Maya finished her shift at 12:18 a.m.
She changed into jeans, an old sweater, and sneakers that had lost most of their cushioning months earlier.
Henry avoided her.
That was fine.
She had no energy left for another argument.
She checked her phone.
Four missed calls.
All from Sophie.
Maya’s stomach dropped.
She called immediately.
Sophie answered on the second ring.
“Hey.”
Her voice sounded weak.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Sophie.”
“I got dizzy.”
Maya grabbed her coat.
“How dizzy?”
“I stood up too fast.”
“Did you take your medication?”
Silence.
“Sophie.”
“I’m stretching it.”
Maya closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because it’s four hundred and eighty-six dollars, Maya.”
“I told you not to worry about that.”
“You work twelve-hour shifts.”
“Because I like fine dining.”
Sophie laughed weakly.
Maya felt tears sting her eyes.
“Take the medication.”
“I did.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I’m coming home.”
Maya hung up.
She left through the employee entrance.
Rain had turned Manhattan glossy.
Yellow taxis reflected across the pavement.
Maya opened her umbrella.
A black SUV pulled to the curb.
She stopped.
The rear window lowered.
Dominic Russo sat inside.
“You ignored my warning?” Maya asked.
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Get in.”
“No.”
“It’s raining.”
“I own an umbrella.”
“Maya.”
“Dominic.”
His eyebrow lifted.
It was the first time she had used his first name.
“Get in.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor Hale knows someone overheard him.”
Fear moved through her.
“How?”
“We intercepted one of his calls.”
Maya glanced toward the street.
“Does he know it was me?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet isn’t comforting.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
She tightened her grip on the umbrella.
“My sister is waiting.”
“I know.”
Maya’s expression changed.
Dominic saw it.
“That sounded worse than I intended.”
“You investigated me.”
“I made sure the woman who warned me wasn’t bait.”
“You investigated my sister?”
“I know her name is Sophie. I know she’s twenty-one. I know she’s been sick for eighteen months.”
“Stop.”
Dominic went quiet.
“You don’t get to dig through my life.”
“You entered mine tonight.”
“I warned you someone wanted to kill you.”
“And that put you in danger.”
“I didn’t ask for protection.”
“People rarely do.”
“I’m going home.”
Dominic looked at Luca in the front seat.
Luca nodded.
“We’ll follow.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Maya stared at him.
“You really hate hearing that word, don’t you?”
“Which one?”
“No.”
“I hear it frequently.”
“Maybe listen occasionally.”
A hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.
“Get home safely.”
She turned.
Then Dominic said, “Maya.”
She looked back.
“Thank you.”
The sincerity unsettled her more than arrogance would have.
She walked away.
The SUV followed at a distance.
Maya lived in Queens in a third-floor walk-up above a laundromat.
By the time she reached the building, the rain had soaked the bottoms of her jeans.
She climbed the stairs.
“Sophie?”
“In here.”
Sophie lay beneath a blanket on the couch.
At twenty-one, she looked younger when she was sick.
Maya touched her forehead.
“You’re warm.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re never fine when you say you’re fine.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
Maya smiled tiredly.
Sophie noticed.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Maya.”
“Long shift.”
“You have your murder face.”
“My what?”
“The face where you’re imagining committing a felony but haven’t chosen which one.”
Maya laughed.
It felt good.
She heated soup.
They ate together on the couch while an old sitcom played.
For half an hour, Maya almost forgot Dominic Russo existed.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Slowly.
Maya froze.
Sophie looked at her.
“Expecting someone?”
“No.”
The knock came again.
Maya approached quietly.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
She looked through the peephole.
Empty hallway.
Maya waited.
Then opened the door an inch with the chain still attached.
An envelope lay on the floor.
Her name was written across it.
MAYA.
She closed the door.
Locked it.
Then opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Maya leaving the Obsidian Room.
Taken less than an hour earlier.
On the back were six words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
Sophie appeared behind her.
“What is that?”
“Nothing.”
“Maya.”
The lights went out.
Sophie screamed.
Maya grabbed her.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Heavy.
Fast.
Then came a crash downstairs.
Men shouted.
Sophie clung to Maya.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
Maya knew that was a lie.
Someone hit the apartment door.
Once.
Twice.
The frame cracked.
Maya pulled Sophie toward the kitchen.
There was nowhere to go.
The fire escape.
She opened the window.
“Go.”
“Maya—”
“Now.”
Another impact shook the door.
Sophie climbed out.
Maya followed.
The apartment door burst inward.
Maya was halfway through the window when someone grabbed her sweater.
She screamed and kicked backward.
The grip tightened.
Then a gunshot cracked through the apartment.
The hand released her.
Maya fell onto the fire escape.
She turned.
Luca stood inside the kitchen.
A masked man lay near the window.
“Move!” Luca shouted.
More shots erupted downstairs.
Maya grabbed Sophie.
They descended.
A black SUV waited in the alley.
Dominic stood beside it.
Rain soaked his hair and shoulders.
His expression was murderous.
Maya reached the ground.
“You followed me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew this would happen?”
“I thought it might.”
“You used me as bait?”
His face changed.
“No.”
“It sure feels like it.”
Dominic opened the SUV door.
“We argue later.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
A bullet struck the brick wall above Maya’s head.
Dominic grabbed her around the waist and pulled her behind the vehicle.
“Now,” he said, “you’re going somewhere with me.”
Luca came down the fire escape.
“Two more inside.”
Dominic pushed Sophie into the SUV.
Maya followed.
The vehicle accelerated.
Maya looked through the rear window at her apartment disappearing behind them.
Everything she owned was inside.
Everything normal.
Gone in seconds.
She turned toward Dominic.
“This is because of you.”
He did not deny it.
“Yes.”
Maya’s eyes burned.
“My sister could have died.”
“Yes.”
“I hate you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I know.”
There was something in his voice that made her anger hesitate.
Not self-pity.
Guilt.
The SUV crossed the bridge toward Manhattan.
“Where are you taking us?” Maya asked.
“My house.”
“No.”
“You’ll be protected.”
“I don’t want your protection.”
“Sophie needs it.”
Maya looked at her sister.
Sophie was trembling.
That ended the argument.
Forty minutes later, iron gates opened before a limestone mansion overlooking the Hudson.
Maya stared.
Sophie whispered, “Who exactly did you insult at work?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“A very complicated customer.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression hardened.
“When?”
Silence.
“Are you certain?”
Another pause.
Dominic looked directly at Maya.
“Bring him downstairs.”
He hung up.
“What?” Maya asked.
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“We caught Victor Hale.”
Maya waited.
“He says you weren’t the only person at the restaurant who understood him.”
“Who else?”
Dominic opened the SUV door.
“That’s what we’re about to find out.”