Chapter 2 - THE KEY SHE HID IN EMMA'S HAND
Emma did not sleep that night.
Mostly because Dante Moretti’s men drove her home.
Partly because a brass key was hidden inside her bra.
That had not been part of her evening plans.
She lived in a tiny Queens apartment with her younger sister, Lily.
Lily was twenty-one, deaf from birth, sarcastic, brilliant, and studying graphic design at NYU.
When Emma walked in at nearly midnight, Lily was sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal.
She signed:
You look terrible.
Emma signed back:
Thank you.
Bad table?
Emma laughed once.
Very bad table.
Then Lily noticed the black SUV outside.
Her eyebrows rose.
Did you join the CIA?
Worse.
Emma sat and told her everything.
Almost.
She left out the key.
For now.
Lily signed slowly:
Dante Moretti’s mother is deaf?
Yes.
And he doesn’t sign?
Emma shook her head.
Lily’s expression tightened.
That’s sad.
“It is.”
Emma’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
“Emma Brooks?”
“Yes?”
A man said:
“You were told something tonight that doesn’t belong to you.”
Her blood went cold.
“Who is this?”
“Return the key.”
Emma stopped breathing.
The line went dead.
She looked toward the window.
The black SUV was still parked below.
Dante’s security.
Someone knew Lucia had given her the key.
But how?
Her phone rang again.
This time the caller ID said Dante Moretti.
She answered.
“What?”
His voice came sharp.
“Are you alone?”
“My sister is here.”
“Lock the door.”
“It is locked.”
“Move away from the windows.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because someone followed my security team.”
Seconds later, headlights flashed below.
A second vehicle stopped behind Dante’s SUV.
Two men got out.
Dante’s guards moved immediately.
Emma grabbed Lily’s hand.
They backed away from the windows.
Then the apartment buzzer sounded.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Lily signed:
Police?
Emma shook her head.
No.
The knocking started.
Hard.
“Emma Brooks!”
A man shouted from the hallway.
“We need to talk.”
Emma whispered into the phone:
“They’re outside.”
Dante’s voice became deadly calm.
“My men are coming up. Do not open the door.”
The pounding stopped.
Then footsteps ran down the hall.
Thirty seconds later, one of Dante’s guards knocked and identified himself.
The immediate danger passed.
But something had changed.
Emma understood she could not simply go back to serving cocktails tomorrow.
An hour later, Dante arrived himself.
No entourage inside.
Just him.
And Lucia.
The moment Lucia saw Lily, everything changed.
Lily signed politely:
Hello.
Lucia’s face lit up.
Her hands flew.
Within seconds, the two women were communicating faster than Emma could follow.
Dante stood near the doorway.
Watching.
Left out.
Again.
Emma saw it differently now.
Not arrogance.
Something closer to shame.
He said quietly:
“My mother lost most of her hearing when I was eighteen.”
Emma looked at him.
“You never learned?”
“I tried.”
“That isn’t the same.”
His jaw tightened.
“No.”
Lucia suddenly touched Emma’s arm.
She signed:
The key opens a box at St. Agnes Church.
“Church?”
Dante heard that.
“What church?”
Lucia looked at Emma.
This time, she nodded.
Tell him.
Emma translated.
Lucia continued:
Your father hid evidence there.
Dante stared.
“Evidence of what?”
Lucia’s hands slowed.
The men who betrayed him.
Then she added:
And the name of the person who arranged my accident.
Emma frowned.
“What accident?”
Lucia touched her ear.
Dante’s face went white.
May you like
His mother had not lost her hearing naturally.
Someone had tried to kill her.
