Chapter 3 - The Maid's Mother Had Saved His Father—Now Her Daughter Was the Only Person Who Could Save the Mafia BossPatrick's father had been Victor Shaw's partner.
Not publicly.
Officially, Patrick Doyle Sr. had served as Michael Callahan's logistics manager.
Unofficially, he helped Victor move money through shipping companies.
Vivian had been their bookkeeper.
Three people.
One operation.
Millions stolen.
Grace discovered it.
Michael nearly died because of it.
Then Patrick's father was murdered.
Victor disappeared.
Vivian survived.
And somehow, years later, she married Michael Callahan.
Daniel listened without interrupting.
That frightened Patrick more than shouting would have.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know until six years ago.”
“And you stayed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Patrick looked toward Adeze.
Then back at Daniel.
“Because your father asked me to.”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“Before his stroke.”
Patrick explained.
Michael discovered Patrick's father's involvement years after the original conspiracy.
Instead of blaming the son, Michael recruited him.
Patrick had spent six years quietly watching Vivian.
Waiting for Victor Shaw to return.
Daniel's anger sharpened.
“My father trusted you with this and not me?”
“He was protecting you.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Apparently that's the family excuse for lying.”
Adeze looked at him.
Daniel caught it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“You do the same thing.”
He stared.
She continued.
“You hide information from people because you think knowing more makes you responsible for deciding what they can handle.”
Patrick looked away.
Daniel almost told Adeze she didn't understand his world.
Then realized that would prove her point.
“Fair.”
Adeze blinked.
Patrick definitely smiled this time.
Daniel ignored him.
They needed the textbook.
Victor Shaw had it.
And Vivian.
A call came from Dr. Webb.
Michael was missing.
Daniel's blood went cold.
“What?”
Someone had impersonated hospital transport.
Two guards were injured.
Michael was gone.
Then Daniel received a photograph.
His father inside a warehouse.
Vivian beside him.
Victor Shaw behind them.
Message:
BRING ADEZE.
Daniel deleted it before she could see.
Adeze held out her hand.
“Phone.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“Is it about me?”
Silence.
“Give me the phone.”
He did.
She read it.
“You were going to hide this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're not going.”
Adeze laughed once.
“You learned nothing.”
“This isn't a disagreement about a bedroom.”
“No. It's my mother's evidence and your father.”
“Exactly.”
“And they want me.”
“Which is why you're staying here.”
Adeze stepped closer.
“You don't get to decide that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Then you're exactly like everyone else in this house.”
That stopped him.
Adeze's voice lowered.
“Vivian decided I was disposable because I worked for her.”
“That's not what I'm doing.”
“Chelsea decided she could hit me because she had more power.”
“Not the same.”
“You're deciding I don't get a voice because you think you know what's best.”
Daniel stared.
She was right.
He hated that.
“What do you suggest?”
“We make them think you're bringing me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You just asked.”
“I regret it.”
Adeze almost smiled.
They created a plan.
Not Daniel's.
Theirs.
Patrick tracked the warehouse.
Federal authorities were complicated.
Daniel's world did not invite police easily.
But Michael's kidnapping changed the equation.
Daniel contacted a federal prosecutor he'd quietly cooperated with while moving parts of the Callahan organization toward legitimate businesses.
The warehouse sat near Bridgeport Harbor.
Daniel entered with Adeze.
Patrick's team remained outside.
Adeze wore a tracking device.
Daniel carried no visible weapon.
Inside, Michael was tied to a chair.
Victor Shaw stood beside him.
Seventy.
Thin.
White hair.
Vivian stood across the room holding Adeze's pharmacology textbook.
She smiled.
“Look at you.”
Adeze said nothing.
“Grace's daughter standing beside Michael's son.”
Vivian shook her head.
“History really does enjoy repeating itself.”
Daniel looked at his father.
“Let him go.”
Victor laughed.
“Still giving orders.”
Daniel ignored him.
“What do you want?”
“The documents.”
Vivian opened the textbook.
Its spine had been cut.
Inside were folded papers.
Grace's evidence.
But something was wrong.
Adeze saw it immediately.
“Those aren't all of them.”
Vivian looked at her.
“What?”
“My mother wouldn't hide everything in one place.”
“You don't know that.”
“I knew my mother.”
Vivian's expression shifted.
Adeze was bluffing.
Daniel realized it.
So did Michael.
He began laughing.
Weakly.
Vivian turned.
“What?”
Michael's speech had improved.
He looked at her.
“You never understood Grace.”
Vivian slapped him.
Daniel moved.
Victor raised a gun.
“Don't.”
Daniel stopped.
Adeze stared at Vivian.
“Twenty-eight years.”
Vivian looked at her.
“You've spent twenty-eight years afraid of a nurse.”
“Your mother destroyed everything.”
“No.”
“She took Michael from me.”
Adeze frowned.
Michael laughed again.
Vivian's face twisted.
“I was supposed to marry him.”
Daniel looked at his father.
