Chapter 11 - THE MAN IN THE HOSPITAL
Daniel survived surgery.
Barely.
He woke the next morning under police guard at St. Francis Hospital.
Adrian sat outside the room.
Detective Reyes stood beside him drinking terrible coffee.
“You know, most organized crime bosses don’t voluntarily sit in police hallways.”
“I’m trying something new.”
“Retirement?”
“Don’t push it.”
Reyes studied him.
“You really went into a burning house for a rabbit?”
Adrian glanced through the window.
Ellie was in the waiting area with Hannah, feeding crackers to Rosie.
“Yes.”
Reyes shook her head.
“You’re confusing.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Daniel’s doctor stepped out.
“He can talk for five minutes.”
They entered.
Daniel looked terrible.
Adrian stood at the foot of the bed.
“Where is Luca?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Reyes leaned closer.
“Wrong answer.”
“I swear.”
“Who planted the explosives?”
“Luca hired two guys from Jersey.”
“Names.”
Daniel gave them.
Reyes wrote everything down.
Adrian asked the question that mattered.
“Vincent?”
Daniel looked at him.
“He knows everything.”
“About Lily?”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Why did he help Luca?”
“He owed money.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Reyes asked, “To who?”
“Luca.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
Of course.
Luca had trapped everyone with weakness.
Debt.
Fear.
Family.
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Ellie okay?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
Adrian studied him.
“You kidnapped her.”
“I know.”
“You pointed a gun at her mother.”
“I know.”
“And then you took a bullet for them.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“No.”
Daniel swallowed painfully.
“But there’s something else.”
Adrian waited.
“Luca has people inside your companies.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
Daniel looked at Reyes.
“Judges. Cops. Port supervisors.”
Reyes stopped writing.
“How many?”
“Enough to make a war.”
Adrian’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello, brother.”
Luca.
Adrian stood.
Reyes immediately signaled for a trace.
“You sound alive,” Adrian said.
“Disappointed?”
“Not yet.”
Luca laughed.
“You always needed the last word.”
“Where are you?”
“You know what I realized last night?”
Adrian stayed silent.
“You care about that kid.”
His eyes moved toward Ellie through the glass.
Luca continued.
“That’s dangerous.”
“If you go near her—”
“You’ll what? Kill me?”
“Yes.”
Luca laughed again.
“There’s the Adrian I know.”
The call clicked off.
Reyes checked the trace.
“Burner. Midtown tower. Signal bounced.”
Adrian walked toward Hannah.
“We need to move you.”
She stood.
“No more mansions.”
“Agreed.”
“No armed men sleeping in my kitchen.”
“Two.”
“Zero.”
“One.”
Hannah stared at him.
“This is not a negotiation.”
“It absolutely is.”
Ellie looked up.
“Can Mr. Marco come?”
Marco, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow.
Hannah sighed.
“Fine. Marco.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Then Reyes’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What address?”
She looked at Adrian.
“We found Vincent.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Reyes hesitated.
“In your daughter’s cemetery.”
May you like
Adrian stopped breathing.
And for the second time in twenty-four hours, the past was waiting for him.
