Chương 2 - The Man With the Gun
Emily had exactly four seconds to decide what kind of woman she was going to be.
The first SUV door slammed.
Then another.
Then another.
She could hear boots grinding through snow outside Miller’s Corner.
Emily looked down at Lily’s fingers wrapped around her sleeve.
“I’ll be right here.”
It was a lie.
She had no idea where she would be thirty seconds from now.
She gently freed herself, pushed the girls farther beneath the booth, then crossed the diner and grabbed the baseball bat Calvin kept beneath the register.
The front door opened.
Three men entered.
Emily’s grip tightened.
All three wore black coats.
All three were armed.
The tallest man scanned the dark diner.
“Where are they?”
Emily’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“Who?”
The man approached.
“Two girls.”
“I haven’t seen any girls.”
He stared at the blankets beside the kitchen.
Emily realized her mistake too late.
The second man moved toward them.
“Those weren’t there earlier.”
Emily stepped in front of him.
“I was cold.”
The man smiled without humor.
“Move.”
“No.”
The smile vanished.
A gun appeared.
Emily stopped breathing.
Then headlights swept across the windows.
More vehicles.
The three men exchanged glances.
For one hopeful second, Emily thought the police had arrived.
Then the diner door opened again.
The room changed.
The man entering did not rush.
He did not need to.
Dominic Vale stepped inside wearing a black wool overcoat over a dark three-piece suit. Snow rested in his hair. His face was hard, exhausted and frighteningly calm.
Four more men followed him.
Emily recognized him immediately.
The photograph.
The newspapers.
The father.
One of the first three armed men raised his weapon.
Dominic’s security moved faster.
Chaos exploded.
Emily dropped behind the counter.
A gunshot shattered a hanging light.
Someone shouted.
A table overturned.
Within seconds, two men were on the floor and the third had disappeared through the kitchen.
Then silence.
Dominic’s gaze landed on Emily.
“Where are my daughters?”
Emily slowly stood.
She still held the baseball bat.
“I don’t know who you are.”
His expression barely changed.
“You know exactly who I am.”
A man beside him found the blankets.
“They were here.”
Dominic crossed the room.
Emily raised the bat.
Every one of his men reacted.
Dominic lifted one hand.
They stopped.
His eyes settled on Emily.
“Put it down.”
“No.”
“My daughters were abducted thirty-six hours ago.”
“I said I don’t know anything.”
Dominic stepped closer.
Emily could see the exhaustion now.
Bloodshot eyes.
Unshaven jaw.
A tiny tremor in the hand he kept beside his coat.
He was terrified.
That realization surprised her more than the guns.
“Please,” he said.
The word sounded unnatural coming from him.
“Tell me where they are.”
Emily almost did.
Then the kitchen door banged open.
The man who had escaped returned.
He grabbed Emily from behind.
Cold metal pressed against her temple.
Dominic’s entire expression changed.
“Drop your weapons!” the man shouted.
Dominic’s men hesitated.
“Do it,” Dominic said.
Guns hit the floor.
Emily could barely breathe.
The stranger dragged her backward.
“Your daughters are dead, Vale.”
Dominic stared at him.
“No.”
“We left them in the river district. Nobody survives a night out there.”
Emily’s eyes flicked toward the booth.
Don’t move.
Please don’t move.
The gun pressed harder against her.
Dominic saw her glance.
So did the gunman.
He turned.
“No,” Emily whispered.
The gunman kicked the booth table aside.
Empty.
Emily’s heart stopped.
Then a small voice came from behind them.
“Daddy?”
Everyone froze.
Grace crawled from beneath the neighboring booth.
Lily had apparently moved them while the shooting started.
Grace’s face crumpled when she saw Dominic.
“Daddy!”
The gunman swung toward her.
Emily drove her elbow backward.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Dominic moved.
Two seconds later, the gunman was on the floor.
Dominic had his weapon pointed at Emily.
She dropped to her knees instinctively.
Then Grace ran between them.
“Daddy, don’t hurt her! She saved us!”
Dominic froze.
The pistol lowered.
Lily emerged next.
“Daddy!”
Whatever Emily expected Chicago’s most feared man to do, it was not this.
Dominic dropped the gun.
He fell to his knees.
Both girls crashed into him.
His arms wrapped around them so tightly that Lily squeaked.
Dominic buried his face in their wet hair.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Emily saw his shoulders shake once.
Only once.
Then Grace pointed at her.
“Emily gave us soup.”
Dominic looked up.
The expression on his face made Emily uncomfortable.
Not gratitude.
Something deeper.
Recognition, perhaps.
“You kept them alive.”
Emily swallowed.
“They needed help.”
One of Dominic’s men approached.
“Boss, police scanners are lighting up. We have to move.”
Dominic stood with Grace in his arms.
Lily held his coat.
Emily backed away.
“Good. Take them home.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You’re coming.”
Emily laughed nervously.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
Her fear immediately became anger.
“I saved your daughters. That does not make me your employee.”
“You saw the men who took them.”
“So?”
“One escaped.”
Emily’s stomach dropped.
Dominic nodded toward the broken window.
“He knows your face.”
“I’ll call the police.”
Dominic’s expression became almost sad.
“The man who arranged my daughters’ kidnapping spent six years supervising my security. He knows detectives, judges, dock officials and half the private security companies in Illinois.”
“Mr. Reed?”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“How do you know that name?”
“Lily told me.”
He looked down at his daughter.
Lily whispered, “Mr. Reed was the wolf.”
Dominic became completely still.
Emily saw something murderous pass behind his eyes.
Then he looked at her again.
“You are no longer safe here.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Grace reached toward Emily.
“Please.”
That single word did what armed men could not.
Emily closed her eyes.
“Just until they’re safe.”
Dominic nodded.
“Until they’re safe.”
Twenty minutes later, Emily sat inside an armored SUV between two sleeping little girls.
Dominic sat opposite her.
Chicago passed outside behind tinted glass.
Emily looked down at her stained waitress uniform.
“My purse is still at the diner.”
“It’ll be collected.”
“My apartment—”
“Is being checked.”
Her head snapped up.
“You sent people to my apartment?”
“I sent people to make sure nobody was waiting there.”
“You cannot just take over my life.”
Dominic’s eyes remained on hers.
“Miss Parker, somebody tried to murder my children.”
His voice dropped.
“You prevented it.”
Emily felt a chill.
“That means the people responsible now have a reason to murder you too.”
The SUV turned toward Lake Shore Drive.
Emily looked at Lily sleeping against her shoulder.
“What happens tomorrow?”
Dominic was silent for several seconds.
Then his phone vibrated.
He read the message.
Something changed in his face.
“What?”
Dominic slowly raised his eyes.
“They searched your apartment.”
“And?”
“Someone got there first.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Dominic turned the phone toward her.
The photograph showed her apartment door hanging open.
May you like
Across the wall inside, someone had painted three words.
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
