Chapter 6 - THE GIRL WITH ROLAND’S EYES
Roland did not shout.
That frightened Norah more than anger would have.
He stood in the Lake Haven sunroom with the note in one hand and stared at the words until his face became unreadable.
BRING CLARA HAYES TO PIER NINE.
Evelyn paced.
“He knows.”
“Yes,” Roland said.
“How?”
“We find out later.”
“No. If Dominic knows Clara exists, Anna is exposed.”
Roland was already dialing.
“Address.”
Evelyn hesitated.
His gaze snapped to her.
“Evelyn.”
“Do not use that voice with me.”
Norah almost laughed.
Wrong time.
Evelyn continued.
“You do not get to discover you are a father and immediately become her commander.”
Roland’s face hardened.
“I am trying to keep her alive.”
“I know.”
“Address.”
Evelyn looked at Norah.
As if requesting arbitration.
Norah sighed.
“He’s going to find it anyway.”
Roland looked offended.
She ignored him.
Evelyn finally gave the address.
Milwaukee suburb.
A modest house near Lake Park.
Not a fortress.
Not hidden enough.
Roland dispatched men.
Then stopped.
“No.”
He canceled them.
Evelyn frowned.
“What?”
“If Dominic is watching our movements, sending a team tells him exactly where she is.”
Norah nodded.
“So what do we do?”
Roland looked at her.
“You and Evelyn go.”
Norah stared.
“No.”
He blinked.
“You are civilians.”
“Exactly.”
“No security convoy. No obvious Moretti—sorry, Hayes—army.”
His mouth tightened.
“It is too dangerous.”
“Dominic wants Clara. He expects you.”
“That does not make you safe.”
“No.”
Norah crossed her arms.
“But it may make me useful.”
Evelyn looked at Roland.
“She’s right.”
“I dislike this family.”
Norah raised an eyebrow.
“You're apparently part of it.”
His jaw tightened.
That landed.
They compromised.
One unmarked vehicle.
Norah and Evelyn visibly inside.
Roland’s security stayed far enough back not to be obvious.
Roland himself remained at Lake Haven.
He hated every second.
Norah could tell by the way he said, “Call me when you arrive.”
Not order.
Almost plea.
The drive to Milwaukee took two hours.
Evelyn sat beside Norah.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke.
Then Norah said, “You and Roland.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I wondered when you would ask.”
“I’m not asking because—”
“Because your relationship is fake?”
Norah looked at her.
“You know.”
“Dominic’s network sends gossip faster than newspapers.”
“Great.”
Evelyn smiled.
“It was one night.”
Norah hated the relief.
Absolutely hated it.
“Roland was twenty-two. I was twenty-seven.”
“Scandalous.”
“He thought so.”
“Was he difficult?”
“Terribly.”
“Still is.”
Evelyn looked at her.
Something knowing in that look.
Norah frowned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That means something.”
“It means he looks at you differently.”
“He pays me.”
“So did his father.”
Norah’s expression hardened.
“That comparison is not charming.”
“No.”
Evelyn looked out the window.
“Malcolm Hayes paid people to stay loyal. Roland pays people so they can leave.”
That hit harder than Norah expected.
The check.
Enough to erase debt.
No penalty if she quit.
Money as exit, not chain.
Evelyn continued.
“He learned something.”
“Not everything.”
“No one does.”
Norah looked at her.
“Why didn’t you tell him about Clara?”
Fear crossed Evelyn’s face.
“Because Dominic had already killed two men who knew I survived.”
“Who?”
“A dock worker and a private nurse.”
Norah went cold.
“And Vincent?”
“He became frightened of Dominic after Pier Nine.”
“Yet helped hide you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Anna made him.”
Norah smiled faintly.
“I like Anna already.”
“You will.”
They reached the address at four.
Small yellow house.
Bike in the driveway.
Wind chimes.
A basketball hoop.
Ordinary.
Evelyn sat frozen.
“You haven't been here recently.”
“Two years.”
“Why?”
“Clara asks questions.”
“About you?”
“About everyone.”
They knocked.
A woman opened.
Anna Cross.
Sixties.
Silver-blond hair.
Sharp eyes.
She looked at Evelyn.
Then Norah.
“Where is Roland?”
Evelyn said, “Not here.”
Anna understood immediately.
“Dominic.”
“Yes.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Then called into the house.
“Clara?”
Footsteps.
A girl appeared.
Sixteen.
Tall.
Dark blond hair.
Gray eyes.
Roland’s eyes.
There was no question.
Norah almost swore.
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“Aunt Ev?”
Then at Norah.
“Who’s this?”
“Your cousin.”
Norah blinked.
Technically?
Maybe.
This family tree was becoming criminal evidence.
Clara smiled.
“Cool.”
Evelyn looked ill.
“Clara, we need to talk.”
Teenagers recognize bad news better than adults think.
Her smile vanished.
“What happened?”
Anna said, “Sit down.”
“No.”
Roland would like her.
Norah almost smiled again.
Clara looked between them.
“Is this about my dad?”
Silence.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
“What?”
Clara crossed her arms.
“I’m not stupid.”
Anna looked guilty.
Clara continued.
“I found the box last year.”
“What box?”
“Pictures.”
She looked at Evelyn.
“You and that blond guy.”
Norah’s pulse jumped.
Clara took out her phone.
Opened an image.
Roland at twenty-two.
Younger.
Still unmistakable.
“My dad is Roland Hayes.”
Nobody spoke.
Clara’s voice shook.
“Right?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The girl looked toward the window.
No tears.
Not yet.
“He knows?”
Evelyn whispered, “As of three hours ago.”
That got a reaction.
