**THE MOMENT THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE CALLED ME “A NOSY LITTLE CLEANING GIRL,” I WAS STANDING BESIDE HIS DEAD BROTHER’S CASKET—HOLDING THE WATCH THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON HIS WRIST.** The private viewing had been closed to everyone except family.

“Who did they take, Leo?” Anthony asked, dropping to his knees.

He reached out slowly, trying not to frighten the boy.

Leo flinched away, pressing himself deeper into the cabinet. He was clutching the heavy winter coat against his chest like a shield.

“It’s okay,” I said softly, crouching down beside Anthony.

I didn’t crowd the boy. I just kept my voice level and calm. The same way I used to speak to frightened customers who came into my uncle’s shop to sell their heirlooms to pay for rent.

“My name is Kate,” I said. “And this is Anthony. We’re here to help.”

Leo looked at my plain black dress. Then he looked at Anthony’s expensive suit.

“You look like the bad men,” Leo whispered to Anthony.

Anthony swallowed hard. “I know I do. But I promise you, I’m not.”

I pointed to the oversized gold bracelet hanging off Leo’s small wrist.

“That’s a beautiful bracelet,” I said. “Is it yours?”

Leo shook his head.

“It belongs to Elena.”

Answer one.

The woman who had been raising Leo was named Elena.

Open two.

Who was Elena, and why did Anthony’s mother want her?

“Who took her, Leo?” Anthony pleaded. “Was it an older woman? With gray hair?”

“No,” Leo said, his voice shaking. “It was a man with a scar on his neck. He kicked the door open. Elena told me to hide in here. She gave me her bracelet so they wouldn’t find it.”

Anthony cursed under his breath.

“A scar on his neck. That’s Silas. He’s Bianca’s personal enforcer.”

The pieces shifted again.

His mother’s rosary was on the table, but Bianca’s man had taken Elena.

“They’re working together,” Anthony realized, the betrayal hardening his features. “My mother and Bianca. My mother didn’t want the peace treaty broken. She hated Elena ten years ago. She still hates her.”

“Why would your mother leave her rosary behind?” I asked.

I stood up, walking back into the living room. I looked at the blue lapis beads resting on the shattered glass.

“People don’t accidentally drop rosaries during a kidnapping,” I said. “They hold onto them. They keep them in pockets or purses.”

I picked up the rosary.

I ran my thumb over the silver crucifix.

It felt wrong.

Too light.

I turned it over.

The back of the cross was hollowed out.

“Anthony,” I called out.

He walked over, carrying Leo in his arms. The boy had buried his face in Anthony’s shoulder, exhausted and terrified.

“Look at this,” I said, handing him the cross.

Anthony frowned. “It’s hollow.”

“It’s a micro-USB drive,” I said, pointing to the tiny metal connector hidden inside the silver casing.

We walked to Daniel’s home office. The computer had been smashed to the floor, but I found a laptop hidden in a drawer that the men had missed.

I booted it up and plugged the crucifix in.

A single video file popped up on the screen.

It was timestamped from three days ago. The night Daniel died.

Anthony clicked play.

The video showed a grainy, dimly lit room.

Daniel was sitting in a chair, looking battered but defiant.

Standing across from him was Anthony’s mother.

“You have to let this go, Daniel,” his mother’s voice hissed through the laptop speakers. “If Anthony finds out the boy is alive, he will tear the city apart. He will kill Bianca. The Russos will destroy our family.”

“The Russos killed dad!” Daniel yelled back. “And you helped them!”

Anthony stopped breathing.

On the screen, his mother didn’t deny it. She just looked away.

“I did what I had to do to protect our empire,” she said coldly. “Your father was weak.”

“I’m telling Anthony,” Daniel said.

“No, you’re not.”

A shadow stepped into the frame.

It was Marcus, the depository manager.

He held a syringe.

The video cut to black.

The reversal was absolute.

Bianca didn’t kill Daniel. Bianca didn’t kill their father.

Anthony’s own mother was the architect of the entire nightmare. She had orchestrated her husband’s murder to seize power, forced Anthony into an arranged marriage, and ordered Daniel’s death when he uncovered the truth.

Anthony stared at the black screen.

He didn’t scream. He didn’t throw the laptop.

He just went completely, terrifyingly still.

“She killed him,” Anthony whispered. “She killed them both.”

I looked at Leo, who was still clutching the winter coat.

“Mr. Romano,” I said gently.

He didn’t move.

“Anthony,” I said, touching his arm.

He blinked, looking at me.

“What?”

“The coat Leo is holding. Whose is it?”

Anthony looked down at the boy in his arms.

“It’s Elena’s,” Leo murmured.

“Why did she make you hold it, Leo?” I asked.

Leo reached into the deep pocket of the wool coat.

He pulled out a heavy, folded piece of paper.

He handed it to me.

It was an Amtrak train ticket.

Two passengers.

Elena and Leo.

Destination: Montreal, Canada.

Departure time: 11:30 PM tonight.

I looked at my watch.

It was 10:45 PM.

“They didn’t take her to a warehouse,” I said, looking at Anthony. “They took her to Union Station. They’re going to make sure she gets on that train alone, or they’re going to kill her there to make it look like a robbery.”

Anthony’s eyes locked onto mine.