Chapter 2 - The Crimson Ledger
Marco Lombardi stood over the white-linened table, his knuckles white as he stroked the velvety head of the recovering puppy. The French bulldog, now breathing with a steady, rhythmic cadence, licked a drop of sweat from Marco’s thumb. But the boss’s dark, bottomless eyes were fixed entirely on the spot where the spectral figure in the filthy hoodie had vanished.
"Find her," Marco whispered, his voice dropping an octave, sending a visible shiver through the three armed guards standing at attention. "I don't care if she vanished into the ground. Every security camera from here to the harbor. Every street informant. Bring me her name."
The doctor in the tuxedo adjusted his glasses nervously, stepping forward. "Mr. Lombardi, that was impossible. The animal had suffered a complete respiratory collapse. The tracheal blockage was absolute. No one without an advanced surgical tray and years of thoracic experience could have performed a manual extraction like that. She... she knew the exact pressure points of a brachycephalic airway."
Marco turned his head slowly, fixing the physician with a gaze that promised a slow, agonizing demise. "She didn't just save my dog, Doctor. She moved like a ghost and operated like a ghost. And ghosts don't walk into La Serenata by accident."
He walked over to the shattered remains of the crystal decanter, his polished leather shoe crushing a shard of glass. He pulled a heavy leather-bound ledger from his inner suit jacket—the Crimson Ledger, containing the names of everyone who had ever crossed, cheated, or hidden from the Lombardi family.
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"Run her face through the traffic cams," Marco ordered, snapping the ledger shut. "Check every medical school database in the tri-state area for expelled residents, missing interns, and dead surgeons. Someone with hands like that doesn't just appear out of thin air."
As the guards scrambled to obey, Marco looked down at the puppy, which let out a soft, contented grunt. "You wanted to live so badly, little man," Marco muttered. "Let's see if our mystery angel can do the same."
