Chapter 4 - The Child Who Knew Too Much
The First Kidnapping Attempt
We left the estate before sunrise.
Dante insisted on driving himself.
That scared me more than a convoy would have.
People like Dante did not drive alone unless they trusted nobody.
Sophia slept in the back seat holding the red ribbon.
I watched Dante's hands on the steering wheel.
“You think someone is following us?”
“I know someone is.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
He pointed toward the mirror.
A black SUV had appeared three times in twenty minutes.
Then disappeared.
Then returned.
Dante suddenly turned off the main highway.
The SUV followed.
He turned again.
Still followed.
Then he smiled.
It was the first smile I'd seen from him that had nothing to do with Sophia.
It was dangerous.
He accelerated.
The SUV followed faster.
Dante drove beneath an abandoned railway bridge and stopped.
The SUV came around the corner.
Three men stepped out.
Dante opened his door.
“Stay inside.”
The men raised guns.
The world exploded.
Dante fired first.
Two men dropped.
The third ran.
Dante chased him.
I held Sophia tightly.
Then I noticed the rear passenger door opening.
A fourth man had been hiding beneath the truck.
He grabbed for Sophia.
She screamed.
I fought him.
His hand covered her mouth.
Then Dante appeared.
He fired once.
The man collapsed.
Dante ripped Sophia from his grip.
He held her against his chest.
She was shaking.
So was I.
One minute later, Dante looked down at the dead man's wrist.
A tattoo.
Black numbers.
His expression changed.
“Dock 17.”
“You know them?”
“No.”
He looked toward the road.
“They know me.”
Later, in a safe house, Dante questioned me.
“How did your daughter know the man was coming?”
“She didn't.”
“She warned you before he touched the door.”
I looked at Sophia.
She sat at the kitchen table drawing.
A woman.
A little girl.
And a black door.
“She's three.”
Dante stared.
“That isn't an answer.”
I snapped.
“She is not a weapon.”
His eyes hardened.
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
The room went quiet.
“You think because she sees things, you can use her to solve Carmela's murder.”
Dante's face changed.
“I would never use your daughter.”
“Then stop treating her like evidence.”
He looked away.
Sophia spoke softly.
“Dante.”
He crouched beside her.
“What?”
“You forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
She pointed to the drawing.
“The lady said the window.”
Dante picked up the paper.
“What window?”
Sophia tapped the black rectangle.
“The room.”
Dante looked at me.
“What room?”
Sophia answered.
“The room where she died.”
Carmela's death had supposedly happened in a warehouse after an ambush.
But Dante suddenly stood.
“Take me to Dock 17.”
An hour later, we reached the old warehouse.
The place had been abandoned.
Dante walked inside.
Sophia remained in the car with me.
We searched the building.
Nothing.
Then Dante found something beneath a broken concrete step.
A bloodstained necklace.
Carmela's necklace.
He stared at it like the dead had just spoken.
Behind the necklace was a tiny key.
Dante's breathing changed.
On the key was a number.
Sophia suddenly screamed from the car.
I ran.
She was pointing at the warehouse window.
“Mommy!”
I looked up.
A woman's silhouette stood behind the dirty glass.
She lifted one hand.
Then disappeared.
Dante stopped beside me.
“Did you see that?”
I nodded.
He stared at the window.
Then Sophia whispered:
“She said he is inside.”
Dante looked at the empty warehouse.
“Who?”
May you like
Sophia pointed at his back.
“Your friend.”
