Chapter 3 - The Hospital Room With No Windows
Her brother's name was Leo.
Dante learned that before they reached the hospital.
Mara did not tell him.
One of his men did.
Leo Voss was twenty-seven years old, three years younger than Mara.
No criminal record.
No stable employment.
No known fixed address for the last eighteen months.
Three gambling debts.
Two business partners who claimed he had disappeared with money.
And one very serious creditor whose name made Dante's driver go pale.
Silas Crane.
Dante knew Crane.
Everyone in his world knew Crane.
Silas ran a smaller organization that had survived for years by attaching itself to larger criminal operations like a parasite.
He did not build loyalty.
He built fear.
He liked debt because debt gave him an excuse to own people.
Dante had always considered him a coward hiding behind cruelty.
Now Crane had his hands around Mara's brother.
That made him a problem.
The hospital room was empty when they arrived.
Mara froze.
"No."
Dante caught the nurse passing the station.
"My brother. Leo Voss."
The nurse checked the computer.
"He was moved."
"Where?"
"Psychiatric observation."
Mara went white.
"Why?"
The nurse hesitated.
"He became agitated."
Dante's voice turned cold.
"How agitated?"
The nurse looked at him.
"I don't discuss patient details."
"You will with me."
Mara grabbed his sleeve.
"Dante."
It was the first time she'd used his first name.
He looked at her.
She was shaking.
"Please."
The nurse checked the hallway.
"Room 412."
They found Leo sitting on the floor.
His shirt was torn.
There was dried blood at his temple.
He looked thinner than Mara remembered.
He stared at her.
Then laughed.
"Oh, good."
Mara rushed forward.
"Leo."
He pulled away.
"No."
"Leo, it's me."
"I know."
His eyes darted toward Dante.
Then back to Mara.
"You brought him."
Mara looked confused.
"Who?"
"Bell."
Dante stepped closer.
Leo scrambled backward.
"You shouldn't have come."
"What happened?"
"They found me."
"Who?"
Leo began to laugh again.
"The question isn't who found me."
His face changed.
"It's who they found before me."
Mara's blood chilled.
"What does that mean?"
Leo reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small brass key.
He tossed it toward her.
She caught it.
"Mom's sewing box."
Mara stared at the key.
"We don't have Mom's sewing box."
"You do."
"Where?"
"Under the floor."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"Which floor?"
Leo looked at him.
"The house."
Mara shook her head.
"Our house burned down."
"I know."
"Then how—"
Leo suddenly grabbed his head.
"They know."
Mara dropped beside him.
"Who knows?"
"Everything."
He whispered the next words.
"The ledger."
Dante's expression went still.
"What ledger?"
Leo looked directly at him.
"The Bell ledger."
Silence.
Dante's men moved immediately.
Dante did not.
He was staring at Leo.
"Where did you get that name?"
Leo smiled.
"I didn't."
"The men who took me did."
He lowered his voice.
"Your father had it."
Dante's face changed.
Mara saw it.
For the first time since she had met him, Dante Bell looked genuinely shocked.
"My father is dead."
"I know."
"He never had a ledger."
Leo's smile disappeared.
"He did."
Dante stepped forward.
"Who told you?"
"Silas."
Mara felt a sudden chill.
"Why would Silas Crane know anything about your father?"
Dante did not answer.
He turned toward Nico.
"Get everyone to the Carmine Street house."
"Already moving."
"No one touches the floorboards until I get there."
Then he looked at Mara.
"You're coming with me."
She shook her head.
"Leo—"
"My people will stay with him."
"I can't leave him."
"He is safer here."
She looked at her brother.
Leo nodded weakly.
"Go."
Mara hesitated.
Then she stood.
As they left the hospital, Leo called after them.
"Mara."
She turned.
His eyes were full of fear.
"Don't trust the man who says he can save you."
Mara looked at Dante.
May you like
Dante looked back at Leo.
And neither man said a word.
