Chapter 2 - The King of Boston
The safe house turned out to be a mansion.
Not a dramatic castle hidden in the woods.
An actual mansion overlooking Boston Harbor.
Armed guards opened enormous iron gates before our SUV had even stopped.
Inside, doctors were already waiting.
Daniel was placed on a dining table while a gray-haired surgeon cut open his shirt.
I stood nearby holding the twins.
“Anna.”
Daniel reached toward me.
“You’re getting surgery.”
“The girls.”
“They’re fine.”
“Don’t let anyone take them.”
Marcus frowned.
“Boss—”
“Anyone.”
His eyes never left mine.
“Promise me.”
I didn’t understand why he trusted a waitress he had known for forty minutes.
But I nodded.
“I promise.”
Only then did he let the doctor sedate him.
Marcus led me upstairs.
The twins’ nursery looked like something from a magazine.
Two white cribs.
Stuffed rabbits.
Pink blankets.
A rocking chair beside enormous windows.
I carefully laid the babies down.
“Names?” I asked.
Marcus stood by the door.
“Ella and Grace.”
“Which is which?”
He pointed.
“Ella has the pink ribbon.”
“They both have pink ribbons.”
Marcus stared.
“Then I have no idea.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Then someone entered behind him.
An elegant woman in her sixties.
Silver hair.
Perfect posture.
Sharp eyes.
She looked at me as if I had broken into her home.
“Who are you?”
“Anna Bennett.”
“And why are you holding my granddaughters?”
Marcus answered.
“She saved them.”
The woman’s expression shifted.
“I’m Victoria Moretti.”
Daniel’s mother.
She approached the crib.
Her fingers trembled when she touched Grace’s cheek.
“Where was Daniel?”
“Behind my diner.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Marcus explained everything.
The ambush.
The corrupt detective.
The shooters.
When he mentioned Harris, Victoria went pale.
“That man has been inside this house.”
Marcus nodded grimly.
“Several times.”
“How?”
“He worked organized crime investigations. He presented himself as Daniel’s unofficial police contact.”
Victoria looked toward the door.
“Then Thomas was right.”
“Thomas?”
Daniel’s brother.
The name Harris had mentioned.
Before Marcus could answer, shouting erupted downstairs.
A guard entered.
“Mr. Moretti is awake.”
Marcus frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
Apparently Daniel disagreed.
Five minutes later we found him trying to sit up with stitches across his side.
The surgeon was furious.
“You were shot.”
“I noticed.”
“You need rest.”
“I need Thomas.”
Victoria stepped into the room.
“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“Where is my brother?”
Her silence answered him.
Daniel’s expression darkened.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“Thomas’s vehicle left Beacon Hill thirty minutes ago.”
“Destination?”
“Unknown.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Anna, take the girls upstairs.”
I crossed my arms.
“No.”
Everybody stared.
Daniel slowly raised an eyebrow.
“You have criminals inside the police department, somebody tried to murder you, your brother apparently betrayed you, and those two babies almost died.”
“Yes.”
“So I’d like to know what I’m involved in before somebody shoots through another door.”
Victoria’s mouth twitched.
Marcus looked down, hiding what might have been a smile.
Daniel studied me.
Then he nodded.
“My wife, Sophia, died four months ago.”
His voice changed when he said her name.
“Officially it was a car accident.”
“And unofficially?”
“Someone cut the brake line.”
I looked toward the ceiling where the twins were sleeping.
Daniel continued.
“Sophia discovered that money was disappearing from one of our legitimate companies. Millions. She believed someone inside my organization was laundering money through police seizures and city contracts.”
“Thomas?”
“I refused to believe it.”
Victoria stared at him.
“I warned you.”
Daniel ignored her.
“Last night I received proof. Sophia had hidden documents before she died.”
“And someone knew?”
“Yes.”
“Harris?”
“Possibly.”
Daniel looked toward Marcus.
“My own security convoy attacked me while I was taking the twins to my mother’s estate.”
I swallowed.
“You brought babies into a gunfight?”
“I didn’t know there would be one.”
“Still seems like poor planning.”
Marcus coughed.
Daniel actually looked offended.
Then his expression softened.
“You’re not frightened of me.”
“Oh, I’m terrified.”
“You hide it well.”
“I spent thirteen years in foster care. You learn quickly that dangerous people enjoy fear.”
Something changed in his eyes.
He understood more than I wanted him to.
Victoria interrupted.
“Daniel, where are Sophia’s documents?”
He looked at her.
“They weren’t documents.”
“What?”
Daniel reached beneath the bloodied jacket Marcus had removed.
He pulled out a tiny brass key.
“Sophia left a safe-deposit box.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Which bank?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
I stared at the key.
There was an engraved number.
And underneath it, barely visible, three letters.
A.B.T.
My stomach tightened.
“I know that logo.”
Everyone turned.
Daniel stared at me.
“From where?”
“The diner.”
“What?”
I pointed toward the key.
“Ali keeps his payroll account at Atlantic Beacon Trust.”
Silence.
Marcus grabbed his coat.
Daniel started getting up again.
The doctor shouted.
Victoria cursed.
I stared at all of them.
“No.”
Daniel paused.
“No?”
“You are staying here.”
He gave me a dangerous look.
“That key may explain who murdered my wife.”
“And if you rip those stitches open, it’ll explain who killed you too.”
Victoria smiled.
Marcus openly laughed.
Daniel looked around his own dining room, suddenly realizing nobody intended to help him stand.
Finally, he sank back onto the table.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Take Anna.”
I blinked.
“Excuse me?”
Daniel held out the key.
“You recognized the bank.”
“So?”
“So tonight somebody underestimated you.”
May you like
He placed the key in my palm.
“I’m beginning to think that was their second mistake.”
