Chapter 2 - The Men Who Came Looking for Luciano
Sadi had learned long ago that panic made people stupid.
When her mother died, everyone in the family shouted.
When her brother Jonah disappeared for three days after a fight with his friends, Sadi had been the only one who thought to check the bus station.
When someone broke into her apartment two years later, she had not screamed.
She had hidden.
She had watched.
She had remembered the shoes.
That habit was the only reason she noticed the first thing wrong outside the diner.
The SUVs had not parked close to one another.
They were positioned around the building.
Two in front.
Two behind.
Two covering the highway exits.
These weren't ordinary men.
Arnulfo looked through the blinds.
“Lock the doors.”
One guard moved.
“Kill the lights.”
The diner went dark.
Sadi stood behind the counter.
“What exactly did I just get myself involved in?”
Arnulfo looked at her.
“My enemies.”
“Why would they care about a five-year-old?”
“They don't.”
His voice became quiet.
“They care about what happens when he turns six.”
She stared at him.
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
Arnulfo took out his phone.
“Because his mother left something behind.”
Sadi went still.
“His mother?”
“She died when he was a baby.”
He stopped.
“She was my wife.”
The words carried a weight Sadi hadn't expected.
“Her name was Elena.”
He looked at Luciano.
“She knew things about my family.”
“What kind of things?”
“The kind that get people killed.”
Outside, doors opened.
Boots hit gravel.
Luciano moved closer to his father.
Arnulfo looked toward Sadi.
“Stay behind me.”
Sadi snorted.
“I've survived six years working alone at night.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“Maybe not. But I don't faint easily.”
One of the guards gave a nervous smile.
Arnulfo didn't.
A bullet struck the front window.
Glass cracked but didn't shatter completely.
Luciano flinched at the vibration.
Arnulfo immediately knelt.
He placed one hand against the table.
Then he tapped twice.
Luciano looked at him.
Arnulfo pointed down.
The boy slid beneath the booth.
Sadi watched.
This time, Arnulfo wasn't talking.
He was communicating.
He had learned in minutes what Sadi had been trying to explain.
A second bullet struck the wall.
The lights flickered.
The cook dropped to the floor.
Sadi crawled behind the counter.
Arnulfo's men drew their weapons.
Gunfire erupted outside.
The diner became chaos.
Sadi couldn't see who was winning.
She heard footsteps.
Shouts.
Breaking glass.
Then silence.
Arnulfo moved toward the front door.
“Clear.”
A guard checked outside.
Three men were down.
The SUVs were gone.
Arnulfo crouched beside Luciano.
The boy emerged.
He immediately looked for his father.
Then for Sadi.
He found her.
Sadi noticed his eyes were wider than before.
She extended both hands.
Then slowly made the sign for safe.
Luciano stared.
He touched his chest.
Then pointed at her.
She smiled.
He repeated the sign.
Not perfectly.
But close.
Arnulfo watched.
“He learned that fast.”
“He's smart.”
“He is.”
The guard nearest the door cleared his throat.
“We should leave.”
Arnulfo nodded.
Then turned to Sadi.
“You're coming.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have a shift tomorrow.”
The men stared at her.
Arnulfo looked almost offended.
“People are trying to kill you.”
“And?”
“And you're worried about your shift?”
“I need money.”
He stared.
“How much?”
Sadi crossed her arms.
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Don't buy your way out of this.”
He paused.
“I wasn't.”
“You were about to.”
He took a breath.
“You don't trust me.”
“You carry a gun and have six men guarding you.”
“Fair.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“My house.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You've become a witness.”
“I didn't witness anything.”
“You saw my son.”
She frowned.
“I saw a child.”
“Exactly.”
He glanced toward the dead men outside.
“They came because someone knew he was here.”
“And somehow that means I'm going to your house?”
“Until I know who sent them.”
Sadi shook her head.
“I'll call the police.”
Arnulfo stared at her.
Then he said something she never forgot.
“The police are already on someone's payroll.”
She went silent.
He nodded toward the highway.
“If you stay here, they will come back.”
Sadi looked at Luciano.
The boy was holding the little mahogany device.
He pressed it against his chest.
Then smiled.
Sadi exhaled.
“Fine.”
Arnulfo gestured toward the door.
One guard approached.
Sadi stepped back.
“No guns pointed at me.”
The guard lowered his weapon.
“Thank you.”
Arnulfo opened the SUV's rear door.
Luciano climbed in first.
He looked out.
Then reached toward Sadi.
She took his hand.
The child smiled.
Arnulfo saw it.
Something changed in his face.
Perhaps gratitude.
Perhaps fear.
Maybe both.
The drive into the city lasted almost an hour.
Chicago emerged from darkness.
Tall buildings.
Bridges.
Wet streets reflecting headlights.
Finally, they reached a private residence protected by stone walls and steel gates.
Sadi stared.
“You call this a house?”
Arnulfo got out.
“I call it home.”
She stepped inside.
The mansion was enormous.
But unlike the flashy penthouse she had once imagined a criminal would own, it was strangely quiet.
Family photographs filled the walls.
Arnulfo standing beside Elena.
Luciano as an infant.
Elena pregnant.
Elena laughing.
Sadi stopped.
She looked at Arnulfo.
“You loved her.”
He didn't answer immediately.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She died.”
“That's not what I asked.”
He looked at the photograph.
“I failed her.”
Sadi didn't push.
A housekeeper led Luciano upstairs.
The boy refused to let go of the device.
Sadi followed.
“Good night, buddy.”
Luciano stared at her.
Then tapped his chest.
She recognized the sign.
Friend.
Her throat tightened.
“Yeah.”
“Friend.”
That night, she slept in a guest room.
She woke at 2:13 a.m.
A shadow moved beneath her door.
She sat up.
The door opened.
Arnulfo stood there.
“Pack your things.”
“What happened?”
He showed her his phone.
A photograph had been sent.
Sadi herself.
Taken that night.
Outside the diner.
Below it was a message.
She is not the target.
The boy is.
But she is the key.
Sadi looked at Arnulfo.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
Then another message arrived.
Ask her about Jonah Miller.
Sadi's blood turned cold.
Nobody knew that name.
Not strangers.
Not Arnulfo.
Not even most of her coworkers.
She whispered, “How do they know my brother?”
Arnulfo looked at her.
“You said he was deaf.”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
May you like
Sadi didn't answer.
Because suddenly she wasn't sure.
