Chapter 7 - The Loyal Hound
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For three days, the row house remained an island in a sea of hunters.
Gabriel's recovery defied medical science.
The man had survived three gunshots and a deadly neurotoxin through sheer, unadulterated rage.
By the fourth morning, the black infection around his bullet wounds had receded, replaced by fresh pink scar tissue.
He moved with a predatory grace that made me forget he had been a cold corpse on a stainless steel slab less than a week ago.
"We need communication," Gabriel said, staring out through the slit in the blackout curtains.
"I cannot fight a war blind."
"Every phone in your name is tapped," I answered, placing a steaming mug of black coffee in front of him.
"Carmine has federal wiretaps running through the city exchange."
Gabriel took a sip of the coffee, closing his eyes as if tasting freedom itself.
"There is one man who won't answer Carmine's calls," Gabriel murmured.
"Leo Rossi."
I paused. Leo had been Gabriel's personal bodyguard for eight years, an ex-Marine who spoke less than ten words a day.
"They said Leo was arrested the night of the ambush," I said, remembering the estate chatter.
"Carmine framed him for leaving my perimeter unguarded," Gabriel explained, his jaw clenching.
"If Leo is in Cook County jail, he’s a dead man. Carmine will have him silenced before he can testify."
Gabriel looked at me, his gaze heavy with an unspoken request.
"You want me to go to the courthouse," I whispered.
"Not the courthouse," Gabriel said, walking to the corner of the living room and prying up a loose floorboard with his bare fingers.
Beneath the wood sat a dusty steel lockbox my grandmother had kept for valuables.
Gabriel reached inside his boot, pulling out a small titanium key he had kept hidden even while unconscious.
He opened the box.
Inside lay three burner phones, fifty thousand dollars in crisp hundred-dollar bills, and a gold signet ring bearing the Falcone family crest.
"Leo’s sister runs a bakery on 18th Street in Pilsen," Gabriel said, handing me the ring.
"Show her this."
"Tell her the sparrow is flying south."
"She will put you in contact with Leo’s private cell."
I looked down at the heavy gold ring resting in my palm.
The Falcone crest was carved into solid onyx, worn smooth by years of violence and authority.
"If Carmine's men see me near Pilsen, I won't make it two blocks," I said, meeting his gaze.
Gabriel stepped closer, his large hands resting on my shoulders.
His presence was overwhelming, a tidal wave of dangerous heat and protection.
"You won't be seen," he promised, his voice soft as silk.
"I’ve spent three days watching you, Matilda."
"You move through this world like a ghost. That's why they ignored you when you were a maid."
"Now, that invisibility is our greatest weapon."
He leaned down, his forehead resting gently against mine for a fleeting, breathless second.
"Come back to me in one piece," he murmured.
"I don't have anyone else left to trust."
Those words echoed in my heart as I walked out into the cold Chicago drizzle.
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I wasn't just carrying a message.
I was carrying the detonator to a mafia war.
