Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS
“Zeo Rossi! Hands where we can see them!”
Nora stared at the federal agents flooding the warehouse.
Zeo was bleeding beside her.
Eli was terrified.
Thomas was gone.
It suddenly made sense.
The cameras.
The kidnapping.
The staged confrontation.
Thomas wanted authorities to find Zeo in a warehouse surrounded by armed men.
Alive.
Exposed.
And furious.
Zeo slowly raised his hands.
Gabriel ordered everyone to lower their weapons.
An agent approached.
“Zeo Rossi, you’re under arrest.”
“For what?”
“Conspiracy, racketeering, extortion, trafficking, bribery—should I continue?”
“You forgot terrible bedside manners.”
The agent did not smile.
Nora did.
She could not help it.
The agent looked at her.
“And you are?”
“Nora Hale.”
Zeo interrupted.
“She’s a hostage.”
“I can speak for myself.”
“Nora.”
She understood his warning.
Do not connect yourself to me.
The realization hurt unexpectedly.
Zeo was protecting her again.
The ambulance took him back to St. Jude’s under federal guard.
Nora and Eli were questioned for six hours.
She told the truth about the kidnapping.
She did not mention the fake coma.
She did not mention Camilla’s conversation.
Not yet.
By evening, Zeo’s arrest dominated television.
Camilla appeared outside the hospital wearing black.
She cried beautifully for cameras.
“My only concern is Zeo’s recovery,” she said. “I pray the allegations against him are untrue.”
Nora nearly threw the remote.
Eli watched her from his rehabilitation bed.
“You like him.”
“What?”
“The mafia guy.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“You yelled when he got shot.”
“People generally yell when people get shot.”
“You held his hand.”
“He was bleeding.”
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you talk faster when you lie.”
Nora switched off the television.
“Go to sleep.”
Eli smiled.
Three days passed.
Then Nora received a visitor.
Camilla.
She entered Brighton Center wearing a red dress beneath a camel coat.
The woman from Zeo’s hospital room looked different in daylight.
Less glamorous.
More dangerous.
“You have five minutes,” Nora said.
Camilla sat.
“I want to help you.”
Nora laughed.
“You kidnapped my brother.”
“Thomas did.”
“You stood there.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You tried to murder your fiancé.”
Camilla’s eyes narrowed.
“So you did hear everything.”
Nora realized her error.
Camilla smiled.
“Thank you.”
She stood.
“That was all I needed.”
Nora blocked the door.
“What?”
“I needed confirmation that you heard our hospital conversation.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas believes you’re the only civilian witness who can connect him directly to the shooting.”
Camilla leaned closer.
“And Thomas is frightened.”
“Good.”
“No, sweetheart. Frightened men like Thomas are extremely dangerous.”
Nora held her stare.
“Why tell me?”
For the first time, Camilla’s confidence cracked.
“Because Thomas is going to kill me too.”
Nora said nothing.
Camilla opened her purse.
She removed a flash drive.
“The ledger Thomas couldn’t find.”
Nora stared.
“You have it?”
“Zeo gave me a necklace two years ago. The pendant contained a biometric storage key. I discovered what it opened by accident.”
“Why not give it to the FBI?”
“Because half the people on that drive are criminals.”
Camilla paused.
“The other half wear badges.”
That changed everything.
Thomas had not merely betrayed Zeo.
He had built protection inside law enforcement.
Which meant Zeo’s arrest might have been orchestrated to put him somewhere Thomas controlled.
“Why give this to me?”
“I’m not.”
Camilla returned it to her purse.
“I’m giving it to Zeo.”
“Then go.”
“I can’t get near him.”
“But I can?”
Camilla smiled sadly.
“He asked for you.”
Nora’s heart betrayed her with one hard beat.
“What?”
“His attorney told mine.”
Nora looked away.
Camilla studied her.
“You think you know him because he saved your brother.”
“I don’t know him.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
There was something unexpectedly human in her voice.
“I spent six years beside Zeo and never knew whether he loved me or merely selected me. Thomas noticed. He made me feel wanted.”
“That excuses attempted murder?”
“No.”
Camilla’s answer came immediately.
“It explains the first bad decision. Nothing explains the ones after.”
Nora had expected arrogance.
Not regret.
“Why help him now?”
“Because Thomas promised we would escape together.”
Camilla gave a bitter laugh.
“Yesterday I discovered a plane reservation. One passenger.”
She turned toward the door.
“Thomas never loved me either.”
That night, Nora visited Zeo.
Two federal agents stood outside his hospital room.
He was handcuffed to the bed.
The sight should have frightened her.
Instead, she noticed he looked exhausted.
“You came.”
“You asked.”
His eyes moved across her face.
“Eli?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
Silence.
Nora sat.
“Camilla came to see me.”
Every softness disappeared from Zeo.
“Why?”
“She says she has your ledger.”
Zeo stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“She mentioned a necklace.”
His expression changed.
The pendant.
Nora saw recognition.
“She found it.”
“She says the ledger contains names of criminals and law enforcement officers.”
Zeo looked toward the agents outside.
Then back to Nora.
“She’s telling the truth.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I built it.”
Nora’s stomach tightened.
“What exactly is in that ledger?”
“Everything.”
“Including things you did?”
“Yes.”
No excuses.
No denial.
Nora appreciated that more than she wanted to.
“If authorities get it?”
“I go to prison.”
“For how long?”
“Long enough.”
“And Thomas?”
“If the right authorities get it, Thomas goes with me.”
Nora stared.
“You’d give it up knowing that?”
Zeo looked tired.
“Nora, I spent thirty years believing power meant nobody could touch me.”
He glanced at the handcuff.
“I was wrong.”
She said nothing.
“I want Thomas stopped. I want you and Eli out of this.”
“And Camilla?”
A shadow crossed his face.
“She made her choices.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
That surprised her.
No anger.
Just acceptance.
Nora stood.
“I need to think.”
She reached the door.
“Nora.”
She turned.
Zeo’s voice softened.
“When this is over, don’t mistake what I did for your brother as a debt.”
“What did you do?”
He realized his mistake.
Nora narrowed her eyes.
“Zeo.”
He sighed.
“His medical bills.”
Her mouth opened.
“You paid them?”
“Some.”
“How much?”
“All.”
“You—”
The door suddenly opened.
An agent entered.
“Visit’s over.”
Nora was still staring furiously at Zeo when another sound came from the hallway.
Three rapid pops.
Suppressed gunfire.
The agent turned.
Zeo’s face changed.
May you like
“Down!”
The lights went out.
