Chapter 3 - Someone Followed Her
Mina made it six blocks.
She had abandoned the idea of the train station the moment she stepped outside.
Alfred knew about Sarah Jenkins.
If Alfred knew, anyone with access to the penthouse might know.
She needed another plan.
She entered a crowded pharmacy, walked through the cosmetics aisle, exited through the side door, and immediately hailed a cab.
“South Station.”
The driver nodded.
Mina looked backward.
No black SUV.
For the first time in an hour, she breathed.
Then the driver's phone lit up.
Mina saw the reflection in the rearview mirror.
A message.
KEEP HER IN THE CAR.
Her blood went cold.
“Stop.”
“Ma'am?”
“Stop the car.”
“We're almost—”
“Stop!”
She grabbed the door handle.
Locked.
The driver looked at her through the mirror.
His expression had changed.
“Please don't make this difficult.”
Mina slammed her palm against the window.
The cab accelerated.
She reached into her handbag.
The driver saw the movement.
“Don't.”
Mina pulled out her phone.
He swerved.
The phone flew from her hand.
Then something enormous struck the cab from the side.
Metal screamed.
Mina threw both arms around her stomach.
The cab spun toward the curb.
A black SUV blocked the street.
Lev jumped out before it stopped moving.
He yanked open the driver's door.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The driver raised both hands.
“Marino said—”
Lev punched him.
Mina stared.
Marino.
Alfred's uncle.
Lev opened her door.
“Can you walk?”
“Did Alfred send you?”
“Yes.”
“I don't believe you.”
Lev stepped backward and offered his phone.
Alfred was already on the screen.
“Mina.”
She grabbed it.
“What is happening?”
“I need you to listen carefully.”
“Your man just hit my cab!”
“That cab wasn't mine.”
Her breath stopped.
Alfred continued.
“My uncle knows you accessed the shipping records.”
“I didn't—”
“You copied three manifests.”
Mina looked at Lev.
“How do you know?”
“I found the copies.”
She closed her eyes.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After I was somewhere he couldn't reach me.”
Alfred's voice became dangerously quiet.
“What did you find?”
“Money disappearing through shell companies. Your authorization codes were attached.”
“They're forged.”
“I figured that out.”
“How?”
“You were with me on one of the nights the authorization was entered.”
Silence.
Neither mentioned where.
In Alfred's bed.
“Mina, Marino knows.”
Her hand instinctively covered her abdomen.
“He knows about the baby?”
“I don't know.”
A gunshot exploded nearby.
Lev grabbed Mina and shoved her behind the SUV.
Glass shattered.
“Down!”
Another shot.
Pedestrians screamed.
Lev drew his weapon.
Mina crouched beside the wheel, trembling.
Through the phone, Alfred shouted her name.
“Mina!”
“I'm here.”
“Stay down.”
“I am!”
Lev fired twice toward a gray sedan.
Its tires screamed.
Then it disappeared around the corner.
Mina's ears rang.
Lev opened the SUV door.
“Get in.”
This time, she obeyed.
Twenty minutes later, Alfred was waiting inside a private medical clinic.
Mina barely crossed the lobby before he reached her.
His hands stopped inches from her shoulders.
He didn't touch her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
“I don't know.”
Fear transformed him.
A doctor appeared.
Within minutes, Mina lay beneath fluorescent lights while an ultrasound probe moved across her abdomen.
Alfred stood near the wall.
He had never looked less powerful.
Then the room filled with a rapid heartbeat.
Mina closed her eyes.
The doctor smiled.
“Strong heartbeat.”
Alfred stared at the monitor.
His entire expression changed.
There was his child.
Moving.
Alive.
Mina turned her face away before he could see her cry.
The doctor left them alone.
Alfred approached slowly.
“I heard it.”
“Yes.”
“That's…”
He couldn't finish.
Mina wiped her cheek.
“You understand now?”
He looked at her.
“Understand what?”
“Why I'm terrified.”
Alfred sat beside the bed.
For once, he had no answer.
Then his phone vibrated.
Lev.
Alfred read the message.
His face hardened.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
Security footage from the penthouse.
Marino Costello had entered Alfred's private bedroom three days earlier.
He'd lifted the Persian rug.
Opened the floor safe.
And photographed everything inside.
Including Mina's ultrasound.
She felt suddenly sick.
Alfred stood.
“He knew before I did.”
Mina whispered, “Alfred…”
He looked at the image again.
A second figure entered the footage behind Marino.
Mina leaned closer.
Then stopped breathing.
She recognized him.
“No.”
Alfred looked at her.
“You know him?”
May you like
Her face drained of color.
“That man isn't supposed to be alive.”
