Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Disappeared
Norah woke to rain tapping against a bedroom window.
For one disoriented second, she expected to see Boston.
Instead, she saw pine trees.
A gray sky.
A small lake beyond a wooden porch.
No skyline.
No guards.
No cameras.
No Matteo.
She placed a hand against her stomach.
The baby moved.
“Good morning to you too.”
For the first time in days, Norah smiled.
The house belonged to Evelyn Shaw, a sixty-two-year-old woman who had once worked with Norah’s father.
Evelyn had left Boston fifteen years earlier.
Matteo had never met her.
More importantly, almost no one knew Norah had.
When Norah was sixteen, Evelyn had taught her how to drive.
When her father died, Evelyn had attended the funeral and disappeared again before Matteo arrived.
She was the closest thing Norah had left to family.
Evelyn appeared in the doorway.
“Breakfast.”
“I’m coming.”
“You said that ten minutes ago.”
“I’m seven months pregnant.”
“Exactly. Two people are waiting for pancakes.”
Norah laughed.
The sound surprised her.
Evelyn noticed.
But she didn’t comment.
That was why Norah trusted her.
Downstairs, the house smelled like coffee and maple syrup.
There were no marble floors.
No chandelier.
No staff.
No armed men outside.
Just an old refrigerator humming in the kitchen and rain falling against the windows.
Norah ate two pancakes.
Then three.
Evelyn watched her.
“What?”
“You haven’t eaten like that since you arrived.”
“I’m hungry.”
“That’s a good sign.”
Norah’s smile faded.
“Or denial.”
Evelyn poured coffee.
“You’re allowed to have one peaceful morning without turning it into a psychological diagnosis.”
Norah looked toward the lake.
“I sent him the ring.”
“I know.”
“He’ll understand.”
“Will he?”
Norah thought about Matteo.
“No.”
Evelyn sat across from her.
“Then why send it?”
“Because I needed to.”
That was the truth.
The ring had become too heavy.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Every time Norah looked at it, she remembered promises.
Some Matteo had broken.
Some she had broken to herself.
“I told him not to look for me.”
“And will he respect that?”
Norah hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn gave her a look.
“No.”
“No,” Norah admitted.
Her prepaid phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Norah froze.
Evelyn saw her expression.
“Don’t answer.”
The phone stopped.
Then vibrated again.
A text appeared.
YOU TOOK SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T BELONG TO YOU.
Norah’s blood went cold.
Evelyn took the phone.
Another message arrived.
ROSSI CAN’T PROTECT YOU FOREVER.
Norah stared.
“That isn’t Matteo.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“How did they get this number?”
“That’s the question.”
Norah stood too quickly.
Pain tightened across her abdomen.
She gripped the table.
Evelyn was instantly beside her.
“Sit.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sit.”
Norah lowered herself into the chair.
The tightness passed.
“Braxton Hicks,” she whispered.
“You’re calling your doctor.”
“I can’t.”
“You can call a doctor.”
“Not mine.”
“Then we find another.”
Norah looked at the phone.
For six months, she had prepared to escape Matteo.
She had never considered that leaving his protection might expose her to everyone who feared him.
Evelyn read the message again.
“How much did you take?”
“Enough.”
“Norah.”
“Twenty percent from four contingency accounts.”
Evelyn’s eyebrows rose.
“You always were your father’s daughter.”
“I didn’t touch operating money.”
“That isn’t what worries me.”
“What does?”
“People who know those accounts exist.”
Norah looked up.
Evelyn’s expression had become serious.
“Your father taught you how money moves,” she said. “Did he ever teach you what happens when money moves unexpectedly?”
“People notice.”
“Exactly.”
Norah’s stomach tightened again.
This time it wasn’t the baby.
It was fear.
Back in Boston, Matteo stood in the study with Arthur and Vincent.
The rival man in the photograph was Dominic Vale.
Vale had been trying to penetrate Matteo’s financial network for years.
