Chapter 3 - Rafe didn't believe her.Not at first.
His father had been dead for twenty-two years.
That was one of the few facts Rafe had never questioned.
Daniel Mercer had burned inside the family house.
The police had found bones.
The funeral had been closed-casket.
Rafe had spent years imagining his father's last moments.
Now the old woman had looked him in the eye and said his dead father had ordered someone to shoot her.
Rafe felt the world tilt.
The ambulance arrived.
He nearly refused to let the paramedics touch her.
She fought them harder than he did.
"Hospital," one paramedic insisted.
"No."
Rafe stepped between them.
"She said no."
The paramedic frowned.
"She's losing blood."
Rafe looked at the old woman.
She grabbed his wrist.
"Don't let them."
The words barely escaped her lips.
Rafe stared at her.
"Who are you?"
She hesitated.
Then said:
"Anna Velez."
Rafe's stomach dropped.
He knew that name.
Everyone in the city knew it.
Anna Velez had been the bookkeeper for the old Meridian Club.
The club his father had owned.
The club where half the city's criminal deals had allegedly been arranged.
The woman disappeared twenty-two years ago.
Officially, she drowned.
Rafe had never met her.
At least, that's what he thought.
But when she looked at him, something inside his memory shifted.
A woman singing in the kitchen.
A warm hand brushing his hair.
Someone whispering:
"Don't tell your father."
Rafe stepped backward.
"You were there."
Anna nodded.
"I was your mother's closest friend."
The police officer looked between them.
"Mr. Mercer..."
"Not now."
"Sir, that shooting changes things."
Rafe turned.
"What do you mean?"
"We found shell casings."
The officer held up an evidence bag.
"Nine-millimeter."
Rafe stared.
"So?"
"So the weapon was suppressed."
"What?"
The officer lowered his voice.
"Whoever fired those shots wasn't trying to scare you."
Rafe looked toward Anna.
"They were trying to kill her."
Anna smiled bitterly.
"No."
She shook her head.
"They were trying to kill you."
Rafe's expression hardened.
"Why?"
She reached beneath the collar of her torn coat.
A thin chain hung around her neck.
At its end was a key.
Tiny.
Silver.
Stamped with the number 17.
Rafe recognized the shape immediately.
The storage lockers beneath Meridian Club used exactly those keys.
His father had kept an entire row of them.
"What does that open?"
Anna looked at him.
"Locker 17."
"What's inside?"
"Proof."
"Proof of what?"
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
"That your father didn't start the fire."
Rafe stopped breathing.
The rain poured around them.
Anna continued.
"He tried to save you."
Rafe shook his head.
"No."
"I saw him."
"You were there?"
"I was standing in the hall."
"What happened?"
"He carried your sister outside."
Rafe's heart slammed against his ribs.
"Lena?"
Anna nodded.
"She was alive."
Rafe stared at the pavement.
"Then why did he leave me?"
"He didn't."
"Then why was I alone?"
Anna's face collapsed with grief.
"Because someone pulled you away."
"Who?"
Anna looked at the police officer.
Then at the pharmacy.
Then whispered:
"Your mother."
Rafe stared.
"What?"
"Your mother took you."
"Why would she?"
"To keep you from becoming like your father."
Rafe laughed once.
It wasn't humor.
It was disbelief.
"You expect me to believe my mother kidnapped me from my own father?"
"I expect you to open Locker 17."
The paramedics tried again.
Anna suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Listen to me."
Rafe leaned closer.
"If I go into that hospital, I'm dead."
"Why?"
"Because the man who owns it..."
She stopped.
Rafe waited.
"Finish the sentence."
Anna's eyes widened.
"The man who owns the hospital is your brother."
Rafe went still.
"I don't have a brother."
Anna whispered:
"You do."
A black SUV screeched around the corner.
Three doors opened.
Men stepped out.
Anna looked at them and gasped.
"They found us."
Rafe stood.
His entire posture changed.
The gentle man who had washed her feet disappeared.
The biker returned.
May you like
He turned toward the approaching men.
And for the first time that night, the rain looked afraid.
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