The most feared mafia boss in New York pretended to sleep because he suspected his new maid was hiding something from him. But instead of catching her stealing or betraying him, I felt her little daughter cover me with a blanket and whisper six words that shattered the one belief keeping me alive.

I immediately put my hand over Sofia's mouth to keep her quiet. I pulled my weapon and aimed it directly at the thin wooden door. "Daniel, do not shoot," a raspy, familiar voice called out from the porch. "It is Elias." I lowered my gun slightly, recognizing the voice of the retired mob doctor who had patched me up in my youth. I cautiously opened the door to let the old man inside. "I saw the crash on the highway and tracked your blood trail," Elias explained, shaking off his wet coat. He opened his medical bag and immediately began cleaning my infected wound with professional efficiency. As Elias worked, he looked up and locked eyes with Maria. The old doctor froze, his face turning completely pale. "You are Leo's wife," Elias whispered in shock. Maria stepped back defensively, pulling Sofia behind her. "How do you know my husband?" she demanded. Elias finished stitching my shoulder and let out a heavy, tragic sigh. "I was the doctor they called the night Leo died," Elias confessed. I stared at him, demanding he tell me exactly what happened that night. "Vincent brought him into my clinic with a gunshot wound," Elias explained. "But the bullet did not kill him." Elias revealed that Leo was already dying from a highly specialized, untraceable neurotoxin. "He was poisoned hours before Vincent ever shot him," the doctor confirmed. I looked at Maria, my mind spinning with this impossible new information. Vincent was a brutal thug, but he did not have access to sophisticated chemical weapons. Only federal intelligence agencies used that specific strain of neurotoxin. "Why would a federal agent want Leo dead?" I asked the room. Elias looked away, refusing to make eye contact with me. Maria took a deep, trembling breath and stepped out of the shadows. "Because Leo was not just a driver," Maria said softly. "Leo was an undercover FBI agent." My heart stopped completely as the magnitude of her words crashed down on me. My best friend had been a federal spy for ten years. "And I am an agent too," Maria confessed, pulling a hidden badge from the lining of her jacket.