Chapter 4 - Victor's Offer
Victor was waiting outside the precinct when Ruiz released Lily just before dawn.
He stood beside a black sedan, his coat buttoned, his expression unreadable. Two men waited near the curb.
"You're following me?" Lily asked.
"I'm making sure you get home."
"I can get home by myself."
"I don't doubt it."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because Rourke's employer knows your name now."
Lily folded her arms. "You said he came to kill you."
"He did."
"Then why did he bring a picture of my mother?"
Victor's jaw tightened. "Because your mother and I knew each other."
The answer landed harder than a shout.
"You knew Mei Chen?"
"Yes."
"And you never thought to mention that when I was serving you dinner?"
"I didn't know who you were until you took Rourke down."
Lily stepped closer. "What did my mother do for you?"
"She kept books for a shipping company. A company that moved more than shipping containers."
"Illegal things?"
"People, money, weapons. Sometimes all three."
Lily felt the sidewalk tilt beneath her. "My mother wasn't a criminal."
"She was trying to get out."
"Of your business?"
"Out of a network that was bigger than mine."
Victor opened the car door. "Come with me. I'll explain."
"No."
"Then someone else will explain it for me. And they won't care whether you survive the conversation."
Lily started walking.
Victor did not follow. He simply spoke over the noise of the early traffic.
"Your mother left something behind. Rourke believes you know where it is."
"I don't."
"That won't matter to the people who sent him."
Lily stopped.
Victor held out a small envelope. Her name was written across it in her mother's handwriting.
"She asked me to give you this if anyone came looking."
Lily took it with shaking fingers.
Inside was a brass key and a note.
If Victor gives you this, don't trust him completely. But listen before you run.
At the bottom was an address near the old harbor.
Lily looked up.
Victor's phone began to ring. He answered, listened, and went very still.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
May you like
He lowered the phone.
"Rourke escaped custody."
