Chapter 1 - The Mark of the Missing
The basement was entirely silent except for the harsh rasp of Nora's breathing.
Dominic Vale, the most feared man in Brooklyn, stood completely frozen.
His dark eyes were locked on the twisted, raised scar marring the skin just below her left shoulder blade.
It was a jagged circle bisected by three uneven lines, exactly like a broken compass.
"My sister," Dominic repeated, his voice barely more than a hollow whisper.
"Emily."
Nora violently pulled the torn edges of her blouse together.
"You don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, though her hands were shaking.
She pushed herself up the rough concrete wall until she was standing, her legs barely supporting her weight.
Dominic took a hesitant step forward, raising one hand as if to calm a feral animal.
"Fourteen years ago," he said, his voice surprisingly steady despite the obvious shock.
"She vanished from a bus stop in Queens."
"They found her winter coat in a dumpster three days later."
"There was blood on the cuff."
"And a Polaroid tucked inside the lining."
Nora closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the words.
"The picture was of her shoulder," Dominic continued, refusing to stop.
"Showing that exact same brand."
He stopped just out of arm's reach.
"Where did you get it?" he demanded.
Nora looked at him, her jaw set with stubborn defiance.
"I don't know who your sister is."
"And I don't know who gave me this scar."
"I woke up in an alley in Chicago twelve years ago with no memory, a concussion, and this burn on my back."
Dominic stared at her, searching for the lie in her bruised face.
He found nothing but exhausted truth.
He reached into his overcoat and pulled out a sleek, encrypted phone.
"I need you to tell me exactly what was in the ledger you stole from Rourke," he commanded.
Nora laughed bitterly.
"So you can kill me and take the money?"
"So I can figure out why the man who raised me just ordered the kidnapping of a woman carrying my dead sister's brand," Dominic corrected sharply.
Before Nora could answer, the heavy steel door at the top of the basement stairs groaned open.
Mason Pike appeared on the landing, holding a suppressed pistol.
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"Rourke says there's been a change of plans, Boss," Mason said, aiming the weapon directly at Dominic.
"He wants the girl dead, and he wants you to watch."
