Chương 3 - The Crime Boss's Sister Used My Stalker to Lure Him Into a Trap—Then I Learned Why She Needed Me AliveAdrian's sister was supposed to be dead.
That was the first problem.
The second was that Adrian had watched her coffin go into the ground twelve years earlier.
We sat in a private hospital conference room while Harriet slept two doors away.
Molly held my hand.
Adrian stood by the window.
Detective Alvarez stood near the door.
“Start talking,” I said.
Adrian did.
Helena Harrow was two years younger.
Brilliant.
Impulsive.
Their father, Vincent Harrow, had built what newspapers politely called a “business network.”
Trucking.
Waste management.
Construction.
Nightclubs.
And less polite things.
Adrian did not romanticize it.
“My father was violent.”
“Were you?”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The answer landed hard.
No excuse.
No polished lie.
“Are you now?”
“Less.”
“That isn't no.”
“No.”
Molly squeezed my hand.
Adrian continued.
When Vincent died, Adrian inherited the organization.
Helena wanted half.
Not money.
Control.
Adrian refused.
Why?
“Because she was unstable?”
“No.”
“Because she was a woman?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Because she wanted to expand into things I wouldn't touch.”
“Such as?”
He glanced at Alvarez.
The detective said:
“You can answer.”
“Human trafficking.”
My stomach turned.
“Drugs involving minors.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Blackmail operations using vulnerable women.”
I understood immediately why he looked at Derek the way he had.
Control.
Ownership.
People treated like property.
“Helena?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She tried to remove me.”
“Kill you?”
“Yes.”
“She failed?”
“Obviously.”
Molly muttered:
“Comforting.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Then he explained.
A warehouse exploded.
Helena's car was found nearby.
Two bodies.
Dental identification.
Funeral.
Done.
Except not.
“She staged it.”
“Yes.”
“Why return now?”
Adrian looked at me.
“She believes I stole something from her.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
I laughed.
Of course.
There was always a ledger.
“What is in it?”
“Names.”
“Whose?”
“People my father paid.”
Judges.
Police officers.
Union officials.
Business owners.
Politicians.
Criminal associates.
Decades of corruption.
Adrian had found the ledger after his father's death.
He had not destroyed it.
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Alvarez looked disgusted.
“Blackmail.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
At least he didn't hide behind vocabulary.
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Helena wants it.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm leverage because…?”
Adrian became silent.
I understood before he answered.
“Because she noticed you noticed me.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“She knows me.”
“That doesn't answer.”
“She knew I would intervene when Derek touched you.”
The room went quiet.
I stared.
“You'd intervene for anyone.”
“Yes.”
“Then why me?”
Adrian looked away.
Molly looked between us.
“Oh.”
I turned.
“What?”
My sister gave me a look.
“Nothing.”
“Molly.”
“Definitely nothing.”
Adrian said:
“Helena's people photographed the hotel for weeks.”
“So?”
“There are photographs of me watching you.”
My heart changed rhythm.
“Watching me?”
“Not like Derek.”
“Important distinction.”
“Yes.”
He looked embarrassed.
A crime boss.
Embarrassed.
“I noticed you.”
I didn't know what to say.
“So your sister decided I mattered.”
“She decided you might.”
“But I don't.”
His eyes met mine.
Silence.
Molly stood.
“I need coffee.”
“You hate coffee.”
“I've changed.”
She dragged Alvarez with her.
Coward.
Adrian and I remained.
“Do I matter?”
I asked.
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
That was dangerous.
Not because he was a crime boss.
Because some part of me liked hearing it.
I hated that part.
“You don't know me.”
“I know.”
“You saw me carry towels.”
“Yes.”
“And argue over an elevator.”
“Yes.”
“That's not a relationship.”
“No.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
Neither of us believed the word.
Then my phone rang.
Derek.
I stared.
Adrian saw.
“Don't answer because—”
“I know.”
My choice.
I answered.
“Renee.”
Derek sounded exhausted.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“I need help.”
I laughed.
“You need help?”
“They're going to kill me.”
“Who?”
“The woman.”
“Helena?”
Silence.
“How do you know that name?”
“Where are you?”
“Renee.”
“Where?”
He whispered an address.
A motel near O'Hare.
Adrian was already texting Alvarez.
Derek continued:
“I didn't know what this was.”
“You stalked me.”
“I wanted you back.”
“You grabbed me.”
“I was angry.”
“You threatened me.”
“I didn't mean—”
“Stop.”
Silence.
For the first time in our relationship, Derek stopped when I told him to.
“I don't care what story you tell yourself anymore.”
He began crying.
“I love you.”
“No.”
“You don't get to say—”
“No, Derek.”
My voice was calm.
“What you feel may be obsession.”
“Renee.”
“Possession.”
“Please.”
“Fear of losing control.”
“You're everything to me.”
“That isn't love.”
He became silent.
I continued:
“Love doesn't require someone else to become smaller so you can feel secure.”
Adrian looked at me.
I didn't look away.
Derek whispered:
“She said she'd help me get you back.”
“Helena?”
“Yes.”
“What did she want?”
“Harrow.”
“How?”
“She said if I caused trouble at the hotel, he'd come downstairs.”
My stomach turned.
The lobby scene.
The cameras.
The key card.
All designed.
“What then?”
“Victor was supposed to get into the penthouse while Harrow was distracted.”
“The ledger.”
“I don't know.”
