Chapter 5 - The Broken Crayon
“No.” The word tore out of Cassidy’s throat, raw and desperate. She lunged for the phone, but Dominic held out a hand, keeping her back.
“If you touch one hair on that woman’s head, Vincent, I will burn you alive,” Dominic’s voice was dead calm, a promise of absolute carnage.
Vincent laughed softly. “You have thirty minutes, Dominic. The waterfront warehouse on Pier 4. Just you, the ledger, and the little mute. Or the waitress’s mother dies in her sleep. Tick tock.”
The line went dead.
Cassidy collapsed into the cheap plastic chair by her kitchen counter, burying her face in her hands. A sob ripped through her. Her mother. Her frail, exhausted mother, who had spent the morning apologizing to Cassidy for being a burden, was sitting in a clinic surrounded by monsters.
“I have to go,” Cassidy choked out, standing up on shaky legs. She grabbed her coat. “I’ll tell them I know where you are. I’ll make a deal—”
“You’ll die,” Dominic said bluntly. He stood, buttoning his bloodstained shirt. “Vincent leaves no witnesses. He uses people until they break, and then he disposes of them.”
“I don’t care! It’s my mother!” Cassidy screamed, the stress finally breaking her. “I lost my job, I’m losing my apartment, and I am not losing her! You brought this to my door!”
Mia scurried across the room and wrapped her arms around Cassidy’s legs. The child buried her face in Cassidy’s coat, shaking her head frantically. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, and shoved it into Cassidy’s hand.
Cassidy unfolded it. It was a drawing on a paper napkin from the restaurant. It was drawn in blue crayon. A tall man, a little girl, and a woman in an apron. They were holding hands.
Cassidy broke down, falling to her knees and hugging the child. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mia.”
Dominic watched them, something profound shifting in his cold, calculating eyes. This woman, who had nothing, was offering her life for his daughter. And his own blood brother had betrayed him.
“You won’t go alone,” Dominic said. He walked to the window, staring out at the dark Chicago skyline. “Vincent wants the ledger. The codes to my empire. I have them in my head.”
Cassidy looked up. “He’ll kill you the second you give them to him.”
“I know.” Dominic turned to face her. “But he won’t expect you to bring me in.”
“What?”
Dominic walked to the table and picked up his heavy silver lighter. “Vincent thinks I’m a wounded animal hiding in the dark. He thinks you’re a terrified civilian. We are going to give him exactly what he expects.”
Dominic grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from Cassidy’s eviction notice. He scribbled a set of numbers down.
“This is an account with two million dollars in it. Clean money,” Dominic said, pressing the paper into her hand. “You take this. You leave through the fire escape. You take Mia to the cathedral like I told you. Then you call the police and send them to the clinic.”
“And what are you going to do?” Cassidy asked, her voice trembling.
“I’m going to surrender to my brother,” Dominic said, pulling on his coat over his bleeding side. “It will buy you the time you need to save your mother.”
Cassidy stared at him. He was going to die for them. A man she had met two hours ago was going to sacrifice his life to fix the collateral damage he had caused her.
Dominic knelt down, signing a long, emotional message to Mia. The little girl cried silently, clinging to his neck. He kissed her cheek, stood up without looking back at Cassidy, and walked out the door.
Cassidy stood in the freezing apartment, holding the child’s hand and the paper with two million dollars on it. She looked at the broken blue crayon on the floor.
May you like
She wasn't going to let him die.
She scooped Mia up. “Come on, baby. We have to make a stop before the church.”
