Chapter 2 - THE MAN ACROSS THE STREET
Danny turned and shoved Rose into the girl’s arms.
“Maya, take her.”
“What?”
“Take her!”
The man in the gray coat stepped off the curb.
Graham followed Danny’s stare.
Tall.
Forties.
Clean-cut.
No panic.
No surprise.
He walked like he already knew exactly what he was coming to collect.
Danny grabbed the little boy’s hand.
“Eli, move.”
Graham caught Danny’s sleeve.
“Who is that?”
Danny ripped himself free.
“If he gets her, she’s dead.”
That was enough.
Graham lifted two fingers.
At the curb, his driver saw him.
“Cal!”
Cal Mercer had been Graham’s driver for eleven years and his security man for twenty before that.
He moved fast.
The black SUV jumped forward and stopped beside the café.
The gray-coated man broke into a run.
“Get them in the car!” Graham barked.
Cal stared at the children.
“Sir—”
“Now!”
Maya climbed in first, clutching Rose.
Eli scrambled after her.
Danny shoved Graham’s wheelchair toward the SUV.
“I can do that myself,” Graham snapped.
“Then do it faster.”
Graham almost laughed.
Almost.
Cal folded the chair while Graham transferred into the back seat.
His right leg screamed.
Beautiful, glorious pain.
The gray-coated man was ten yards away.
Then five.
He reached inside his coat.
Cal stepped between them.
“Keep walking.”
The man stopped.
He smiled.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“Then you won’t mind backing up.”
The smile disappeared.
“You have something that belongs to my employer.”
Danny shouted from the SUV.
“She doesn’t belong to anybody!”
The man’s eyes shifted toward him.
That was when Cal hit him.
One clean punch.
The man dropped.
“Drive,” Graham said.
Cal got behind the wheel.
The SUV shot into traffic.
For thirty seconds nobody spoke.
Then Eli started crying.
Quietly.
Like he was trying not to bother anyone.
Maya held him with one arm and Rose with the other.
Danny watched through the rear window.
“Is he following us?”
“No,” Cal said.
Danny didn’t relax.
“He will.”
Graham looked at him.
“Start talking.”
Danny shook his head.
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
Graham lifted his right foot three inches off the floor.
“Kid, my standards for believable just changed.”
Danny stared at the moving foot.
Then at Rose.
Guilt crossed his face.
“You shouldn’t make her do it again.”
“Why?”
Danny said nothing.
“Why?”
“Because it hurts her.”
Graham looked at the blood under Rose’s nose.
His stomach tightened.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened the first time?”
Danny’s eyes dropped.
Maya whispered, “It was Mom.”
Danny shot her a look.
“Don’t.”
Graham leaned forward.
“What happened to your mother?”
Silence.
Cal looked at them through the mirror.
Danny’s hands curled into fists.
“She got sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“The kind where you stop breathing.”
Graham felt cold.
Danny continued.
“Rose was six months old. Mom collapsed in the motel bathroom. I thought she was dead.”
Maya began crying without making a sound.
“Rose touched her face,” Danny said. “Mom woke up.”
Graham stared at him.
“Then where is she now?”
Danny looked toward the window.
“Dead.”
The word landed heavy.
Graham softened despite himself.
“What happened?”
Danny answered without looking at him.
“Men came two nights later.”
Cal’s eyes narrowed.
“What men?”
“Men like him.”
Danny pointed back toward the café.
“They wanted Rose. Mom wouldn’t give her up.”
Graham waited.
Danny finally turned.
“They shot her.”
Nobody spoke.
The city moved outside the windows.
People crossed streets.
Buses stopped.
Life continued.
Graham felt his old anger returning, but it had found a new target.
“Police?”
Danny laughed bitterly.
“We tried.”
“And?”
“The cop made one phone call.”
Danny’s voice dropped.
“Ten minutes later, the men came back.”
Cal swore under his breath.
Graham reached for his phone.
Danny lunged across the seat.
“No!”
“Get off me.”
“No cops!”
“I’m not calling the cops.”
“Then who?”
Graham looked at Cal.
“Change of plans. Take us to the house.”
Cal hesitated.
“Sir, if these people followed—”
“My house has steel gates, cameras and twelve armed men.”
Danny stared at Graham.
“You’re rich.”
Graham looked down at his tailored coat.
“So I’ve been told.”
Eli suddenly pointed through the back window.
“Danny.”
Danny turned.
A black sedan had appeared behind them.
Then another.
Cal checked the mirror.
His expression hardened.
Graham asked, “Friends of yours?”
Danny’s face went white.
“No.”
May you like
The first sedan accelerated.
And slammed into the back of the SUV.
