Chapter 6 - The Safe House on Lake Shore Drive
Reed’s safe house was on the thirty-second floor of a building overlooking Lake Michigan.
Of course it was.
It had private elevators, armed security in the lobby, windows that did not open, and a kitchen larger than my entire apartment.
I hated it immediately.
Not because it was ugly.
Because it was beautiful in the way cages were beautiful when rich men designed them.
Ava sat in the middle of a thick white rug, surrounded by toys someone had bought in less than an hour. A stuffed elephant. A soft musical book. Stacking cups. A tiny pink coat still carrying the store tag.
She looked delighted.
That made me feel worse.
“She doesn’t need all this,” I said.
Reed stood near the kitchen island, speaking quietly into his phone.
When he ended the call, he looked at the toys.
“No,” he said. “She doesn’t.”
“Then why did you buy it?”
“Because Tommy did not know what an eight-month-old needed.”
From the hallway, Tommy replied, “I bought everything the store employee pointed at.”
I folded my arms.
“You could have bought a crib.”
“I did.”
“You bought a crib?”
Tommy looked offended.
“Two. One for here. One for Callaway’s.”
I stared at Reed.
“You are planning for her to go back to the restaurant?”
“I am planning for you to have options.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No,” he said. “It is not.”
Ava crawled toward the window, stopping when she saw snow moving across the city far below. She slapped her tiny hand against the glass and laughed.
Reed watched her.
His face softened for half a second.
Then he caught himself.
“Her formula is in the pantry,” he said. “There are diapers in the guest room. The pediatrician will come by in an hour to make sure the smoke did not irritate her lungs.”
“I didn’t ask for a doctor.”
“You did not have to.”
Anger rose in me.
“You do this every time.”
“Do what?”
“You make decisions like nobody else is capable of making them.”
Reed’s expression hardened.
“This is not about capability. It is about danger.”
“My daughter is not a problem you solve.”
“I know.”
“No. You say that, but then you put us in a locked apartment with guards outside every door.”
“It is not locked.”
I walked to the front door.
Tried the handle.
It opened.
I looked back at him.
Reed said nothing.
The guard outside looked away.
I shut the door again.
“Fine,” I said. “It is technically not locked.”
Reed stepped closer.
“Your apartment was attacked because Victor Moretti thinks your father left something behind.”
“My father died four years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And I have no idea what he took.”
“Then we need to find out before Moretti does.”
I looked at Ava.
She had pulled herself up using the coffee table and was wobbling proudly on her feet.
“What if I don’t want your help?” I asked.
Reed’s eyes moved to her too.
“Then I will still make sure Moretti cannot reach you.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It is a promise.”
Before I could respond, Tommy entered from the hallway.
“Boss.”
Something in his voice changed the room.
Reed turned.
“What?”
“Moretti sent a message.”
Tommy placed a small envelope on the counter.
No stamp.
No return address.
Just my name written across the front.
MARA HALE
I did not want to touch it.
But I did.
Inside was a photograph.
Ava’s father.
Dylan.
He stood outside an airport terminal in Phoenix, smiling beside a blond woman I had never seen before.
Across the bottom of the photograph, someone had written:
HE IS NOT AS FAR AWAY AS YOU THINK.
My hands began shaking.
Reed took the photo from me.
“Tommy,” he said quietly. “Find him.”
I looked up sharply.
“No.”
Reed’s eyes met mine.
“He may be involved.”
“He is a coward, not a criminal.”
“Those are not always different things.”
“You do not get to drag him into this.”
Reed stared at the photograph.
Then at me.
“If Moretti can reach him, he can reach Ava.”
Outside, snow struck the windows.
Inside, Ava began crying.
May you like
And I realized that the man I had spent years trying to forget might be the next piece of my father’s secret.
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