Chapter 12 - A City Full of Closed Doors
Lily burst through the terminal's side exit into cold rain.
A black SUV turned the corner. She ran between parked cars, slipped on wet pavement, and caught herself against a taxi. The driver leaned on the horn.
"Move!" someone shouted behind her.
She saw a bus pulling away from the curb and jumped aboard through the rear door.
The driver yelled. Passengers stared. Lily stumbled down the aisle and dropped into an empty seat.
Her phone rang.
Victor.
"Where are you?"
"On a bus."
"Which one?"
"I don't know."
"Look for a route number."
She checked the sign through the rain-streaked window. "M14."
"Stay on it. I'm coming."
"Don't bring your men."
"Lily—"
"Your men are the reason nobody tells the truth."
She ended the call.
At the next stop, she got off and entered a crowded grocery store. She bought a cheap coat and a prepaid phone with the cash her mother had left in an old envelope. Then she called the only person she thought might help.
Detective Ruiz answered on the second ring.
"Chen?"
"Tell me what you were doing in that photograph."
Silence.
"Where are you?"
"Answer me."
"I was undercover," Ruiz said. "I was trying to take down Matteo."
"Did you know my father?"
"Yes."
"Did you know he was going to die?"
"No. I got there after the shooting."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I can tell you what he said before he died."
Lily pressed the phone harder to her ear.
"What?"
"He said, 'Tell Lily the third boat is a person.'"
May you like
The call crackled.
Then Ruiz whispered, "And I think I know who that person is."
