Chapter 5 - A Father Sees His Daughter for the First Time
The unmarked black SUV idled quietly across the street from a brightly painted suburban daycare center in Astoria.
In the back seat, Adrian Moretti pressed his face against the tinted glass, his breath fogging the cold surface.
Through the chain-link fence, a little girl with dark curls and a yellow jacket was laughing while chasing a red rubber ball.
“That’s her, boss. Lily,” Vincent whispered from the front passenger seat, watching Adrian’s face twist with raw emotion.
Adrian reached into his inner suit pocket, pulling out a battered paper drawing of a stick-figure family with no face.
He had stared at high-resolution photos on digital tablets for years, but witnessing her laughter in real life was entirely different.
It felt like oxygen rushing into lungs that had spent three years suffocating beneath the heavy weight of underworld paranoia.
“She has your eyes, boss,” Vincent murmured softly, keeping his hands resting lightly on the steering wheel.
Adrian opened the heavy door of the SUV, stepping out onto the sidewalk despite the sharp ache in his injured shoulder.
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“Wait here,” Adrian commanded quietly, crossing the sunlit street toward the daycare entrance with a heart racing dangerously fast.
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