Chapter 6 - THE WRONG EXIT
Marco reached the window first.
“Two cars.”
Dominic pulled his phone out.
Ada grabbed his wrist.
“No speeches. Kitchen door.”
A heavy knock struck the front of the house.
“Ada? Building inspection.”
She gave a bitter little smile.
“Of course.”
Hannah scooped the payroll folder into her bag.
Dominic moved a chair beneath the front doorknob, then followed them through the kitchen.
A man waited in the alley.
Marco shoved him against the brick wall before he could reach inside his coat.
“Go.”
They ran toward the car.
A second man stepped around the corner.
Dominic drove him back with the trash can beside the gate. Metal crashed against pavement. Hannah kept hold of Ada’s arm.
No speeches.
No threats.
Just breath, footsteps, and the sudden ugly knowledge that money did not make a body harder to kill.
Marco got them into the car.
A window burst behind them as he pulled away.
Hannah ducked.
Ada made a small, stunned noise.
Blood ran from a cut above her eyebrow.
Dominic pressed his handkerchief against it.
“It’s glass,” he said. “Keep pressure on it.”
“Don’t tell me what it is,” Ada snapped. “Tell me why they knew.”
Nobody answered.
Marco drove toward the estate.
“No,” Hannah said.
“It’s secure.”
“They photographed me through your secure window.”
Dominic looked at Marco.
“Go to the hospital.”
Celia met them outside the emergency entrance.
She had brought a doctor’s name, fresh clothes for Ada, and a sealed envelope containing cash.
“Temporary expenses,” she said.
Ada refused the envelope.
“I want my house.”
While Ada was being treated, Hannah went upstairs to see Mrs. Alvarez.
Dominic followed.
The older woman lay with a cast on one leg and bruises fading along her cheek.
When Hannah mentioned the hit-and-run, Mrs. Alvarez turned away.
“It wasn’t random, was it?” Hannah asked.
Tears gathered in the woman’s eyes.
“A man asked who the baby’s father was.”
“What man?”
She looked at Dominic.
“He said he worked for you.”
Dominic showed her a photograph of Vincent.
She shook her head.
Marco appeared in the doorway.
Mrs. Alvarez saw him.
Her hand tightened around Hannah’s.
“That one,” she whispered.
May you like
Marco stopped.
Behind him, the elevator doors opened with a soft, cheerful chime.
