Chapter 2 - THE DEBT COLLECTOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Graham Pike looked as though he'd swallowed broken glass.
For the first time in six months, the man who'd terrorized me over a three-thousand-dollar loan couldn't find a single threatening word.
Leo Caruso stood between us.
His chauffeur had stepped out of the Cadillac but remained beside the open door.
Nobody raised a weapon.
Nobody shouted.
Yet Graham appeared more frightened than I'd ever seen him.
"I heard about it," Graham muttered.
Leo's eyes narrowed.
"From whom?"
"People talk."
"About anonymous blood donors?"
Silence.
My stomach tightened.
I'd never told Graham about the hospital.
I'd barely told anyone.
Only Evan knew I'd stayed late to help an injured stranger.
Leo took another step forward.
"Answer the question."
Graham swallowed.
"A friend works there."
"Name."
"I don't remember."
Leo studied him.
Then turned toward me.
"Miss Hayes, may I ask whether this man has been threatening you?"
I hesitated.
Graham glared at me.
Six months of fear rose in my throat.
The late-night calls.
The growing balance.
The threats against Evan.
I looked at Leo.
"Yes."
Graham's face hardened.
"Clara—"
"She answered my question," Leo interrupted.
I took a breath.
"I borrowed three thousand dollars for my brother's medical bills. I've paid almost four thousand back, and he says I still owe twenty-eight hundred."
Leo looked toward Graham.
"Do you have the loan agreement?"
Graham shifted.
"It's complicated."
"I didn't ask whether it was complicated."
A long silence followed.
Then Leo took out his phone.
"Frank."
Someone answered.
"I need a licensed attorney to review a loan agreement. Tonight if possible."
He ended the call.
Graham looked terrified.
Leo turned back toward me.
"Miss Hayes, would you be willing to preserve your payment receipts and speak with the attorney?"
I stared.
"Why?"
"Because nobody should be able to invent a debt simply because they're stronger than the person collecting it."
The words hit me unexpectedly.
I thought about Evan waiting upstairs.
About every extra shift I'd worked.
About how many nights I'd gone hungry so Graham wouldn't come to our door.
My eyes burned.
"Yes."
Leo nodded.
Then looked at Graham.
"You will communicate through counsel. You will not threaten her or her brother."
Graham stepped backward.
"You don't understand."
Leo's expression changed.
"Then explain."
Graham glanced toward the street.
For a moment, I thought he might run.
Instead, he whispered, "The loan wasn't supposed to be collected."
I froze.
"What?"
Leo became perfectly still.
Graham swallowed.
"I was only supposed to keep her desperate."
My breath caught.
"Why?"
Graham looked directly at me.
Then at Leo.
"Because somebody wanted her to be at St. Catherine's that night."
The rain seemed to stop.
Leo's voice lowered.
"Who?"
Graham shook his head violently.
"I can't tell you."
Leo didn't move.
"Then tell the investigators."
Graham started backing away.
But before he reached the sidewalk, his phone began ringing.
He looked at the screen.
His face drained of color.
Leo glanced down.
I saw the caller ID.
V. ROURKE.
The same name I'd heard whispered about in the diner.
Vincent Rourke.
The man whose organization had ambushed Leo Caruso.
May you like
And suddenly I understood something terrible.
My decision to donate blood might not have been a coincidence at all.