“Where's Helena?”
“I don't know.”
“Derek.”
“I swear.”
Then someone knocked on his motel door.
Derek stopped breathing.
“Renee.”
Another knock.
“Help me.”
I heard wood crack.
Derek screamed.
The line died.
Police reached the motel twelve minutes later.
Derek was gone.
Blood on the carpet.
Window open.
No body.
Adrian looked at me.
“Helena is accelerating.”
“Why?”
“Because Harriet survived.”
“And Derek knows too much.”
“Yes.”
Then his phone buzzed.
A photograph.
Derek tied to a chair.
Alive.
Beside him was a digital clock.
02:59:48.
Countdown.
Message:
BRING THE LEDGER TO PIER 19.
COME ALONE.
OR HE DIES.
I stared.
“She's using Derek against you?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Another message arrived.
A photograph of Molly leaving the hospital.
My blood froze.
Then another.
My apartment.
Another.
My mother's house in Indiana.
Another.
Me.
Taken through the hospital window minutes earlier.
The final message:
RENEE COMES TOO.
Adrian's face became terrifying.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“You're leaving Chicago tonight.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
I almost laughed.
“You were doing so well.”
“Renee.”
“You don't decide.”
“She wants you.”
“Exactly.”
“Which is why—”
“Which is why I may be useful.”
His eyes hardened.
“You are not bait.”
“I didn't say bait.”
“That's what you mean.”
“I mean she thinks I'm your weakness.”
His voice lowered.
“You are.”
That silenced me.
Adrian looked furious at himself.
“Then use it.”
“No.”
“Not use me.”
I stepped closer.
“Use what she believes.”
He stared.
I continued.
“She expects you to behave irrationally because of me.”
“Yes.”
“She expects you to come alone.”
“Yes.”
“She expects you to hide this from police.”
“Yes.”
“So do the opposite.”
Alvarez returned.
I looked at him.
“Can we set a trap?”
He stared at Adrian.
Then me.
“Possibly.”
Adrian said:
“No.”
I turned.
“You're not in charge of me.”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But I'm allowed to object.”
“Yes.”
“I object.”
“Noted.”
Molly entered with coffee she clearly didn't want.
“What did I miss?”
I looked at her.
“We're trapping a dead crime princess.”
Molly blinked.
“I was gone six minutes.”
The plan took four hours.
Police.
Federal agents.
Ashford security.
Adrian's people.
Too many moving parts.
I wore a wire.
Adrian hated it.
I hated that he hated it.
At 1:15 a.m., we entered Pier 19.
Derek sat tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Alive.
Helena stood behind him.
Red coat.
Exactly like the camera.
She looked like Adrian around the eyes.
Beautiful.
Cold.
“Renee Walsh.”
“Helena.”
She smiled.
“So ordinary.”
I almost laughed.
“That's rude.”
Her smile widened.
“I understand the attraction now.”
Adrian moved slightly.
Helena noticed.
“There.”
She looked delighted.
“My brother cares.”
Adrian said:
“Let Derek go.”
Derek looked at me.
“Renee.”
I ignored him.
Helena held out her hand.
“Ledger.”
Adrian lifted a case.
“First Derek.”
She laughed.
“You think I'm negotiating over him?”
Then she pointed a gun.
Not at Derek.
At me.
Everything changed.
Adrian froze.
Helena smiled.
“Now.”
I heard Alvarez's voice through my hidden earpiece.
WAIT.
My heart pounded.
Helena stepped closer.
“You know what I admire about men like Derek?”
I said nothing.
“They make women predictable.”
My stomach turned.
“Fear narrows the world.”
She smiled.
“You moved.”
“Changed jobs.”
“Changed numbers.”
“Changed addresses.”
“All because one mediocre man refused to hear no.”
Derek flinched.
Helena continued:
“People like him are useful.”
I looked at Derek.
He finally understood.
Helena had never respected him.
He had been a tool.
Exactly what he had tried to make me.
I said:
“That's the difference between you and Adrian.”
Helena's eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me?”
“He thinks people can choose.”
Adrian looked at me.
Helena laughed.
“You know nothing about my brother.”
“I know he stepped aside when I told him he didn't get to decide for me.”
Her smile disappeared.
I continued:
“You wouldn't.”
Silence.
“You and Derek are more alike than you think.”
Derek looked offended.
Helena looked murderous.
Good.
I needed her looking at me.
Not the loading dock door behind her.
I continued.
“You both call control love when it benefits you.”
Helena raised the gun.
Adrian moved.
“Don't.”
I wasn't sure which of us he meant.
Then Alvarez said one word in my ear.
NOW.
The warehouse lights died.
Gunfire cracked.
I dropped.
Adrian covered me.
Agents entered.
Derek screamed.
Helena ran.
A door slammed.
Thirty seconds later, lights returned.
Derek was alive.
I was alive.
Adrian was bleeding.
“Adrian.”
“Not mine.”
Someone else's blood.
Helena had escaped.
And when agents opened the case Adrian had brought, they discovered the ledger inside was fake.
Helena had expected that.
What none of us expected was the message waiting on my phone.
A photograph of my mother.
Sitting in her kitchen in Indiana.
Helena standing behind her.
Gun visible.
Message:
YOU BROUGHT POLICE.
May you like
NOW BRING ME THE REAL LEDGER.
AND THIS TIME, RENEE DECIDES WHO DIES.
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