Chapter 3 - The Girl With the Lemon Candy Discovered Why Silas Went to Prison
The next morning, Sadie made breakfast.
Eggs.
Toast.
Coffee.
Silas watched her move around the kitchen.
“You're staring again.”
“You cook?”
“I work in a diner.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“You're making eggs.”
“That is generally considered a normal breakfast.”
Silas almost smiled.
He hadn't eaten food made by someone else without suspicion in years.
Sadie slid a plate toward him.
“Eat.”
He did.
She sat across from him.
“You never answered my question.”
“Which one?”
“Why you went to prison.”
Silas looked at the table.
“I protected someone.”
“That sounds heroic.”
“It wasn't.”
“Who?”
“My younger brother.”
Sadie's expression softened.
“He was involved with the wrong people.”
“He was twenty.”
“You're older?”
“Seven years.”
“What happened?”
Silas's voice became quieter.
“He killed a man.”
Sadie stopped eating.
“You took the blame?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he had a daughter.”
Sadie stared.
“He was going to prison. I knew what would happen to the girl. So I took the charge.”
“And your brother?”
“Dead.”
Her heart tightened.
“When?”
“Two years after I went in.”
“What happened?”
“He tried to leave.”
Sadie understood.
“Someone killed him.”
Silas nodded.
Silence filled the kitchen.
Sadie reached across the table.
Her fingers touched his.
He stiffened.
She didn't pull away.
“You shouldn't have had to carry all that alone.”
Silas stared at her hand.
“No one has said that to me before.”
“Then everyone around you is an idiot.”
He laughed softly.
She smiled.
Then his phone rang.
Gideon.
Silas's expression changed.
“Talk.”
“Elliot has taken three warehouses.”
Silas stood.
“I'll be there.”
Sadie watched him.
“You're going back.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I don't, people die.”
She looked away.
“And if you do?”
“People probably still die.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“It is.”
Silas touched her shoulder.
“Stay away from my world.”
Sadie looked at him.
“Then stop bringing your world to me.”
He couldn't argue.
Before he left, he placed a black card on the table.
“My number.”
“I don't need it.”
“You might.”
She picked it up.
“Silas.”
He turned.
“Come back.”
Two words.
They hit him harder than any threat.
He nodded.
“I will.”
The war was waiting.
Elliot Kane had gathered half the organization.
Three warehouses.
Two clubs.
A fleet of trucks.
And one thing Silas hadn't expected.
A mole.
Someone inside his own house had been feeding Elliot information.
The identity was discovered by noon.
Nathan Cole.
A man Silas had trusted for twelve years.
Silas sat across from him.
“You betrayed me.”
Nathan looked exhausted.
“I was trying to save my family.”
Silas stared.
“Everybody says that.”
“I didn't want to kill anyone.”
“Neither did I.”
Silence.
Nathan lowered his head.
“You should kill me.”
Silas stood.
“No.”
Nathan looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because death is easy.”
Silas turned away.
“You're going to testify.”
That evening, Silas returned to Marty's.
Sadie was cleaning tables.
She saw the bruise across his cheek.
“You're hurt.”
“It's nothing.”
“Sit.”
“I don't need—”
“Sit.”
Silas sat.
She cleaned the cut.
“You always come back bleeding.”
“You always notice.”
“I'm a nurse.”
“You're a waitress.”
“My mother was a nurse.”
He stared.
Sadie froze.
She had never mentioned her mother.
“She died?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Silas saw the pain in her face.
He didn't ask more.
Instead, he took her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked at him.
For a moment, the world became quiet.
Then she kissed him.
A small kiss.
Soft.
Unexpected.
Silas went completely still.
Sadie pulled back.
“Sorry.”
He shook his head.
“Don't.”
He kissed her again.
This one lasted longer.
When they separated, she whispered:
“This is a terrible idea.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you smiling?”
“I don't know.”
Neither did he.
But both of them knew something had changed.
They weren't strangers anymore.
And somewhere across the city, someone was watching.
May you like
Someone who had just learned the one thing that could bring Silas Mercer to his knees.
Sadie Monroe.
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