Chapter 3 - THE BLUE DOG
The silence in the SUV was absolute.
Cashion didn't move. He didn't breathe. His dark eyes slowly shifted from Eli’s terrified face to mine.
"Who is Leo?" Cashion asked.
The question hung in the air, heavy and lethal.
I looked down at my hands, the scar on my palm suddenly burning. For three years, I had protected my secret perfectly. I had built a quiet life. I had worked two jobs. I had made sure the boy with dark, brooding eyes and a crooked smile stayed invisible.
"Mara." Cashion’s voice was a low rumble, vibrating with a danger I had never directed at me. "Who. Is. Leo."
Tears pricked my eyes. "He's two years old, Cashion."
The math hit him like a physical blow.
Two years old. Nine months of pregnancy. Three years since I disappeared.
Cashion closed his eyes. His massive chest expanded as he took a sharp, jagged breath. When he opened his eyes again, the cold mafia boss was gone. In his place was a man whose entire universe had just been fundamentally shattered.
"You took my child," he whispered, the betrayal so raw it made me flinch.
"I protected your child!" I fired back, the tears finally spilling over. "Do you think I wanted to raise him in a tiny apartment, terrified every time a car backfired? If your enemies knew he existed, he would have been a target before he took his first breath!"
"And what about me?" Cashion demanded, leaning over the console, his presence overwhelming the small space. "Did you think I couldn't protect my own blood?"
"You couldn't even protect yourself!" I cried, pointing at the silver lighter. "They just shot up a restaurant, Cashion!"
He stared at me, jaw locked. Then he turned to his driver.
"Give me the address."
Eli quickly rattled off our apartment address.
Cashion didn't speak another word to me. The silence was worse than his shouting. It was the sound of a bridge burning permanently.
Ten minutes later, the SUV screeched to a halt outside my run-down apartment building. Cashion didn't wait for his guards. He drew his weapon and kicked open the front doors of the lobby.
We ran up three flights of stairs.
When we reached unit 3B, my heart stopped completely.
The front door was wide open.
The lock was splintered.
"Stay behind me," Cashion ordered, pushing me back.
He moved into the apartment with terrifying precision. I followed closely, my hands covering my mouth to muffle my sobs.
The living room was trashed. Lamps broken, sofa cushions ripped open.
But there was no blood.
Cashion kicked open the bedroom door. Empty.
He moved to the small nursery I had painted myself.
On the center of the rug lay a child’s drawing. It was a blue dog with uneven legs. Leo’s favorite creation.
I fell to my knees, clutching the drawing to my chest, a guttural sob tearing from my throat. "They took him. Oh my God, they took my baby."
Cashion stood frozen, staring at the empty crib. For the first time, I saw the untouchable Cashion Rourke look utterly, helplessly terrified.
Then, a faint sound came from the closet.
A soft whimper.
Cashion moved instantly, throwing the closet doors open.
Huddled in the corner, clutching a wooden block, was a teenage girl. Sarah, the babysitter.
And tucked safely underneath her arms, fast asleep with his thumb in his mouth, was Leo.
"Leo!" I screamed, dropping the drawing and lunging forward.
I pulled my son into my arms, burying my face in his dark curls. He smelled like baby shampoo and warm milk. He woke up, blinking sleepily at the tears streaming down my face.
"Mama cry?" he mumbled, patting my cheek with a tiny, sticky hand.
"Mama’s just happy, baby," I choked out, kissing him everywhere. "Mama’s so happy."
Cashion knelt slowly on the carpet.
He didn't touch us. He just stared at Leo. At the exact replica of his own eyes. The exact shape of his own jaw.
Leo looked at Cashion, tilting his head. "Big man."
A tear slipped down Cashion’s scarred cheek. He didn't wipe it away.
I looked at Sarah, the babysitter, who was shaking violently. "Sarah, what happened? Did you see them?"
Sarah nodded, crying. "Two men. They broke in. They looked everywhere, but they didn't take anything. Then... a woman walked in."
Cashion’s head snapped toward her. "A woman?"
"She had blonde hair," Sarah whispered. "She told the men to leave the apartment. She said the boy wasn't the target yet."
Reversal.
They hadn't come to kidnap Leo. They had come to find something else.
"Did she leave anything?" Cashion asked urgently.
Sarah nodded with a trembling hand. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a heavy, vintage pocket watch.
"She said to give this to you, Mr. Rourke," Sarah whispered.
Cashion took the watch.
May you like
When he looked at it, all the color drained from his face.
"This is impossible," he breathed.
