Chapter 2 - THE GIRL WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE
Clara had spent eleven months believing her mother's death was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.
Now a stranger was telling her that someone had wanted her dead too.
She stared at Anthony Russo.
"What did you say?"
Anthony stepped backward.
"Nothing."
Casey moved between them.
"Anthony, look at me."
His former bodyguard swallowed.
"Boss—"
"You just said this girl was supposed to die."
Anthony shook his head.
"I was confused."
Casey studied him.
"Then tell me why."
Richard Lang, the restaurant manager, suddenly reached for his phone.
Michael stopped him.
"Leave it on the table."
Richard's face hardened.
"You have no authority to detain me."
Casey looked at him.
"Then don't give the police a reason to ask why you're destroying evidence."
Clara's knees felt weak.
She placed the tray on a nearby table.
Her hands wouldn't stop trembling.
"Mr. Vane, I need to go."
Casey turned immediately.
"Do you have someone you trust who can meet you?"
She almost laughed.
Someone she trusted?
Her mother was dead.
Her father had disappeared before she was born.
And her closest friend was away attending nursing school in another state.
"No."
Casey's expression softened slightly.
"Then we'll make sure you can leave safely."
Clara studied him.
"You don't even know me."
"No."
"Then why would you help?"
He looked toward Anthony.
"Because someone at my table just threatened you."
Police officers arrived fifteen minutes later.
The glass was secured as evidence.
Anthony and Richard were questioned separately.
Clara gave a statement about what she'd witnessed.
She described the vial.
The service corridor.
The strange way Anthony had leaned over Casey's glass.
Then an officer asked about her mother.
"Did Nora Hayes have any connection to Mr. Russo?"
Clara shook her head.
"Not that I know of."
"Where did she work?"
"At a hospital."
"Which one?"
"St. Catherine's Medical Center."
The officer wrote it down.
Clara hesitated.
"Why?"
He looked toward his partner.
"That's something investigators will need to examine."
By midnight, Clara was exhausted.
Casey stood near the restaurant entrance when she emerged.
His jacket was folded over one arm.
The fearsome mafia boss looked strangely ordinary beneath the dim hallway lights.
"Miss Hayes."
She stopped.
"Clara."
He nodded.
"Clara."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he said, "You saved my life tonight."
She looked away.
"I don't even know what was in the glass."
"Neither do I. But you saw something wrong and warned me."
Clara swallowed.
"I couldn't just watch."
Casey studied her.
"Most people did."
She didn't know how to answer that.
Then he asked, "How did you learn that hand signal?"
Clara touched her locket.
"My mother taught me."
His expression changed.
"Your mother?"
She nodded.
"She said it was a way to ask for help when speaking could put you in danger."
Casey went completely still.
"What exactly did she teach you?"
Clara demonstrated.
Thumb folded into her palm.
Fingers closed.
Two taps.
Then the warning beneath the table.
Casey's face drained.
"Where did Nora learn that?"
Clara frowned.
"She never told me."
Casey stared at her hand.
Then whispered, "My sister used the same signal."
Clara felt cold.
"Your sister?"
He nodded.
"Before she disappeared twenty years ago."
A long silence followed.
May you like
Then he asked one question that changed everything.
"Clara, did your mother ever mention a woman named Isabella Vane?"