Clara laughed.
Sharp.
“He didn't abandon me.”
“No.”
“You did.”
Evelyn flinched.
“Yes.”
Anna stepped forward.
“Clara—”
“No.”
The girl looked at Evelyn.
“You knew where he was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you decided he couldn't know me.”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke.
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“That is not good enough.”
Norah felt something twist.
Clara had the right.
Fear explained.
It did not erase.
Evelyn nodded.
“I know.”
The doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Anna looked at the camera feed on a tablet.
Delivery driver.
Norah’s skin prickled.
“Did you order anything?”
“No.”
She called Roland.
He answered immediately.
“We have a delivery.”
“Do not open.”
“Already guessed.”
Clara looked annoyed.
“Is that him?”
Norah put the phone on speaker.
Roland said, “Who?”
Clara stared.
“Wow.”
Silence.
Roland’s voice changed.
“Clara?”
Her face crumpled for half a second.
Then hardened.
“Apparently.”
Roland did not know what to say.
Norah almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Clara said, “You really didn't know?”
“No.”
“Until today?”
“No.”
“You swear?”
“I do not swear casually.”
“That sounds like yes.”
“It is.”
The delivery man left the package.
Security retrieved it after checking.
Inside was Marianne’s scarf.
Blood on one corner.
Norah’s hands shook.
A phone.
It rang.
Roland said, “Do not answer.”
Clara looked at Norah.
“You work for him?”
“Sort of.”
“Does he always sound like that?”
“Yes.”
“Annoying.”
“Yes.”
Roland’s voice came through speaker.
“I can hear you.”
Clara almost smiled.
Norah answered the package phone.
Dominic.
“Hello, Nora.”
Her stomach turned.
“Where’s my mother?”
“Safe.”
“Prove it.”
A video call started.
Marianne sat in a chair.
No visible injuries except a cut at her temple.
“Mom.”
“Norah.”
Dominic turned the camera back.
“One exchange.”
“You want Clara.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“That was fast.”
“You're not getting her.”
“Then Marianne dies.”
Clara went pale.
Norah looked at her.
No.
Not her decision.
Dominic continued.
“Pier Nine. Seven tonight.”
Roland spoke through Norah’s other phone.
“I’ll come.”
Dominic laughed.
“Of course you will.”
“Clara stays out.”
“No.”
“She is sixteen.”
“So were many people when your father started using them.”
Roland’s face changed though he was not physically present.
Dominic knew where to cut.
He continued.
“Bring the girl or bury Marianne.”
The call ended.
Clara stood.
“I’ll go.”
Three women said no at once.
Clara looked furious.
“He wants me. I go. He lets her mom go.”
“You are not a package,” Norah said.
Clara stared.
The words mattered.
Norah repeated.
“You are not something adults exchange.”
Clara’s jaw tightened.
“Then how do we save her?”
Norah did not know.
Roland did.
His voice came through the phone.
“We make Dominic believe he won.”
Clara looked at the screen.
“And who are you to decide?”
Silence.
Then Roland said the only right answer.
“No one yet.”
Clara stopped.
Roland continued.
“If you choose to meet me after this, that is your decision.”
His voice roughened.
“But I am asking you not to walk into Dominic Russo’s hands tonight.”
The girl’s eyes filled.
She looked away.
“Fine.”
Not forgiveness.
Not acceptance.
Just agreement.
Enough.
Roland explained the plan.
Dominic expected Clara.
He would get someone approximately her height under a hood and security coat.
A decoy.
Norah immediately said, “Me.”
Roland said, “Absolutely not.”
Clara rolled her eyes.
“He does always sound like that.”
Norah almost smiled.
“I am closer in height.”
“You are not going.”
“Then who?”
Silence.
Evelyn said, “Me.”
Everyone turned.
Dominic had spent sixteen years believing Evelyn dead.
Seeing her might destabilize him long enough to retrieve Marianne.
Roland’s voice went cold.
“No.”
Evelyn laughed sadly.
“Still ordering me around after sixteen years.”
“Evelyn.”
“I am the reason Marianne is involved.”
“No.”
“I asked her to hide the evidence.”
“And Dominic is responsible for what Dominic does.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Norah looked at the clock.
Two hours.
Then Anna spoke.
“You are all thinking like frightened people.”
They turned.
Anna Cross smiled without humor.
“Dominic wants Clara because he believes blood makes Roland weak.”
She looked at Norah.
“But he already found the actual weakness.”
Roland’s voice became still.
“What?”
Anna looked directly at Norah.
“The woman Roland came north for before he knew his daughter existed.”
Silence.
Norah’s pulse changed.
“No.”
Anna raised an eyebrow.
Roland said nothing.
That was worse.
Norah looked at the phone.
“Roland.”
“We are not discussing this now.”
Clara whispered, “Oh my God.”
Norah closed her eyes.
Teenagers were terrible.
Anna continued.
“Dominic expects you to protect Clara.”
She nodded toward Norah.
“He will not expect Roland to hand him the woman he thinks Roland cares about.”
Norah stared.
“You want me to be bait.”
“I want Dominic to believe you are.”
Roland’s voice became dangerous.
“No.”
Norah looked at the phone.
“Stop.”
“He will hurt you.”
“He may hurt Mom.”
“That does not require you to volunteer.”
“No.”
Norah breathed.
“It requires me to choose.”
She looked at Clara.
At Evelyn.
At the bloody scarf.
Then at Roland’s name glowing on the screen.
“I’m going to Pier Nine.”
May you like
Roland was silent for three seconds.
Then he said, very quietly, “Then I am staying close enough to make Dominic regret letting you arrive.”
