CHAPTER2 — THE MAN WHO KNEW HER NAME
Chapter 02 - CHAPTER2 — THE MAN WHO KNEW HER NAME
Hector moved quickly, but he never looked rushed.
That was the first thing Jodi noticed.
The ballroom had dissolved into confusion. Hotel security pushed guests toward the exits while Hector's men quietly blocked the doors. A woman in emerald silk was crying near the piano. Two businessmen were arguing with a guard. Someone shouted that the police were coming.
Hector simply took Jodi by the wrist.
"Come with me."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
His eyes dropped to his hand around her wrist.
"You kissed me in front of three hundred people."
"To keep you alive."
"And now you're worried about what people will think?"
Jodi almost smiled.
Almost.
"You're very irritating."
"So I've been told."
He led her through a private door behind the ballroom.
The hallway was quieter. Carpet swallowed their footsteps. Two men followed several paces behind.
Jodi pulled her wrist free.
"I can walk."
"I noticed."
She stopped.
"I need to leave."
"No."
The answer was calm.
That made it worse.
Jodi stared at him. "Excuse me?"
"You saw a sniper before my security team did. You recognized the man in the balcony. You knew enough about my position to know where the shot would come from. And you said your father trained you."
Hector stepped closer.
"You're not leaving until I know why."
Jodi felt the old fear returning.
Not fear of Hector.
Fear of being recognized.
"My father taught me how to notice things," she said. "That's all."
"That's not all."
A door opened behind them.
One of Hector's men entered.
"Boss, the sniper's gone. We found a shell casing."
Hector nodded.
"And the balcony?"
"Clean."
The man hesitated.
"There’s something else."
He handed Hector a folded piece of paper.
Hector opened it.
His face changed.
Jodi couldn't see what was written, but she saw his fingers tighten around the page.
"What is it?" she asked.
Hector looked at her.
"It's your name."
Her stomach dropped.
"My name?"
He held the paper out.
Jodi read the single line.
JODI RUSSO — DO NOT LET HER LEAVE THE HOTEL.
Beneath it was a date.
Eight years earlier.
The date her father disappeared.
Jodi looked up slowly.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was taped inside the sniper's case."
The hallway seemed colder.
Hector watched her carefully.
"You knew someone might be waiting for you tonight."
"No."
"You're lying."
"No," Jodi said. "I'm realizing something."
"What?"
"My father didn't disappear."
Hector's eyes hardened.
"What do you mean?"
Jodi looked at the paper again.
"If someone wrote my name eight years ago and still knows where I am, then he wasn't gone."
She swallowed.
"He was hiding."
A phone began ringing somewhere behind them.
Hector answered.
He listened.
His expression became unreadable.
May you like
Then he looked at Jodi.
"Your apartment is on fire."
