Chapter 10 - Ghosts from the Past
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Seven hundred miles away, in a dingy, smoke-filled apartment on the south side of Chicago, Raymond Fletcher threw his empty beer bottle against the wall. It shattered, raining brown glass over the stained carpet.
Raymond was a man entirely fueled by anger and possessiveness. Three years ago, Amelia had slipped through his fingers, disappearing into the night while he was passed out drunk. He had spent every waking moment since trying to track her down, furious that his favorite punching bag had dared to leave him.
He sat down heavily on his greasy sofa and pulled out his phone. He had set up endless Google alerts for Amelia’s name, hiring cheap private investigators who always hit dead ends. She had been a ghost.
Until today.
Raymond scrolled through a dark-web forum he frequented to buy stolen credit card data. One of the local Brooklyn thugs he occasionally bought from had posted a frantic, terrified message.
“Derek L. got snatched by the Castellano crew yesterday. He hit a waitress at their diner. Place is locked down. Word is, the Boss took the girl to his personal estate.”
Raymond’s eyes narrowed. He clicked on the thread, reading the details. A waitress at Castellano’s diner.
He immediately opened a new tab, searching for the diner’s public Facebook page. He scrolled through months of promotional photos—pictures of daily specials, Tony the cook smiling by the grill, and group shots of the staff.
Then, he saw it.
It was a candid photo from three months ago, celebrating Angela’s birthday. Standing in the background, holding a tray of coffee mugs, trying to hide her face from the camera lens, was Amelia.
Raymond zoomed in on the pale scar cutting through her left eyebrow. A scar he had given her.
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A cruel, twisted smile stretched across Raymond’s face. He stood up, grabbing his heavy winter coat and a duffel bag from the closet. He didn't care who Vincent Castellano was. He didn't care about the mafia.
He was going to New York, and he was going to drag Amelia back to Chicago by her hair.
