Chapter 2: The Only Man Who Never Left
Luca was already pulling the IV from his arm when his second phone rang.
Not Marco's number.
Rachel's.
He answered before the first ring finished.
"Rachel."
Her breathing was ragged.
Controlled, but barely.
"They're gone." Her voice dropped to almost nothing.
"Two men.
They took Emma off the street.
Right outside the building.
My neighbor saw it happen."
Luca's chest locked.
"How long ago?"
"Eight minutes.
Maybe nine."
"Did anyone see the car?"
"Black sedan.
No plates."
Sokolov.
Luca was already moving toward the door, shoulder screaming, heart monitor shrieking behind him.
Then Rachel said something that stopped him completely.
"Luca." A pause.
"She had Mr.
Buttons with her."
He couldn't speak.
"She carries him everywhere now." Rachel's voice cracked for the first time.
"She told me last week that Mr.
Buttons was the only man who never left."
The words hit harder than the bullet had.
Then Rachel said one more thing.
Quietly.
Like it had been waiting three years to come out.
"She knows your name, Luca.
I never told her.
But she knows."
The heart monitor behind him flatlined into silence as he walked out the door.
---
What Rachel said next — and what Luca did the moment he reached that building — will leave you breathless.
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Don't stop here.
