Chapter 6 - The Safe HouseCallum hated hospitals.
Sadie discovered that fact twenty minutes later.
He refused the emergency room.
Refused a doctor.
Refused even pain medication.
Instead, he drove to an old townhouse on the north side.
“You need surgery.”
“I need privacy.”
“You were shot.”
“Grazed.”
“You are bleeding.”
“So are most men after Tuesday.”
She stared at him.
“Do you always make jokes when you’re dying?”
“I am not dying.”
He opened the door.
Inside was an old library.
No luxury.
No security cameras.
Just books and dust.
Sadie locked the door behind them.
Callum removed his shirt.
The bullet had carved a deep line beneath his ribs.
Sadie stared.
“That needs stitches.”
“I know.”
“I can do it.”
He looked at her.
“You can sew?”
“My grandmother taught me.”
“Under what circumstances?”
“Roast chicken.”
He almost smiled.
“Fine.”
She cleaned the wound.
Callum barely reacted.
Until the needle went in.
His hand gripped the edge of the table.
Sadie noticed.
“You’re not as fearless as people say.”
“I never said I was.”
She paused.
“Why did you really protect Emma?”
Callum looked at the floor.
“She was the first person who saw what I was becoming.”
“And that mattered?”
“Yes.”
“What were you becoming?”
“A man who stopped asking whether something was right and started asking whether it was useful.”
Sadie finished the final stitch.
“And me?”
He looked at her.
“You ask too many questions.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You remind me of her.”
Sadie stepped back.
“I am not Emma.”
“I know.”
The room went quiet.
He reached for his shirt.
Sadie turned away.
Her phone vibrated.
One message.
From an unknown number.
COME TO THE UNION STATION AT MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Attached was an old photograph of her mother.
Alive.
Standing beside a woman Sadie did not recognize.
Callum read the message over her shoulder.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“That is my mother.”
“It is bait.”
“It could be her.”
“It is bait designed around exactly that fact.”
Sadie turned.
“You said my mother was alive.”
“I said I saw her.”
“Then you know where she is.”
“I lost her.”
“Why?”
“She disappeared.”
“You let her disappear?”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“She disappeared because she wanted to.”
Sadie looked at the photograph.
“There is a church in the background.”
Callum took the phone.
His eyes narrowed.
“I know it.”
“Where?”
“Wicker Park.”
“Then I’m going.”
“I’m coming.”
“They said alone.”
“They said you.”
“Same thing?”
“No.”
He grabbed his coat.
At eleven fifty-three, they arrived outside the church.
Rain fell softly.
The doors were open.
Sadie walked inside.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Callum followed.
Candles flickered along the altar.
Then a voice came from the shadows.
“Sadie.”
She froze.
A woman stepped forward.
Older.
Paler.
But unmistakable.
Sadie’s mother.
“Mom?”
They ran toward each other.
For one impossible second, Sadie was ten years old again.
Then her mother looked over her shoulder.
Her face changed.
Fear.
“Where is he?”
Sadie turned.
Callum stood near the doorway.
Her mother whispered:
“You brought him.”
Callum stepped forward.
“Mrs. Miller.”
“You should have stayed dead, Callum.”
Sadie stared.
“What does that mean?”
Her mother grabbed her shoulders.
“Listen to me.”
“What?”
“Your father did not die because of the ledger.”
Sadie’s heart pounded.
“Then why?”
Her mother looked directly at Callum.
“Because he discovered who Callum Russo’s real father was.”
Callum’s expression changed.
Sadie looked at him.
“Your father?”
Callum went still.
Her mother whispered the final words.
“Vincent Hale was not your enemy.”
May you like
She pointed at Callum.
“He was your father.”
