Chapter 4 - The Key
The brass key opened a storage locker near the Chicago River.
Inside we found no money.
No weapons.
Just a battered wooden case containing Patrick's notebooks, financial records, photographs, and a flash drive.
Enough evidence to destroy Victor Serrano's organization.
But one photograph changed everything.
It showed Patrick meeting Luca six days before his death.
Written on the back were four words.
He kept his promise.
“What promise?” I asked.
Luca went silent.
“Luca.”
He stared at Patrick's handwriting.
“Your brother knew Serrano had discovered your identity.”
“What?”
“He asked me to protect you.”
My chest tightened.
“For two years?”
“Yes.”
“You've been watching me for two years?”
“From a distance.”
I remembered strange things.
The landlord suddenly forgiving a late payment when my mother needed surgery.
The mechanic who mysteriously repaired my brakes for half price.
The man outside Rossi Gallery who seemed to appear whenever I worked late.
“You did all that?”
Luca didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Patrick wanted you outside this world.”
“Then why move into my building?”
His expression hardened.
“Eleven days ago, Serrano's people found you.”
Everything clicked.
The black SUVs.
The closed restaurant reopening at night.
Luca's constant pacing.
The guards.
“You weren't keeping me awake.”
“No.”
“You were protecting the building.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“You could have told me.”
“You would have believed a tattooed stranger who appeared at your door and said criminals were hunting you?”
I considered it.
“No.”
“Exactly.”
A sound came from outside the locker.
Luca's head turned.
Everything about him changed.
“Behind me.”
The lights went out.
Men shouted outside.
Luca pushed me behind a concrete pillar as his guards moved.
I heard footsteps.
Then silence.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
“Nora Callahan.”
Luca went completely still.
May you like
Victor Serrano had found us.
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