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CHAPTER 1
I’m Dead.
The words echoed in his mind, a haunting reminder of his new reality. Harry was officially a ghost, a non-entity, erased from the world he knew. The irony of it was almost laughable. He had spent his life dodging bullets and death's embrace, only to be declared dead while his heart still beat strongly in his chest.
The room, furnished with an old-world charm, felt completely foreign. He’d been in his share of run-down hotels and busted up apartments. Every place he lived growing up was infested with everything from roaches to crime. This place was being warmed by a crackling fire and the gold trim on each frame or arm of a chair glistened in the flickering light.
“You’ll be staying in a small apartment in town,” Kenan said as he slid a plate full of fresh bread over toward Harry. In his opinion the table was set with more utensils than anyone would need for a meal, but he tried to select the right one. He fumbled, clanking the knife loudly against the plate.
“This isn’t my world. I’m a no one from nowhere. I don’t speak Italian. I don’t know a damn thing about the culture. I’mgoing to stick out like a sore thumb.” Harry hated to be this guy. The one who said no, before he even knew what he was needed for. But he’d been through it in his last job and his head was still spinning.
Kenan leaned back in his chair and sipped his glass of wine. “We don’t need you to fit in. We want you to draw some attention.”
“You still haven’t said why.” Harry took a mouthful of the bread and nearly groaned at how delicious it was. This place was lulling him into some kind of ease he wasn’t used to. He might be disorientated but bread was a universal comforting thing.
Verde Lago, Kenan had called it. A safe haven for those who had nowhere else to go, a place that now seemed to be his unexpected sanctuary—or perhaps his prison. The walls, adorned with paintings that spoke of a history he couldn't comprehend, seemed to watch him, as if they knew more about his fate than he did.
Kenan had a haunting kind of look as he spoke. “The world has changed a lot since this place first opened. There was a time when you could really live under the radar. In a far-flung quiet part of Europe you could secure a location and truly keep people safe. Gloria, you know about her, right?”
“I’ve heard a bit.” Harry’s head was swimming and he couldn’t even come up with what questions to ask. What did any of this have to do with him?
“Gloria believed that some situations required full extraction from society. True hiding.” Kenan waved around. “When there is nowhere else to go, Verde Lago was the solution.”
“Because the abuse was so bad?” Harry grabbed more bread.
Kenan sighed. “It has more to do with the reach and power of the abuser. If they have connections, power, and money, there are only a few corners of the world where they can hide. This is one of them. Or it was.”
“Was?” Harry could sense the concern in his voice.
“We’re not as secure as we once were. Like I said, the world is shrinking. Technology has made us vulnerable in a whole new way. What Gloria originally designed is in jeopardy. In many ways, we’re under attack.” Kenan furrowed his brows.
“You have security here?” Harry looked around expecting to see some guards outside the room where they were eating. But there was nothing. No one.
“Plenty. You won’t see them here. They keep their distance around the perimeter of the compound. They keep this place locked down and safe. But it’s more than just having guards at the door now. It’s more than keeping to ourselves. We have been made aware of threats. Rumblings around the surrounding towns that people have been asking about what goes on here and why. We have a person here, someone who would draw a lot of attention. We think that might be the source of these questions. That’s what we need to find out.”
“And I’m supposed to do that?” Harry was feeling less prepared for the job, the more details he learned about it.
“Our men, our staff, they’re easy to spot. Most have been a part of the Verde Lago for years. They’ve been in and out of the surrounding towns without any trouble. But we’ve had to pull them all back in. They’re easy to spot. We need eyes and ears out there that won’t lead so easily back to us. The townspeople know our men, and while it’s always been a positive in the past, we don’t know what it will mean going forward. You’re an unknown out there. That will be the key. I need to know who’s looking into this place and why.”
“What will that information do for you?”
“If we can tie it back to one particular client here, we can relocate them. Take the heat off of this location and scramble to find something else that might work. We use a complex system here. We’ve worked to keep up with the times and have the mostadvance security options, but it’s hard to stay one step ahead. We can’t fly blind. We need to know what these people are after and why.”
“I’m supposed to just hang around and wait for someone to come up to me and tell me something? In my experience, it doesn’t work quite like that. People don’t just spill their guts to a stranger”
“It might not. Maybe nothing will happen. You can sip wine and eat pasta and nothing comes of it. But my experience, my gut, is telling me danger is imminently close. This place is the end of the line for many people. It’s their only shot at survival. If this place is breeched, if we’re found out, so many would be left vulnerable. We’ve got to try anything we can.”
“I’m not a professional. No spy. No operative. I’m honestly only a guy who’s gotten myself into some crazy shit and is doing what I can to keep getting myself out of more. You’re putting me out here like I’m Mick or Charlize. I’ve got nothing on them.”
“I know.” Kenan smiled. “I need you to be you. If I’m right about these guys, they’ll spot a pro a mile away. You’re a guy. A guy in Italy hanging out. We’ll have an identity made up for you. Something convincing.”
Harry rubbed at his throbbing temple. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m coming off some crazy shit and I’m barely back together myself. All I can think about is Rose. I want to know where she is, what’s she’s doing.”
Harry had been through it. No matter how much he tried to pretend he hadn’t been deeply affected, he knew he’d been changed. Altered. When he took the job at the nonprofit promising to change the lives of women in need, he thought he was doing something admirable. It took time to realize how diabolical the entire organization was.
He’d witnessed abuse, neglect, threats, and countless crimes. Powerless, he’d begun looking for ways to try to take them down,all while attempting to protect the women at every turn. That’s where Rose had come into his life. A victim of the deranged organization, she was a mother being held captive, her beautiful son the collateral that kept her in line.
It seemed like there was no way out for any of them. If Harry left, the women would lose him as a protector and secret ally. If he blew the whistle, he’d be silenced by the powerful connections this organization had acquired over the years.
