Chapter 3 - Norah Reveals the Truth About the Night She Ran
They landed in Denver shortly after 11 p.m.
The airport was half-empty.
Snow buried the road outside.
Roman arranged for a secure vehicle before leaving the aircraft.
The captured man was taken into custody by people Roman trusted.
Not the police.
Not yet.
Norah remained beside him.
She carried Lena.
Roman carried Leo.
The sight was strange enough that even Roman noticed.
He had spent years walking into rooms where men lowered their voices because he had arrived.
Now the same men stared at him carrying a sleeping infant wrapped in a yellow blanket.
One of his guards tried not to smile.
Roman looked at him.
The smile disappeared.
They drove toward a safe house in the mountains.
Halfway there, Norah spoke.
“I should tell you everything.”
Roman looked at her through the windshield reflection.
“Yes.”
“Even if you hate me afterward.”
“I already hate the fact that you thought you had to do this alone.”
She looked away.
“I was pregnant when I left.”
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
“I found out two weeks before you did.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I saw a message.”
“The one ordering you handled.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“A different one.”
She reached into her coat.
She pulled out an old phone.
“I kept it.”
Roman stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was yours.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She turned it on.
The screen showed an old message.
Roman's own number.
Sent from his account.
Meet me at the old warehouse. Bring Norah. No security.
Roman frowned.
“I never sent this.”
“I know.”
“You received this?”
“Yes.”
“And went?”
“I believed it was from you.”
“What happened?”
“I arrived.”
She swallowed.
“There were 3 men.”
Roman's hand tightened around the steering wheel.
“They said they were going to kill me.”
“Why didn't they?”
“Because Adrian came.”
Roman's head snapped toward her.
“He rescued you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he come back with you?”
“He said your organization had been infiltrated.”
“How deeply?”
“Deep enough that if he contacted you, we'd both die.”
Roman was silent.
Norah continued.
“I wanted to tell you. I even drove toward Chicago.”
“What happened?”
“They followed me.”
She showed him a photograph.
A black SUV.
License plate blurred by snow.
Roman recognized it.
Mason's private vehicle.
“They followed you.”
“Yes.”
“I sent men to search for you.”
“I knew.”
“What?”
“I watched the search.”
Roman's chest tightened.
“You watched me looking for you?”
“From hotel rooms.”
“Why?”
“Because every time you got close, they got closer.”
Roman looked at her.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I trusted you.”
“Then why?”
“I didn't trust the people around you.”
Roman had no answer.
The safe house appeared through the snow.
They entered.
A fire burned in the living room.
Norah placed the twins in portable cribs.
Roman stood nearby.
He could not stop watching them.
Leo stretched in his sleep.
Lena made a tiny sound.
Roman's expression softened before he noticed.
Norah saw it.
“So you've changed.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I don't know what I'm doing.”
“Neither do I.”
He looked at her.
“That makes 2 of us.”
For the first time since boarding the plane, she smiled.
It was small.
Tired.
But real.
Then Roman's phone rang.
Carlo.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found Adrian's file.”
“And?”
“It's a mess.”
Roman waited.
“The body buried under his name wasn't Adrian.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“Who was it?”
“We don't know.”
“Who signed the report?”
“County medical examiner.”
“Who handled the body?”
A pause.
“Mason.”
Roman went completely still.
“Where is Mason?”
“He's missing.”
“How long?”
“Since yesterday.”
Roman looked toward the window.
Someone had been planning this.
The wounded lieutenant.
The Denver conflict.
The commercial flight.
The dead man.
Mason.
All connected.
Then a cry came from the nursery.
Lena.
Norah rushed to her.
Roman followed.
Norah lifted the baby.
Lena's crying intensified.
Roman reached out.
Norah hesitated.
Then handed her over.
The baby settled instantly.
Roman looked down.
“She's hungry.”
“How do you know?”
“She makes the same face you make when you're hungry.”
Norah laughed.
“You remember my face?”
“I remember everything.”
Their eyes met.
For one moment, twelve months of pain became invisible.
Then the safe house lights went out.
Roman's expression hardened.
He handed Lena to Norah.
“Down.”
Glass shattered.
A gunshot tore through the living room.
Roman pushed Norah behind the stone fireplace.
Another shot.
Then another.
He drew his weapon.
Carlo's men returned fire.
Roman moved toward the front door.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Nora.”
“I am not letting you go alone.”
“This isn't negotiable.”
“Neither am I.”
She grabbed the medical bag.
Roman almost argued.
Then he noticed her hands.
Steady.
She had learned how to survive.
Together they moved through the dark.
The attackers were gone within minutes.
Outside, tire tracks vanished into the snow.
Roman returned.
Norah was still holding Lena.
Leo was crying.
Roman reached for him.
The baby grabbed his tie.
Roman stared at the tiny fist.
“Looks like he hates me.”
Norah smiled weakly.
“He has your attitude.”
Roman almost smiled.
Then something slid across the floor.
A white envelope.
No sender.
Roman opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Mason standing beside Adrian.
Alive.
Together.
And written underneath:
Merry Christmas, little brother.
Come find me before midnight.
Roman looked at the clock.
11:48 p.m.
He understood.
May you like
The war was not waiting anymore.
It had started.
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