Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO ANSWERED
At 12:19 a.m., three miles from apartment 6D, Dante Moretti was preparing to have a man buried.
The private dining room at the Bellhaven Grand was silent except for the ticking of an antique clock. Six men sat around a polished mahogany table. Nobody touched the whiskey. Nobody asked why the meeting had been scheduled after midnight.
Dante stood beside the window, wearing a black tailored suit, his sleeves buttoned, his expression unreadable.
At thirty-eight, he controlled more of Bellhaven's underworld than the police department cared to admit. His businesses included shipping companies, hotels, construction firms, and several establishments that officially did not exist.
He rarely threatened anyone twice.
"Mr. Moretti," his lieutenant, Nico Bellini, said carefully. "The shipment was intercepted. We believe the leak came from inside our organization."
Dante didn't turn.
"Then find the leak."
"We already have someone."
"Good."
His old phone vibrated.
Everyone at the table went still.
It was an outdated device, kept inside a locked drawer in Dante's private office. The number belonged to Elena Moretti, his younger sister, who had died six years earlier.
He had never disconnected it.
He had never allowed anyone to use it.
And nobody knew the number.
Dante looked at the screen.
One message.
Locked in bathroom. Grant broke my ribs. Can't breathe right. Need help. 2247 West Oakwood. Apt 6D. Please hurry.
He read it once.
Then again.
His expression didn't change, but something in his eyes became dangerously still.
"Who is Grant?" Nico asked.
Dante ignored him.
He typed.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Are you alone?
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
NORAH: No. He's outside the door. Please. I can't breathe.
Dante stood.
"Get the cars."
Nico blinked. "What?"
"Six vehicles. Medical team. Two men at the rear entrance. Nobody enters that apartment until I arrive."
"Is this about the shipment?"
Dante looked at him.
"No."
He picked up his coat.
"Someone is hurting a woman."
Nico had worked for Dante for eleven years. He had seen him order executions without changing his breathing. He had watched him negotiate with men who controlled entire cities.
But he had never seen him move this quickly for a stranger.
"Boss, do we know who she is?"
Dante glanced at the message again.
"No."
"Then why—"
"Because she asked for help."
In apartment 6D, Norah heard the bathroom lock turn.
Her stomach dropped.
Grant had found the spare key.
"Open it yourself, sweetheart," he said.
She tried to stand, but the pain beneath her ribs exploded. Her knees buckled, and she caught the sink before collapsing.
Her phone vibrated.
A new message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Stay where you are. Don't try to stand. Help is coming.
She stared at it.
Who was this person?
She had sent the message to Tyler. She was certain.
Another vibration.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Is the man outside the door armed?
Norah swallowed.
NORAH: He's a police officer. His gun is in the bedroom.
The bathroom lock clicked.
Grant pushed the door open.
He found her sitting on the floor, clutching her phone.
His smile disappeared.
"Who are you texting?"
"Nobody."
He crossed the bathroom in two strides and grabbed her wrist.
"Give it to me."
She pulled away instinctively.
He squeezed harder.
"Norah. Don't make this worse."
The phone slipped from her fingers and struck the tile.
Grant picked it up.
He read the message.
Then he laughed.
"Help is coming?"
He held the screen in front of her face.
"Who exactly do you think is coming to save you?"
At 12:31 a.m., six black SUVs turned onto West Oakwood.
The first vehicle stopped directly beneath apartment 6D. Two more blocked the street. The others positioned themselves near the building entrances.
Dante stepped out before the driver could open his door.
He looked up at the sixth-floor windows.
"Which apartment?"
"6D, sir."
"Medical team?"
"Two minutes behind us."
Dante adjusted his coat.
"Get the building manager."
Nico touched his earpiece.
"Already on it."
Dante entered the building.
He didn't run.
He didn't need to.
The elevator doors opened on the sixth floor.
A young woman stood in the hallway holding a laundry basket. She froze when she saw the men behind him.
Dante walked past her.
Then he heard a woman's muffled cry.
Apartment 6D.
He stopped.
From inside came a man's voice.
"Nobody is coming for you, Norah."
Dante looked at Nico.
"Open it."
The first security man moved forward.
But before he could touch the door, Dante heard something that made his jaw tighten.
A woman whispering through tears.
"Please don't hit me again."
Dante removed his watch and handed it to Nico.
"Nobody leaves this apartment."
Then he knocked once.
May you like
The door opened.
And Grant found himself staring into the eyes of a man who had never once needed to explain what happened to people who crossed him.
