Chapter 2 - The Man Who Came Back Alone
At 3:09 the next morning, the bell above Rusty's door rang.
Dora looked up.
Then froze.
Leonardo Costa stood there.
No Dante.
No bodyguards.
No blood.
Just Leonardo.
His dark suit had been replaced by black trousers, a white shirt, and a long charcoal coat. Tattoos still covered his hands and forearms where his sleeves were rolled slightly back.
Dora slowly put down the sugar container.
“You've got to be kidding.”
“Good evening.”
“It's three in the morning.”
“Good morning.”
“Why are you here?”
“Coffee.”
“There are approximately four thousand places in Chicago selling coffee.”
“I liked yours.”
“You barely tasted it.”
“I liked the service.”
“You were threatened.”
“Exactly.”
Leonardo sat in the same stool.
Dora glanced through the windows.
“No guards?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I wanted coffee.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“That somehow makes this more suspicious.”
She poured him a cup.
“Two dollars.”
Leonardo placed exactly three on the counter.
Dora stared at the extra dollar.
“You remembered.”
“I learn quickly.”
She walked away.
“Dora.”
“What?”
“Sit.”
She turned.
His expression changed.
“Would you please sit?”
“That was close.”
Leonardo almost smiled.
“There are no customers.”
“My manager doesn't pay me to socialize with organized crime.”
“You believe everything newspapers write?”
“No. Newspapers probably leave out the interesting parts.”
That earned a genuine smile.
Dora reluctantly sat across the counter.
“What happened yesterday?”
“Business disagreement.”
“You got shot.”
“I noticed.”
“Who shot you?”
“You ask dangerous questions.”
“You came back.”
“Fair point.”
Before Leonardo could answer, headlights swept across the windows.
A blue sedan stopped outside.
Leonardo's smile vanished.
“Do you know that car?”
“No.”
“Kitchen. Now.”
Dora's expression hardened.
“Absolutely not.”
“Dora.”
“You don't get to walk into my workplace and start ordering me—”
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Leonardo stood.
“Kitchen.”
Something in his voice made Dora listen.
Not fear.
Urgency.
She backed toward the kitchen.
The stranger entered.
“Costa.”
Leonardo remained beside the counter.
“Raymond.”
Dora watched through the serving window.
Raymond smiled.
“You're difficult to find without your dogs.”
“I wasn't hiding.”
“No?”
“No.”
Raymond glanced toward the kitchen.
“Cute waitress.”
Leonardo's expression changed.
“She's irrelevant.”
Dora frowned.
Raymond laughed.
“Nobody is irrelevant once you care whether they breathe.”
“I came for coffee.”
“Of course.”
Raymond reached inside his coat.
Leonardo moved first.
“Don't.”
Raymond stopped.
“You think you're untouchable?”
“No.”
“You've been bleeding all over my side of Chicago.”
Leonardo stepped closer.
“And you're standing here alone because?”
Raymond's confidence flickered.
Leonardo lowered his voice.
“Because if you were authorized to kill me, you would've done it through the window.”
Silence.
“So whatever you're doing, you're doing without permission.”
Raymond's jaw tightened.
Leonardo continued.
“Walk away.”
Raymond looked toward Dora.
“Maybe I'll come back when you're not here.”
Leonardo's voice became almost gentle.
“If you come back to this diner again, Raymond, we won't have another conversation.”
Raymond stared at him.
Then left.
The sedan disappeared.
Dora stepped from the kitchen.
“You said I was irrelevant.”
“You are.”
“Liar.”
Leonardo looked at her.
“That's good.”
“What?”
“If you're irrelevant, you're safe.”
Dora crossed her arms.
“I was safe yesterday.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Dora stopped.
Leonardo looked through the rain-covered window.
“What happened yesterday wasn't random.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Yet?”
He reached for his coat.
Dora blocked his path.
“No.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“You don't get to drop a ‘yet’ into the conversation and leave.”
“Dora—”
“Explain.”
Leonardo stared at her.
Finally he said, “Someone inside my organization gave my route to the men who attacked me.”
“And?”
“Whoever did it knows I came here afterward.”
Dora's stomach tightened.
“They know about Rusty's?”
“Yes.”
“And now that man knows my face.”
“Yes.”
Dora went very still.
Leonardo reached into his coat.
She immediately pointed at him.
“If that's money—”
“It isn't.”
He placed a card on the counter.
One phone number.
No name.
“If anything unusual happens, call.”
Dora stared at it.
“I don't want your protection.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“People who want my protection usually don't understand the price.”
He headed toward the door.
“Leonardo.”
He stopped.
“Why did you really come back?”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then:
“Yesterday, someone pointed a gun at your face because of me.”
Dora waited.
“I wanted to make sure you were still here.”
The bell rang.
He disappeared into the rain.
Dora looked at the card.
May you like
For the first time since meeting Leonardo Costa, she felt genuinely afraid.
---
