Chapter 2 - The Boy at the Top of the Stairs
“Noah.”
Elena barely recognized her own voice.
Her son stood beneath the basement light wearing his red winter jacket and sneakers.
Behind him stood an older woman.
Mrs. Patterson.
Elena nearly collapsed from relief.
Almost.
Because relief lasted exactly three seconds.
“What are you doing here?”
Noah’s lower lip trembled.
“You forgot your phone.”
Mrs. Patterson looked apologetic.
“He found the address written beside your cleaning schedule. He was worried.”
Elena stared.
She had written it down.
One stupid line on a piece of paper.
“Mrs. Patterson, you need to leave.”
The older woman looked past Elena.
Saw Dominic.
Saw the chains.
Her face drained of color.
“My Lord.”
“Please.”
Elena hurried upstairs.
She grabbed Noah and hugged him so tightly he complained.
“Mama, you’re squishing me.”
“Good.”
She kissed his hair.
“You never do this again.”
“But you were gone.”
“I know.”
“Your neck is bruised.”
Elena froze.
Noah touched the fading marks Marcus had left.
“Who hurt you?”
“Nobody.”
“That’s not nobody.”
Children noticed the truth adults worked hard to hide.
Before Elena could answer, Dominic’s voice traveled from below.
“Elena.”
Urgent.
She turned.
Dominic was staring toward a small basement window.
Headlights swept across the glass.
A car.
Then another.
Dominic pulled himself upright.
“Marcus.”
Elena looked at Mrs. Patterson.
“Take Noah.”
“Mom—”
“Now.”
Mrs. Patterson understood.
She took his hand.
But the front entrance was already opening.
Dominic swore.
“Back cellar door.”
Elena looked at him.
“What?”
“Behind those shelves.”
He pointed toward an old wooden storage unit.
“There’s a service tunnel. The house was built during Prohibition.”
“You knew that?”
“I owned the property before Marcus stole it.”
Elena dragged the shelf aside.
A narrow metal door appeared.
She unlocked Dominic’s cuff with one of the keys she had taken from the cleaning ring.
The chain fell.
He tried to stand.
His knees buckled.
Elena caught him.
“You can barely walk.”
“I’ll manage.”
“You weigh twice what I do.”
“An exaggeration.”
“Not by much.”
Noah appeared again.
His eyes widened at Dominic.
“Is he the hurt man?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Please stop asking questions.”
Dominic looked at Noah.
Something changed in his face.
Children did that to men who had forgotten softness existed.
“Noah?”
The boy nodded.
“Your mother is very brave.”
Noah looked proud.
“I know.”
Elena almost cried.
They entered the tunnel.
Mrs. Patterson went first with Noah.
Elena supported Dominic.
The passage was narrow, cold, and black except for the flashlight.
Behind them, voices entered the basement.
Marcus.
“You think she came back?”
Another man answered.
“The supplies are fresh.”
Dominic stopped.
Elena whispered, “Move.”
He did.
They reached an iron staircase leading upward to an old garden shed nearly seventy yards behind the mansion.
Mrs. Patterson pushed open the door.
Snow-covered woods surrounded them.
Dominic nearly collapsed again.
A black SUV appeared beyond the trees.
Elena panicked.
Dominic pulled her behind him despite barely being able to stand.
The SUV stopped.
A large man stepped out.
Bald head.
Black overcoat.
Hand near his waistband.
Dominic stared.
“Gabriel?”
The man looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Boss?”
Three armed men exited behind him.
Elena tightened her hold on Noah.
Gabriel approached slowly.
“They told us you were dead.”
“Marcus?”
“He said you left the country after stealing from the family.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“Of course he did.”
Gabriel looked at the blood.
“Jesus.”
He turned.
“Get the medic.”
Dominic grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
“Boss—”
“Her first.”
He nodded toward Elena.
“She and the boy are under my protection.”
Elena bristled.
“I don’t need—”
Dominic looked at her.
“You absolutely do.”
For once, she had no argument.
They moved to a safe house north of Boston.
Not a mansion.
A plain brick home hidden behind tall pines.
A doctor treated Dominic.
Elena sat with Noah in the kitchen.
He ate grilled cheese while asking questions Elena could not answer.
“Is Dominic a bad guy?”
Elena nearly choked.
“Noah.”
“He had chains.”
“He was the one chained.”
“But the other man was his brother.”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Marcus?”
“Not your uncle.”
Noah considered that.
“Good.”
Dominic appeared in the doorway.
Fresh bandages.
Black T-shirt.
Still pale.
But standing.
Noah looked at him.
“Are you a mafia boss?”
Elena covered her face.
Dominic sat opposite him.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Internet.”
Elena whispered, “I hate technology.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Then answered.
“I’m a businessman.”
Noah pointed his grilled cheese.
“That means yes.”
Gabriel coughed into his fist.
Dominic looked at Elena.
“Your son is dangerous.”
“Tell me about it.”
The humor ended when Gabriel placed a file on the table.
“We checked Marcus’s financial records.”
Dominic opened it.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Elena asked.
“The missing money.”
“It’s worse?”
“Much.”
Dominic turned several pages.
“Marcus wasn’t stealing from me.”
“Then who?”
“He was paying someone.”
“For what?”
Gabriel answered.
“Police officers. Judges. City inspectors.”
Elena felt cold.
Marcus had built protection.
A lot of it.
Dominic stared at one name.
Then another.
“There’s more.”
Gabriel slid forward a photograph.
Elena recognized the man immediately.
Her former husband.
Derek Morales.
Noah’s father.
A man who had vanished two years earlier after emptying their savings and leaving Elena buried beneath his debts.
Elena’s mouth went dry.
“What is Derek doing in Marcus’s file?”
Dominic looked at her.
“According to this?”
He paused.
“He works for my brother.”
Noah was still sitting at the table.
Elena turned the photograph facedown.
Too late.
He had seen it.
“That’s Dad.”
Nobody spoke.
Noah looked at Elena.
“Mama…”
She reached for him.
He pulled back.
“Dad isn’t gone?”
Elena’s heart broke.
She had told Noah his father had gone away.
She had never said where.
Because she did not know.
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
“Get the boy out.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No more secrets.”
She crouched beside Noah.
“Your dad left because he made bad choices.”
“Is he coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic studied the photograph.
Then suddenly stood.
“I do.”
Elena looked up.
“What?”
He turned the file around.
A transaction was scheduled for midnight.
Recipient:
Derek Morales.
Location:
Crane Harbor Warehouse 9.
Dominic met Elena’s eyes.
“Your husband isn’t coming back.”
May you like
He tapped the page.
“He never left.”
