Chapter 12 - No More Quiet Rooms
My mother was on the floor when I reached the library.
Nico knelt beside her.
For one terrible second, all I saw was the blue coat.
“Mom?”
She looked up.
“I’m all right.”
Broken glass glittered across the rug.
A bullet had gone through the chair where she had been sitting.
Nico had pulled her down when he saw movement beyond the hedge.
Police searched the grounds.
An officer photographed the window.
My mother held my hand so tightly my fingers ached.
“I’m not staying here,” she said.
“You don’t have to.”
“Neither are you.”
I looked toward Luca.
He stood no taller in his chair than he had at dinner, but the house seemed to lean toward him anyway.
“I agree,” he said.
Ruiz arranged a guarded location through her department.
No mansion employees.
No drivers from Luca’s company.
No addresses sent by text.
While officers moved my mother, Luca stayed with Ruiz and his attorney.
“I’ll go to the meeting,” he said.
“No,” Ruiz replied.
“He wants Hannah because she found the evidence. He wants me because I know where the money is.”
“And that gives him two targets.”
“Then use me to get him close.”
Ruiz crossed her arms.
“You don’t set the operation. You follow instructions.”
“Fine.”
The word came quickly.
That surprised her.
It surprised me, too.
Frank sent a second message at 10:17.
Old freight terminal. South loading bay. No police.
Ruiz looked at the map.
Abandoned offices. Open concrete yard. Two vehicle exits.
She made calls.
Nobody promised us it would be easy.
My phone vibrated.
A number I didn’t recognize.
I expected another threat.
Instead, a man said, “Hannah?”
Michael.
“Where are you?”
“I left the station.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Frank says he has my daughter.”
“She’s with your sister.”
“He sent a picture.”
My stomach dropped.
“Michael, listen to me. Pictures can be old.”
“He said I have to bring Vanessa.”
I turned toward Ruiz.
She was already reaching for her radio.
“Where is Vanessa?” I asked.
Michael breathed hard into the phone.
May you like
“She’s beside me.”
In the background, Vanessa said, “Keep driving.”