“How does he know?” Matteo demanded.
Vincent shook his head.
“He shouldn’t.”
“But he does.”
“We’re checking.”
Matteo looked at Arthur.
“Where was this taken?”
“Providence.”
The same city where Norah’s ring had been mailed.
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“He followed the envelope.”
“Possibly.”
“Then we led him to her.”
Arthur said nothing.
Matteo grabbed his coat.
“Get the car.”
“You said we were stopping the search.”
“That was before Vale.”
Arthur followed.
“What if Norah sees us coming?”
“She can hate me alive.”
Matteo stopped at the door.
“I’ll accept that.”
For the next eighteen hours, Matteo’s people worked without approaching Norah directly.
They traced Vale.
Not Norah.
It was a distinction Matteo insisted upon.
Every time Arthur suggested a shortcut, Matteo refused.
“No phones near her.”
“No cameras on her.”
“No one approaches her.”
“We find Vale.”
Shortly after midnight, they found the first clue.
Vale’s driver had rented a vehicle in Providence.
That vehicle traveled north.
Then vanished.
Matteo stood over a map.
North.
Maine.
New Hampshire.
Vermont.
Hundreds of possibilities.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Rossi.”
A man laughed.
Matteo recognized the voice.
Vale.
“You misplaced something.”
Matteo’s expression became stone.
“If you’re talking about money—”
“I’m talking about your wife.”
Every person in the room went silent.
Matteo’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“You stay away from her.”
“Interesting.”
Vale sounded amused.
“I heard she stayed away from you.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
He could not let anger control this conversation.
Not now.
“What do you want?”
“Twenty percent is a curious number.”
Matteo looked at Vincent.
Vale continued.
“Your wife is smarter than people give her credit for.”
“If you go near her—”
“You’ll what?”
Matteo stopped.
The old answer came automatically.
Threats.
Violence.
Fear.
But that was the world Norah was trying to escape.
He chose different words.
“The money is mine. Whatever you think she knows, deal with me.”
Vale laughed again.
“Oh, Matteo. That’s exactly what she doesn’t understand. Once you touch the money, you become part of the business.”
The call ended.
Matteo lowered the phone.
Arthur asked, “Orders?”
Matteo looked at the map.
“Find Vale.”
“And Mrs. Rossi?”
Matteo hesitated.
Then he made the most difficult decision of his life.
“Warn her.”
“How?”
“Without tracking her.”
Arthur frowned.
“That may be impossible.”
“Then make it possible.”
Three hours later, Evelyn’s landline rang.
She answered.
No one spoke.
Then a recorded message played.
“Tell Norah the prepaid phone is compromised. Destroy it. Do not answer unknown calls. Someone connected to Vale is searching for her. This warning does not require a response.”
The line disconnected.
Evelyn looked at Norah.
“Matteo?”
Norah listened to the message twice.
Her eyes filled.
Not because he had found her.
Because he apparently hadn’t tried.
“He could have put a tracker in the warning,” Evelyn said.
“He didn’t.”
“You sure?”
Norah examined the phone.
Then removed the battery.
“No.”
She placed it on the table.
“But I think he could have found me faster if he wanted to.”
Evelyn studied her.
“You still love him.”
Norah’s face tightened.
“Love wasn’t enough.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
That evening, Norah stood on the porch watching the rain stop.
The baby moved again.
She smiled faintly.
Then headlights appeared at the far end of the road.
Norah froze.
A dark vehicle.
Slowly approaching.
Evelyn stepped outside.
“Inside.”
“Is it Matteo?”
“I don’t know.”
The vehicle stopped.
The driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out.
Not Matteo.
Norah had never seen him before.
But she recognized danger when it looked at her.
Evelyn pulled Norah behind the door and locked it.
The man began walking toward the house.
And hundreds of miles away, Matteo Rossi received a single message from Arthur.
We found Vale’s man.
Then a second message appeared.
May you like
He found Norah first.
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