Chapter 2 - The Name She Buried
“Sit down.”
Lucian ignored Elena and reached for his shoes.
“You’ll reopen the stitches.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“I don’t care.”
“That sounded personal.”
“It’s medical.”
Lucian looked at her.
“Liar.”
Elena pointed toward the bed.
“Sit.”
He sat.
She checked the abdominal bandage.
A small patch of red had appeared.
“You need a hospital.”
“Impossible.”
“Then you need someone better equipped than me.”
“I have a doctor.”
“Call him.”
“My phone is gone.”
Elena tossed him her prepaid phone.
Lucian dialed from memory.
“Matteo.”
He listened.
“I'm alive.”
Pause.
“No. Don't trace this phone. Bring Dr. Russo to the South District. I'll contact you with the location.”
Another pause.
“Matteo.”
His voice changed.
Cold.
Absolute.
“Someone compromised the convoy. Find out who.”
He hung up.
Elena stared at him.
“You sound different when you're giving orders.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“What exactly is your occupation?”
Lucian handed back the phone.
“You already know.”
“I know rumors.”
“Some are exaggerated.”
“And the others?”
“Understated.”
Elena sighed.
“Wonderful.”
Lucian studied her.
“Tell me about Garrett.”
“No.”
“He found you after fourteen months.”
“Still no.”
“He knows where you live.”
“I heard him.”
“And he may have connections to the men hunting me.”
That stopped her.
“You don't know that.”
“No. But Salerno has paid police officers before.”
Elena slowly sat.
Garrett had always been obsessed with influence.
Names.
Favors.
Leverage.
“What happened between you?”
Lucian asked.
Elena's eyes hardened.
“I said no.”
“To what?”
“To spending the rest of my life being controlled.”
She told him enough.
Garrett had monitored her calls.
Chosen her friends.
Controlled her money.
When she tried leaving, he threatened to destroy her nursing career.
When she reported him, his friends protected him.
Finally, Elena disappeared.
Lucian listened without interrupting.
That made telling him strangely easier.
When she finished, he asked one question.
“Did he ever apologize?”
Elena laughed without humor.
“Men like Garrett don't apologize. They explain why you deserved it.”
Lucian's jaw tightened.
“Then he's predictable.”
A car stopped outside.
Lucian immediately moved.
“Lights off.”
They went dark.
Elena approached the window.
A black SUV waited below.
“Your people?”
“No.”
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Elena's heart stopped.
Garrett.
He looked almost exactly as she remembered.
Tall.
Athletic.
Clean haircut.
The face everyone trusted.
He looked up toward her third-floor window.
And smiled.
“Elena,” Lucian whispered. “Move away from the glass.”
She did.
Garrett entered the building.
Lucian checked the bedroom.
“No fire escape?”
“Kitchen.”
“Too exposed.”
“Then what?”
“Do exactly what you did earlier.”
“Pretend I'm alone?”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
Lucian looked beneath the bed.
Elena almost laughed.
“Seriously?”
“I've survived worse indignities.”
The knock came.
Three calm taps.
“Elena?”
Garrett's voice.
“Open the door.”
She remained silent.
“Elena, sweetheart. We need to talk.”
Lucian disappeared beneath the bed.
Garrett knocked harder.
“I know you're inside.”
Elena opened the door with the chain attached.
Garrett smiled.
“There you are.”
“What do you want?”
“To bring you home.”
“This is home.”
“No. This is where you've been hiding.”
His gaze moved over her shoulder.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
Garrett's smile disappeared.
“Open the chain.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
The old warning entered his voice.
Her body remembered it before her mind did.
But this time she didn't step backward.
“Leave.”
Garrett stared at her.
Then smiled again.
“You've gotten brave.”
“I got tired.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
His jaw flexed.
He lowered his voice.
“You embarrassed me.”
“You hunted me.”
“I loved you.”
“You controlled me.”
“I protected you.”
“From everyone except you.”
Garrett's hand touched the door.
Elena slammed it.
His boot stopped it.
“Elena.”
“Move your foot.”
“Open this door.”
“No.”
For one second she saw the real Garrett.
Then footsteps sounded downstairs.
Garrett withdrew his boot.
“This isn't finished.”
“Yes, it is.”
He walked away.
Elena locked everything again.
She waited.
Lucian emerged.
“You were shaking.”
“I was terrified.”
“But you still shut the door.”
Elena looked at him.
“Being afraid and being helpless aren't the same thing.”
Lucian nodded slowly.
“No. They aren't.”
His phone call arrived twenty minutes later through Elena's prepaid.
Matteo spoke urgently.
Lucian's expression hardened.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Elena.
“You're certain?”
Another pause.
Lucian ended the call.
“What happened?” Elena asked.
He stood.
“We found the connection.”
“To Salerno?”
“To Garrett.”
Elena went still.
Lucian continued.
May you like
“Detective Garrett Hale has been selling police intelligence to Victor Salerno for three years.”
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