Chapter 2 - The Ghost in Queens
Elena stared at the photographs until her vision blurred with tears.
Someone had been standing inside her apartment while she and her daughter slept.
"Who took these?" Elena demanded, panic rising in her throat.
Carlo crossed his arms over his chest.
"We intercepted a scout from the Russian syndicate this morning," Carlo said calmly.
"They were carrying those photos in their pocket."
Elena shook her head in disbelief.
"I am a maid, Carlo."
"I don't have money, and I don't know any Russians."
Carlo looked at her with a grim expression.
"But your husband did."
The mention of Daniel sent a shockwave through Elena's body.
Her husband had been a city electrician who died in a tragic highway accident eighteen months ago.
"Daniel was a good man," Elena snapped, her protective instincts flaring.
Carlo sighed and turned toward the door.
"Mr. Moretti wants you moved into the east wing of the estate by tonight."
"You are not going back to Queens."
Carlo unlocked the door and walked out, leaving Elena alone with the terrifying photographs.
She looked down at Mia, who was happily playing with the zipper on her canvas bag.
Elena knew she couldn't just blindly trust a mafia boss, even if he had let Mia feed him oatmeal.
She needed to know what Daniel had been hiding.
She remembered the emergency envelope she kept hidden behind the flour container in her small kitchen.
Daniel had put it there a week before he died.
He had made her swear never to open it unless she was in absolute, desperate danger.
Elena grabbed her bag and took Mia by the hand.
She slipped out the back service door of the estate, avoiding the security cameras.
She hailed a taxi and gave the driver her address in Queens.
She had to get that envelope before Adrian's men packed up her apartment.
When the taxi pulled up to her building, the street was eerily quiet.
Elena hurried up the three flights of stairs, carrying Mia on her hip.
She reached her front door and froze.
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The deadbolt was shattered, and the door was hanging open by a single hinge.
Someone was already inside.
