Chapter 1 - The Scarf in the Car

Eli Mercer did not get into the black car.

He stared at the red knitted scarf lying on the cream leather seat and felt the money in his torn pocket turn suddenly heavy.

His sister had been wearing that scarf when he left her asleep beneath the loading dock awning that morning.

"Where did you get that?"

The driver kept one hand on the open rear door.

"Mr. Balzac wants to speak with you."

"I asked about the scarf."

"And I answered the question that matters."

Eli stepped backward.

The driver was younger than the bodyguard from the café, maybe thirty, with a narrow face and a charcoal suit that fit too well for a chauffeur. He did not reach for Eli. That made the boy more afraid, not less.

"Is Nora hurt?"

"No."

"Where is she?"

"Safe."

"That's what people say when they don't want to tell you where somebody is."

The driver's eyes sharpened.

"You're twelve?"

"Thirteen."

"You don't sound thirteen."

"I don't get to."

A bus groaned through the intersection behind them. Eli looked toward it, calculating distance.

The driver noticed.

"If you run, I won't chase you."

Eli looked back.

"But your sister will still be where she is, and you'll still have no idea why your scarf is in my car."

"It's her scarf."

"Then perhaps you should come ask Mr. Balzac how he got it."

Eli hated the logic because it worked.

He climbed in.

The driver closed the door and walked around to the front.

Eli immediately tried the handle.

Unlocked.

That surprised him.

"Seat belt," the driver said.

"Who are you?"

"Jonas Reed."

"You work for Balzac?"

"I work for Adrian Balzac."

"That's what I said."

"No. It isn't."

Eli frowned.

Jonas pulled into traffic.

The city outside changed block by block. Pawnshops gave way to brownstones, brownstones to glass towers. Eli kept one hand inside his pocket around the money and the other around Nora's scarf.

"Did he take my sister?"

"No."

"Did you?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

Jonas glanced at him in the mirror.

"Nobody took her."

"Then how did you get this?"

"Mr. Balzac sent someone to find out who you were after you saved his life."

Eli went still.

"You followed me."

"Yes."

"That's sick."

"Sometimes."

"You admit it?"

"I don't insult people by lying when they already know the truth."

Eli looked down at the scarf.

"Nora was asleep."

"She woke up. Our woman spoke to her. Bought her breakfast. She gave her the scarf because she said you'd know it."

Eli's anger rose so quickly his eyes burned.

"You talked to my little sister without me?"

"Yes."

"She's six."

"I know."

"Turn around."

"We're almost there."

"Turn around!"

Jonas did.

No argument. No threat.

The car made a smooth U-turn.

Eli blinked.

"You're taking me back?"

"To your sister."

"Why?"

"Because you asked."

Ten minutes later, the car stopped beneath the elevated tracks.

Nora sat inside a twenty-four-hour diner with a woman in a navy coat. A plate of pancakes sat in front of her.

Eli was out of the car before Jonas had fully stopped.

"Nora!"

She jumped from the booth.

"Eli!"

He caught her so hard the chair scraped backward.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Did they touch you?"

"The lady bought pancakes."

"That's not what I asked."

Nora lowered her voice.

"She said you saved somebody."

Eli looked at the woman.

She stood.

"My name is Mara Chen. I work for Mr. Balzac."

"Stay away from her."

Mara did not look offended.

"All right."

Jonas came in behind him.

Eli rounded on both adults.

"You don't get to find us. You don't get to talk to her. You don't get to put her scarf in a car like some threat."

"It wasn't intended as a threat," Mara said.

"Then you're bad at intentions."

A voice behind them said, "He's right."

Everyone turned.

Adrian Balzac stood near the diner entrance in the same gray suit, though the coffee stain had darkened one sleeve.

No bodyguard stood beside him.

Eli's heart kicked.

Nora whispered, "Is that him?"

"Yeah."

Adrian approached slowly.

"I owe both of you an apology."

Eli said nothing.

"I told Mara to identify you. I did not tell her to frighten your sister. I told Jonas to bring you to me. The scarf was his idea."

Jonas accepted the accusation with a small nod.

"It was efficient."

"It was stupid," Adrian said.

Eli almost smiled, then remembered he was angry.

Adrian looked at Nora.

"May I sit?"

She glanced at Eli.

He nodded reluctantly.

Adrian sat across from them.

"Your brother stopped me from drinking something dangerous today."

Nora looked proud.

"He always sees bad things."

Eli stiffened.

Adrian caught it.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Nora kept talking.

"He sees people when they think nobody sees them."

"Nora."

"What?"

"Eat."

She stabbed a pancake.

Adrian folded his hands.

"How did you know the coffee was poisoned?"

Eli stared at him.

"I saw your guard."

"Calvin Rusk."

"I don't care what his name is."

"I do."

