Chapter 1 - OPEN THE COFFIN
Bruno scratched the coffin hard enough to split the funeral home's silence.
"Open it," I said.
The funeral director stared at me as if I had ordered him to tear down the building. "Mr. Moretti, the service has already begun. We cannot just-"
Bruno slammed one paw against the white lid again. A dull sound answered from inside.
Not an echo.
A tap.
Rosa Vasquez collapsed against her husband. Tomas went gray. Marco Ricci, my underboss, took one careful step toward the exit.
Tony noticed. So did I.
"Lock the doors," I said.
My men moved without hesitation. The deadbolt clicked. Marco stopped walking.
The funeral director fumbled with the brass latches. His hands shook so badly that Tony had to push him aside and open them himself.
The lid rose.
Elena lay beneath a lace blanket, her face pale, her dark hair braided over one shoulder. The stuffed bunny rested beside her. For one terrible second, nothing moved.
Then Bruno pressed his nose to her cheek and whined.
I leaned down.
A thread of warm air touched my knuckles.
"She's breathing."
Rosa screamed her daughter's name. Tomas reached into the coffin, but I caught his wrist.
"Do not move her neck. Tony, call an ambulance. Tell them we have a living child inside a coffin."
The funeral director backed into the wall. "That is impossible. She was pronounced dead. I saw the papers."
"Who signed them?"
His eyes flicked toward Marco.
That was all the answer I needed.
Marco lunged for the side door.
Bruno hit him before my men could. The dog drove him to the carpet and planted both front paws on his chest, teeth inches from his face.
"Call him off!" Marco shouted. "Boss, call him off!"
I crouched beside the man who had stood at my right hand for twelve years.
"You told me she ran into traffic," I said. "You told me Harlan's car hit her."
"It did. I swear."
Behind us, Elena's fingers twitched beneath the lace.
Then her eyes opened.
She looked directly at Marco and whispered one broken word.
"Needle."
May you like
Marco stopped breathing.
And somewhere outside, before the ambulance ever reached us, a black SUV started its engine.
