Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Monster
Mara did not sleep.
At sunrise she stood before Roman’s library windows watching Chicago turn gray beneath autumn clouds.
Six years.
Her apartment building had never increased her rent.
Her mother’s final hospital had mysteriously forgiven thirty-seven thousand dollars in medical debt.
Noah had received a scholarship from an anonymous foundation.
Coincidences she had accepted because sometimes exhausted people accepted miracles without asking who paid for them.
Now she understood.
Roman entered carrying coffee.
Mara looked at the cup.
“How do you know how I take it?”
“Two creams. No sugar.”
“That’s creepy.”
“Fair.”
He placed it on the table.
She did not touch it.
“Did you pay Mom’s medical bills?”
“Yes.”
“My rent?”
“I own the building.”
Mara stared at him.
“You own my apartment?”
“Technically a holding company owns it.”
“That is somehow worse.”
Roman accepted that.
“Why?”
“Your father saved my life.”
She waited.
Roman sat opposite her.
“I was twenty-eight. Too ambitious, too angry, and convinced fear was the same thing as respect.”
“Was it?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Your father, David, managed legitimate accounts for several companies. He discovered my uncle Vincent was laundering money through businesses without my knowledge.”
Mara listened.
“Dad confronted him?”
“He came to me first.”
“And you didn’t believe him.”
Roman looked away.
“I hesitated.”
That single word contained six years of guilt.
“My uncle had raised me after my father died. David was an employee. I wanted proof.”
“And while you were waiting?”
“Vincent arranged the crash.”
Mara’s nails pressed into her palm.
“Where is your uncle?”
“Dead.”
“Did you kill him?”
Roman looked at her.
Mara understood.
She turned toward the window.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that.”
“Nothing.”
“You keep deciding what I should know.”
“I’m trying to stop doing that.”
“Try harder.”
A knock interrupted them.
Ethan entered carrying the laptop.
“We broke another layer of Noah’s encryption.”
Mara immediately stood.
A map appeared.
Red dots marked warehouses around Chicago.
One flashed near the Calumet River.
Ethan enlarged it.
A photograph appeared.
Noah.
Taken three weeks earlier.
Alive.
Mara’s knees weakened.
Roman caught her elbow.
She did not pull away.
“He’s alive.”
“Three weeks ago,” Ethan cautioned.
“He’s alive.”
Hope hurt worse than grief.
The file contained shipment schedules and coded invoices.
Roman recognized one location.
“Vale owns this warehouse through a shell company.”
Mara looked at him.
“We go.”
“No.”
Her stare sharpened.
Roman corrected himself.
“We investigate first.”
“Better.”
Ethan hid a smile.
By evening, Roman’s men had confirmed unusual activity at the warehouse.
Mara insisted on accompanying them.
Roman refused.
They argued for twelve minutes.
Mara won by climbing into the SUV and fastening her seat belt.
“You are exhausting,” Roman said.
“So I’ve heard.”
“From whom?”
“My brother.”
For the first time, Roman laughed.
It transformed him.
Mara hated noticing.
They parked two blocks from the warehouse.
Ethan’s team entered first.
Then came the radio call.
“Movement inside.”
Roman reached for the door.
Mara grabbed his sleeve.
“You were shot twelve hours ago.”
“Grazed.”
“That still counts.”
“Stay here.”
She gave him a look.
“Mara.”
“Fine.”
Roman left.
She lasted forty-seven seconds.
Then she saw Peter Larkin.
He emerged from an alley beside the warehouse.
Alone.
Mara opened the door.
Peter saw her.
His face drained.
“Mara?”
She stepped toward him.
“Where is Noah?”
Peter backed away.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.”
“He’ll kill me.”
“Who?”
Peter looked toward the warehouse.
“Vale.”
“Where is my brother?”
Peter started crying.
That frightened her more than anything.
“I didn’t know they were going to hurt him.”
Mara grabbed his jacket.
“Where?”
“Not here.”
“What?”
“The warehouse is a trap.”
Gunfire exploded inside.
Mara spun around.
Peter ran.
She chased him.
He reached a car.
Before he could open it, another vehicle struck him.
Mara screamed.
The sedan stopped inches away.
A masked man emerged.
He grabbed Mara.
She fought.
An arm locked around her neck.
Then Roman appeared.
He hit the attacker with enough force to send him against the car.
The man pulled a knife.
Roman disarmed him brutally.
Ethan rushed from the warehouse.
“Trap! Building’s empty.”
Roman looked at Peter lying unconscious in the street.
“Ambulance.”
Mara stared at the masked attacker.
He had lost his mask.
She recognized him.
Not from real life.
From her brother’s photographs.
One of Noah’s college friends.
“Caleb?”
The man froze.
Mara stepped closer.
“Caleb Grant?”
Roman looked between them.
“You know him?”
“He was Noah’s roommate.”
Caleb spat blood onto the pavement.
“You should have stayed invisible, Mara.”
Her stomach turned.
“Where is Noah?”
Caleb smiled.
“Closer than you think.”
Roman grabbed him.
Caleb laughed.
“You really don’t know, do you, Mercer?”
“Know what?”
“You’ve been searching for a prisoner.”
Roman tightened his grip.
Caleb’s smile widened.
“Noah Bennett isn’t Vale’s prisoner.”
Mara stopped breathing.
May you like
Caleb looked directly at her.
“He works for him.”