"He had a little bottle. He looked around before he poured it. Then he dropped it in his pocket when you turned."

"Why didn't you shout?"

"Would you have listened?"

Adrian considered that.

"No."

"So I hit your arm."

"And saved my life."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

Eli's eyes dropped to the table.

Adrian leaned back.

"Calvin is missing."

"What?"

"He ran before my people could question him."

"Your people?"

Mara spoke quietly.

"Mr. Balzac owns a logistics company. Calvin was head of personal security."

Eli laughed once.

"Sure."

Adrian's expression did not change.

"You think I'm a criminal."

"I think men with bodyguards don't usually sell cupcakes."

Nora giggled.

Adrian almost did.

Then he placed a photograph on the table.

Calvin Rusk stood beside another man outside a warehouse.

Eli stopped breathing for a moment.

He knew the second man.

Adrian saw it.

"You recognize him."

"No."

"You do."

Eli grabbed Nora's hand.

"We're leaving."

Adrian did not stop him.

"His name is Peter Vale."

Eli froze.

"He's been looking for two children for six months."

Nora's fingers tightened around his.

Adrian continued.

"And according to the file my investigator found an hour ago, those children are named Elijah and Nora Mercer."

Eli turned slowly.

"Why?"

"That's what I want to know."

"You expect me to trust you?"

"No."

Adrian slid a business card across the table.

"I expect you to protect your sister. You've been doing it without help for a long time."

Eli stared at the card.

"How do you know?"

"Because children with homes don't sleep under loading docks."

Nora looked down.

Eli hated him for saying it aloud.

Adrian's voice softened.

"I can get you somewhere safe tonight."

"No foster care."

"Why?"

"No."

"Did something happen?"

Eli stood.

"I said no."

Adrian nodded.

"Then no foster care tonight."

"Tonight?"

"I won't promise what I can't control. There are laws."

"Rich people control laws."

"Not as much as poor people think."

Eli snorted.

Adrian added, "More than they should, though."

That answer unsettled him.

Mara put a hotel key card on the table.

"Two adjoining rooms. I'm staying in one. You and Nora take the other. Door locks from your side. No one enters without permission."

Eli looked at Nora.

She was exhausted.

He hated that he had to weigh danger like groceries.

"One night."

Adrian nodded.

"One night."

As they left, Eli tucked the business card into his pocket beside the stack of cash.

Adrian watched him go.

Mara waited until the children were outside.

"He recognized Vale."

"Yes."

"You think the poisoning and the children are connected?"

"I think Calvin chose a café where a thirteen-year-old witness happened to recognize his associate."

"Coincidence?"

Adrian looked through the glass at Eli wrapping the red scarf around Nora's neck.

"I stopped believing in coincidence when my brother died."

Mara's face tightened.

"That was nine years ago."

"And Peter Vale worked for my brother nine years ago."

Jonas stepped closer.

"There's something else."

Adrian looked at him.

"The poison vial Calvin discarded before he ran?"

"What about it?"

"The lab found a manufacturer's code."

"And?"

"It came from a medical supply company your brother owned."

Adrian's eyes turned cold.

"That company closed after his death."

"Apparently not completely."

Outside, Eli looked back through the diner window.

For one second, his eyes met Adrian's.

Neither knew yet that the poisoned coffee was not the beginning of their story.

It was the first mistake made by someone who had been hunting them both for years.

Before the hotel, Adrian made one more stop.

A children's clothing store was still open.

Eli refused to enter.

"Nora needs a coat," Adrian said.

"She has one."

Nora's coat had a broken zipper and sleeves too short by two inches.

Adrian looked at it.

Eli stepped between them.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Look at her like that."

"Like what?"

"Like she's a problem you can buy."

Adrian's expression shifted.

"I was looking at a broken zipper."

"Same thing to rich people."

Nora tugged Eli's hand.

"I'm cold."

That ended the argument.

Inside, Adrian stayed near the door while Mara helped Nora find a coat. Eli checked price tags and nearly choked.

"This one costs more than our old rent."

Mara said, "Then don't look at the tag."

"That's how people stay poor."

She paused.

"Fair point."

They chose the least expensive warm coat Nora liked.

At the register, Adrian reached for his wallet.

Eli put two bills from the café stack on the counter.

"I pay."

Adrian said, "You don't have to."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because she's my sister."

Adrian studied him.

"Let me pay half."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because then you'll think you bought something."

"What?"

"The right to tell us what to do."

Adrian's face hardened, then softened.

"Is that what adults have done?"

Eli looked away.

Mara answered for him without details.

"Probably."

Adrian put his wallet away.

"All right."

Outside, Nora spun in her new coat.

"Look!"

Eli smiled.

"You look warm."

"That's not a look."

"It is when you're poor."

Adrian heard him.

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He said nothing.

That silence was one of the first reasons Eli eventually trusted him.