Chapter 2 - Shadows on Sutter AvenueThree days later, a sleek, matte-black Maybach slipped quietly into the gritty industrial landscape of Sutter Avenue in Queens.
The neighborhood was a maze of aging brick tenements, rusted fire escapes, and broken streetlights. It was a place where luxury cars stuck out like sore thumbs, drawing curious stares from stoop-sitters and corner loafers.
In the back seat of the Maybach, Dominic stared out the tinted window at apartment building 3B.
“Are you sure about this address, Vince?” Dominic asked, his fingers tapping a rhythmic, impatient tattoo against his leather-wrapped steering wheel.
“Positive, Boss,” Vince murmured from the front passenger seat, turning around to face him. “We traced the pharmacy receipt dropped near the parking meter on Fifth. It came from an independent chemist three blocks from here. The pharmacist remembered a little girl buying cardiac-support medications and general tonics for her mother using an old rewards card.”
Dominic nodded slowly. He stepped out of the vehicle, adjusting his dark sunglasses against the midday glare.
As he walked toward the graffiti-tagged entrance of the apartment building, he noticed the handwritten sign taped over the elevator call button: OUT OF SERVICE.
He took the stairs two at a time, his heart beating with a strange, unaccountable rhythm that had nothing to do with his recent cardiac episode and everything to do with curiosity.
When he reached the third floor, he stopped outside door 3B.
Before he could raise his hand to knock, the wooden door swung slowly inward.
Standing in the threshold was a woman.
She looked to be in her late twenties, though exhaustion had carved dark shadows beneath her striking green eyes. Her honey-brown hair was pulled back in a loose, messy clip, and she leaned heavily against the doorframe for support, as if standing upright took every ounce of will she possessed.
She wore a simple, worn cotton shirt. She looked fragile, pale, and breathtakingly familiar.
Dominic froze. The breath caught in his throat.
The world around him seemed to tilt on its axis.
“Sophia?” Dominic whispered, his voice cracking with a disbelief so profound it felt like a physical blow.
May you like
The woman stared at him, her green eyes widening in absolute, paralyzing horror. The color drained completely from her face, leaving her ghost-white. She gripped the edge of the doorframe so tightly her knuckles turned translucent.
“Dominic…” she breathed, her voice trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.
