Chapter 11 - THE GIRL THEY USED
Evelyn threw the metal strip across the room.
“Three years.”
Maya looked over.
“What?”
“They watched me for three years.”
Lorenzo sat up despite the pain.
“Evelyn.”
“They watched me lose my apartment.”
“Don’t.”
“They watched me work doubles.”
“That was Celeste and Salvatore.”
“They watched me mourn a man they knew was alive!”
Her voice cracked.
Lorenzo tried to stand.
She pointed at him.
“Stay down.”
He did.
Maya quietly left the room.
Evelyn wiped her face.
“I was bait.”
“Yes.”
“And the engagement dinner?”
“The final push.”
“They wanted me to warn you.”
“Yes.”
“So you would run.”
“Yes.”
“And somehow lead them to the ledger.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Everybody had a plan for my life except me.”
Lorenzo said nothing.
That was the right choice.
Eventually, she picked up the drive.
“What happens if this goes public?”
“Half the city goes into panic.”
“Good.”
“Innocent people could get hurt.”
She stared at him.
“You’re telling me to protect the system?”
“No.”
“Sounds like it.”
“I’m telling you we do it right.”
“Since when do you care about right?”
He took that hit without flinching.
“Since wrong killed everyone I loved.”
Silence.
Maya came back.
“There’s a reporter I trust.”
Lorenzo frowned.
“You trust a reporter?”
“I went to high school with her.”
“What does she cover?”
“City corruption.”
Evelyn looked at Maya.
“Can she publish this?”
“If it’s real.”
“It’s real.”
Lorenzo shook his head.
“Publishing alone gets her killed.”
Evelyn thought.
“Then we send copies everywhere.”
“Press. Federal prosecutors. Internal Affairs.”
“Everywhere at once.”
Lorenzo smiled slightly.
“There she is.”
“Who?”
“The woman who slipped me the napkin.”
Evelyn met his eyes.
For a second, everything got quiet.
Too quiet.
There was something between them now.
Not trust.
Not yet.
Something more dangerous.
Understanding.
Maya’s phone buzzed.
She checked it.
Her face drained.
“What?”
Maya turned the screen around.
Security camera image.
Her mother’s house.
A black car outside.
Text underneath.
BRING THE DRIVE TO UNION STATION. MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Maya whispered, “My mom’s inside.”
Evelyn stood.
Lorenzo did too.
“You’re not going alone.”
“The message says—”
“I don’t care.”
Maya looked at Evelyn.
“What do we do?”
Evelyn stared at the phone.
Then another message arrived.
A live photograph.
Maya’s mother tied to a chair.
Beside her stood Celeste.
Holding a gun.
May you like
The caption read:
MIDNIGHT. OR SHE LOSES SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN A TIP.