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
Vivian snapped:
“You loved her!”
Silence.
Adeze froze.
Michael looked at the floor.
Then at Vivian.
“I loved Catherine.”
Daniel's mother.
“Grace was my friend.”
Vivian's eyes filled with something ugly.
“You trusted her more than me.”
“Yes.”
That single word broke her.
Vivian had spent decades rewriting the story.
Grace wasn't her romantic rival.
She was simply the woman Michael trusted because Grace had integrity.
That was worse.
Victor became impatient.
“Enough.”
He pointed the gun toward Adeze.
“Where are the rest?”
“I don't know.”
“Your mother told someone.”
“She died eleven years ago.”
“Then perhaps she told you.”
“I was seventeen.”
Victor walked toward her.
Daniel shifted.
Gun turned toward him.
“Stay.”
Adeze looked at Michael.
Something about his expression caught her attention.
His hand.
One finger tapped against the chair.
Three times.
Pause.
Two.
Pause.
Three.
A pattern.
Adeze recognized it.
Medication rounds.
Her mother used to tap numbers when helping Adeze memorize dosage schedules.
3-2-3.
Page 323.
Adeze looked toward the textbook.
Vivian held it.
“Page 323.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?” Victor asked.
“My mother hid something on page 323.”
Vivian opened it.
Nothing.
Victor grabbed the book.
He looked.
Adeze moved.
Fast.
She slammed her shoulder into Vivian.
Daniel attacked Victor.
Gunshot.
Adeze screamed.
Daniel drove Victor against a steel support.
The weapon fell.
Vivian grabbed it.
Pointed it at Adeze.
Michael shouted:
“No!”
Then Patrick's team stormed the warehouse.
Vivian fired.
Daniel threw himself toward Adeze.
The bullet struck him.
He fell.
Everything became noise.
Patrick shot the weapon from Vivian's hand.
Victor was tackled.
Michael screamed Daniel's name.
Adeze dropped beside Daniel.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I'm fine.”
“You've been shot.”
“Still fine.”
“You are absolutely not fine.”
Her training returned.
Pressure.
Airway.
Bleeding.
Entry wound upper chest.
No exit.
His breathing became shallow.
Adeze pressed her hands against the wound.
“Stay with me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You're ordering me around again.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Daniel.”
His eyes fluttered.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“You don't get to die.”
“Wasn't planning to.”
“You don't get to decide that either.”
He almost smiled.
Then lost consciousness.
The ambulance took eleven minutes.
Adeze rode with him.
At the hospital, surgeons worked for three hours.
The bullet had missed his heart.
Barely.
Adeze sat beside Michael.
Neither spoke.
Finally Michael said:
“Grace would like you.”
Adeze looked at him.
“She was difficult.”
Adeze laughed through tears.
“So am I.”
“I noticed.”
Michael reached for her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For letting Vivian stay in that house.”
“You didn't know.”
“I knew enough.”
He looked toward the operating-room doors.
“Daniel is better than me.”
Adeze watched those doors.
“I think he's trying.”
Michael smiled.
“That's usually the best any man can offer.”
Daniel survived.
When he woke, Adeze sat beside him.
He looked confused.
Then saw her.
“You stayed.”
She folded her arms.
“Don't make it romantic.”
He smiled weakly.
“Too late.”
“You nearly died.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“That's not funny.”
“No.”
He became serious.
“Adeze.”
“What?”
“When I saw Vivian point the gun at you…”
He stopped.
Adeze waited.
Daniel Callahan could negotiate million-dollar deals without hesitation.
This sentence frightened him more.
“I didn't think about the organization.”
Adeze's expression softened.
“I didn't think about my father.”
He looked at her.
“I thought about you.”
Neither moved.
Daniel continued.
“And Kemi.”
Adeze froze.
“My daughter?”
“You talk about her in your sleep.”
“When have you heard me sleep?”
Daniel realized his mistake.
“At the hospital.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You were unconscious.”
“Before that.”
“When?”
He smiled.
“Long story.”
Adeze tried not to smile.
Failed.
Daniel reached toward her hand.
Stopped before touching.
“May I?”
That mattered.
Adeze placed her hand in his.
“Yes.”
He closed his fingers around hers.
Not ownership.
Not command.
Choice.
Then Patrick entered.
“Boss.”
Daniel sighed.
“Apparently privacy remains impossible.”
Patrick's face was serious.
“We found the rest of Grace's evidence.”
Adeze looked up.
“Where?”
Patrick held out an envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Grace.
Behind her stood Michael.
And beside Michael stood another man.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
His uncle.
Edward Callahan.
Michael's younger brother.
Patrick said:
“Victor wasn't the head of the conspiracy.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Edward was.”
The problem?
Edward Callahan was not hiding.
He was currently acting chairman of Callahan Holdings.
May you like
And while Daniel had been lying unconscious in surgery, Edward had called an emergency board meeting.
He was trying to remove Daniel from his own company before he woke up.
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