Chapter 2 - THE WARNING IN HER POCKET
Adeline didn't sleep when she got home.
Her apartment occupied the third floor of an aging brick building in Queens, above a grocery store whose refrigeration units hummed through the night.
The living room doubled as Posy's bedroom.
A folding screen separated the little girl's narrow bed from the kitchen table.
There were watercolor butterflies taped above her pillow.
A purple backpack hung from the back of a chair.
And beside the bed sat a plastic box containing the emergency supplies Adeline checked every evening.
Posy was asleep.
Mrs. Dempsey, their elderly neighbor, had stayed with her while Adeline worked.
"She was fine after midnight," Mrs. Dempsey whispered. "A little coughing, but no trouble breathing."
Adeline thanked her.
Then sat beside Posy's bed.
The child stirred.
"Addie?"
"I'm here."
Posy opened one sleepy eye.
"Did you bring breakfast?"
Adeline smiled.
"Not yet."
"Then I have a complaint."
Despite everything, Adeline laughed.
She brushed the girl's curls away from her forehead.
"Go back to sleep, troublemaker."
Posy reached for her hand.
"Promise you'll be here when I wake up?"
Adeline's smile faltered.
"I promise."
She stayed until the child's breathing settled.
Then went into the tiny kitchen and unfolded the note.
DO NOT TRUST THE MAN WHO HIRED YOU.
SILVIO MARCHETTI.
She had never heard the name before that night.
Yet someone had slipped a warning into her pocket.
Someone who knew she worked on the penthouse floor.
Someone who believed the man responsible for her employment was dangerous.
Adeline remembered her first interview at the Ambrose.
The night supervisor, Bernard Pike, had barely looked at her application.
He'd asked one question.
"Do you have children?"
"A younger sister."
"Anyone else living with you?"
"No."
He'd hired her immediately.
At the time, she'd thought it was luck.
Now she wondered whether it had been something else.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from the hotel.
Your next shift has been canceled. Human Resources will contact you.
Adeline stared.
Her chest tightened.
Roarke had promised she wouldn't be punished.
Perhaps he had lied.
Or perhaps someone else had made the decision.
She picked up her phone and called the number listed for Human Resources.
No answer.
She called again.
Still nothing.
Then another message arrived.
From an unknown number.
IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR SISTER SAFE, FORGET WHAT YOU SAW IN THE PENTHOUSE.
Adeline's fingers went numb.
She had seen nothing.
May you like
Nothing except a bathroom, an exhausted man, and his lieutenant standing in the doorway.
But apparently, someone believed she'd seen much more.
