Chapter 60 - Start Thinking Straight

Luca’s POV 

I hadn’t driven in a while. Not like I’ve forgotten how to, but there was always someone to do it for me. But today, I needed to clear my head, and driving helped. So I took the wheel, with Alex sitting beside me today.

The city passed by us in slow motion. Cars honking, people moving like they didn’t know the kind of mess that was sitting heavy in my chest.

No one had seen her. Not since the day before she tried to kill me.

Stephanie.

Even her name felt heavier now. I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“She’s gone quiet,” Alex finally said, looking out the window. “No police reports. No sightings. Her neighbours said the last time they saw her was the day before the attack.”

I said nothing.

What was I supposed to say anyway?

She tried to kill me. That part played in my head again and again. The flash of gun in her hand. The sound of bullets hitting my car. The silence that followed after we drove off.

“She’s hiding,” Alex added. “But someone like her...she can’t stay hidden for long.”

I kept my eyes on the road. Focused on the traffic lights. The way the sun poured onto the windshield. My mind, however, was spinning. Not out of fear but of something else.

Stephanie wasn’t even supposed to be like this. She was quiet. Reserved. Obedient, even. When did she get the nerve to kill?

Even if she's angry, is she so angry to actually want to risk prison by committing murder?

What happened and why even now?

Well, we were on our way to find someone who might know. I believe Alexa called him Gold.

The man who used to help us. The one who found the girls. Quiet, desperate ones like Stephanie. The ones who needed money. The ones who wouldn’t say no. Or couldn’t.

His place wasn’t far, my people found him easily. A small compound behind an old store. 

We drove past a row of boring houses and parked behind a faded gate. I turned off the engine and got out. Alex followed without a word.

The man met us at the door, like he’d been waiting.

He looked older than the last time I saw him. Not like I ever spoke to him before. He was Alexa's business but today, he’s my business. And now I think I know why he's called Gold. His Golden tooth.

His eyes moved from me to Alex and back. I could already tell he was nervous. Very nervous.

“I heard,” he said before I could say anything.

I raised an eyebrow. “Heard what?”

He swallowed. “About the attack. The girl...Stephanie. I swear, Mr. De Rossi, I had nothing to do with it. I only handled recruitment that year. After Alexa stopped asking about her, I didn’t hear anything else.”

“You sure?” Alex stepped forward.

“Positive. I swear on my life. I didn’t even know she was still in this city.”

I watched his face. The way his hands trembled slightly. I didn’t think he was lying. He looked like someone who just wanted to be left alone now.

But he gave us something.

A name. A friend Stephanie used to talk to. Another girl, maybe from her neighbourhood, maybe not. He didn’t know much, just that they were close at some point.

It was enough.

Back in the car, I handed Alex the paper with the name. He pulled up the address on his phone. Another quiet neighbourhood. I started the engine again.

The drive was short and the street was almost empty when we got there. I parked on the curb and we both got out, walking up to another boring looking house with green windows and a broken porch light.

The girl who answered looked like she’d just woken up. Hair tied in a loose bun, face bare. She blinked at us and stepped back when she saw who we were.

“We just want to ask a few questions,” I said calmly.

She didn’t look convinced.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Alex added.

She stepped aside, slowly, and we walked into a small living room with a fan spinning noisily on the ceiling. She sat on a couch and hugged her knees.

“Stephanie,” I said. “She used to talk to you.”

Her eyes darted to mine and then away. “That was a long time ago.”

“But you talked.”

“Yes. Before. Not anymore.”

“Do you know where she is?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. I haven’t spoken to her in months.”

I leaned forward slightly. “You sure?”

She looked at me then, and her voice got smaller. “Look, I don’t want to be involved in whatever business you have with her, okay?”

“You already are.”

She flinched.

Alex sighed. “Look, we’re not here to hurt anyone. But she tried to shoot him. That’s attempted murder. This isn’t a small thing. If you know where she is, or if she contacted you, now’s the time to say something.”

“I haven’t seen her,” she said, louder now. “I don’t know where she is. She never even told me why she was so angry, I didn't even know she was angry and wanted to do something like this.”

I stared at her a while longer, but she wasn’t lying. Or if she was, she was damn good at it.

We left not long after. Got back into the car. I didn’t say anything for a while. Neither did Alex.

Then I started the engine again, slower this time.

“She must be really hiding.” I said.

Alex looked at me. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking she’s not scared of the police. She’s scared of me.”

“Well, she should be.”

I didn’t reply. Just stared out the windshield, the street stretching out in front of us.

Stephanie wasn’t a fighter. She wasn’t the bold type like Alexa. She didn’t have a loud mouth or wild eyes. And people like that...when they break, they don’t scream. They go silent. And silence was always worse.

She tried to kill me. Like literally tried to end my life. If it wasn't for the car, I'd be dead now.

I know I might have hurt her, in fact, I did hurt her but I needed to start thinking straight. If words get out, a lot of people out there might think I've gotten soft and that… that would be bad for business.

“She can’t stay hidden forever,” Alex muttered beside me.

“No,” I replied, my voice low. “She can’t.”