Try again.”
Silence.
Damien watched him.
Frank finally said, “Jackie’s girlfriend used to live here.”
There it was.
No denial.
No confusion.
“You remember Jackie.”
“Of course.”
“Five years.”
“I remember every man who stole from us.”
Damien pulled the folded bill from his pocket.
“His son’s still alive.”
Frank glanced at it.
Only for half a second.
But Damien saw something.
Fear.
“You knew.”
Frank lowered his voice.
“Come home.”
“Did Jackie steal that money?”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.”
Frank did.
Damien asked again.
“Did Jackie steal that money?”
Frank waited too long.
Damien’s hand closed around his coat collar.
He slammed Frank against the wall.
The old hallway shook.
“Answer me.”
Frank’s face hardened.
“He took the fall.”
Damien froze.
“For who?”
Frank’s eyes flicked toward the apartment.
“You don’t want that answer tonight.”
Damien tightened his grip.
“I didn’t ask what I wanted.”
Frank whispered, “You’re getting married in forty-eight hours.”
Damien felt the meaning before he understood it.
Victoria.
“Say it.”
Frank shook his head.
Damien shoved him harder.
“Say her name.”
A door opened downstairs.
Voices.
Frank spoke quickly.
“Jackie found transfers running through collections you controlled. He thought someone was skimming.”
“Who?”
“He found Calabresi money.”
Damien’s grip loosened.
Frank straightened his coat.
“This started before Victoria.”
“What started?”
Frank looked toward the apartment again.
“Your father’s deal.”
Damien stared at him.
His father had been dead seven years.
“What deal?”
Frank’s voice lowered.
“The marriage.”
Damien almost laughed.
“My father arranged a marriage from the grave?”
“He arranged the alliance.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
A year before his death.
Damien stepped back.
“No.”
Frank continued.
“Your father knew the Calabresis wanted access to the docks. He promised them something.”
“What?”
Frank did not answer.
Damien grabbed him again.
Frank suddenly said, “Sophie has something Jackie stole before he died.”
Damien stopped.
Inside the apartment, a floorboard moved.
Frank’s eyes sharpened.
“She showed you, didn’t she?”
Damien’s silence told him enough.
Frank exhaled.
“Damien, listen to me. Jackie wasn’t innocent. He found something he wasn’t supposed to find.”
“Then why frame him for twenty thousand?”
“Because the truth would have started a war.”
“What truth?”
Frank looked straight into Damien’s eyes.
“Your marriage isn’t joining two families.”
A door opened behind Damien.
Sophie stood there.
She held an old photograph.
Her hands trembled.
She turned it toward Damien.
The picture showed Damien’s father standing beside Victoria’s father.
Between them was Jackie.
And written across the back were four words.
May you like
Damien read them twice.
THE SON MUST NEVER KNOW.
