Introduction
1996
“Diana, get in the car! Now!” Detective Conery shouted through the half-open window, his eyes fixed on the petite brunette standing on the street corner.
Clutching her suitcase, she broke into a run toward the car. She tossed the bag into the trunk, then pulled her rain-soaked blazer tighter around herself. The rain had been pouring relentlessly ever since she’d been waiting for him near Union Square.
She slipped into the back seat and slammed the door shut behind her. Cold seeped all the way into her bones. Curling into herself, she fought to steady the trembling running through her body.
The weather that day was merciless.
New York is saying goodbye to me with rain, she thought, stealing a glance through the window at the city lights blurred by water.
“You okay?” Conery asked as he merged into traffic.
His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked at him, fear still lingering in her eyes.
“You bought the plane ticket like I told you to?”
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror, waiting for an answer. It was only then that her thoughts finally began to clear. She swallowed hard and slowly let out a breath.
“Yeah. To Chicago. There shouldn’t be any problems,” she replied, her voice steadier now.
She straightened up and adjusted her clothes, trying to regain at least a shred of control over the situation.
Conery watched her discreetly in the mirror. His expression revealed almost nothing, but the tension showed in the way his hands gripped the steering wheel and in the deep crease between his brows. It wasn’t every day he smuggled an important witness out of the city under the cover of night.
Diana tried to calm herself. She had to appear composed. She couldn’t risk him changing his mind—not now, when the plan was finally in motion. A plan that would change everything about the life she had known so far.
After a moment, Conery reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a large yellow envelope.
“Your new documents are in here,” he said without taking his eyes off the road. “Driver’s license, birth certificate, and the information for your bank account.”
His tone was mechanical, as if he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Only the tight clench of his jaw betrayed his nerves.
Diana took the envelope and let out a quiet breath.
There was no turning back now.
And she didn’t want to.
“Relax. Once all of this is over, I’ll go back to my normal life,” she said, trying to sound confident. “You said it yourself—my testimony will speed things up. The chances of putting that bastard behind bars went up to ninety percent, right?”
Beneath her words was a desperate need to believe it.
Conery nodded.
That small gesture gave her a flicker of reassurance. She wanted to believe this was only a temporary nightmare—one that would soon fade into a distant memory.
The car merged onto the highway leading to Philadelphia.
Diana opened her bag and nervously checked what was inside. Her camera was dry—and that mattered more to her than anything else.
She pulled out a small mirror and studied her reflection.
I look like a drowned rat.
She shrugged off her soaked blazer and dug a slightly wrinkled hoodie out of her bag. The moment she pulled it on, warmth spread pleasantly through her body.
“That’s exactly what I needed,” she muttered under her breath, folding her arms across her chest.
Even in the middle of all this chaos, she could still find comfort in the smallest things.
She looked out the side window. The city was slowly disappearing behind them.
I’m leaving my plans and dreams behind here, she thought, clinging to the hope that one day she’d come back for them.
“There are train tickets to Washington in the envelope too,” Conery said, pulling her from her thoughts once again. “Once you get there, you can buy a bus ticket to whatever city you want.”
He hesitated for a moment.
“So… where are you headed, exactly?”
The question instantly set off alarms in her mind.
She looked at him suspiciously.
If they get their hands on him and start torturing him, he’ll tell them everything.
I can’t let him know where I’ll be.
“You should be there in a couple of days, right?” Conery added, his tone sounding more like an interrogation than casual conversation.
Right. He’s still a cop, after all, she thought with faint amusement.
But she couldn’t tell whether he genuinely cared about her safety, or if he was simply gathering information in case he ever had to identify her body someday. That thought terrified her most of all—that eventually, someone would find her.
“I’m not telling you where I’m going. I already have a place lined up, and that’s all you need to know,” she replied coldly. “I just told people I needed to disappear for a while because my ex turned out to be a psycho and started stalking me. Everyone bought it without question.”
She turned toward the side window, avoiding his piercing gaze, and stared at the blurred city lights sliding past in the darkness.
Conery fell silent for a moment.
Apparently, that answer was enough for him.
He let out a heavy sigh before speaking again.
“And that’s probably for the best. Don’t tell anyone you’re a witness in a major trial. That’ll only bring more trouble down on you. The story about the ex-boyfriend? Much more believable.”
He chuckled quietly to himself, but the joke did nothing to amuse her.
She shot him a sour look through the rearview mirror. Even so, she knew he was right. The truth sounded far too insane for anyone to believe.
“You need to be careful,” he continued. “By turning down witness protection, you’re taking a huge risk.”
Diana exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes in frustration. From the very beginning, she hadn’t wanted to hear a single word about police protection. She didn’t trust the system—or the people behind it.
Corruption was everywhere.
All it would take was one cop on the payroll, one careless mention of her name to the wrong person, and she’d end up dead.
She swallowed hard.
She didn’t want to die yet. Maybe her life wasn’t perfect, but it was still her life. She had dreams, plans, things she hadn’t done yet.
“I don’t believe in witness protection,” she muttered irritably. “In movies, it always ends the same way. Someone cracks, someone leaks information, and the witness ends up in a body bag. I’m not dying before I turn twenty-four. No way in hell.”
Her fingers tightened around the sleeves of her hoodie.
“I’ll stay in touch with you. I just need time to come up with a backup plan. I need to know what I’ll do if things spiral out of control.”
She sounded confident, but fear still bled through every word.
“I’ll handle it… I have to,” she added more quietly.
Despite the fear, she was determined. She refused to give up.
But the mere thought of Lorenzo sent an icy shiver racing down her spine.
Can I really hide from someone like him?
Don’t lose faith, she repeated to herself like a mantra.
She leaned her head back against the seat and stared into the darkness beyond the window.
One unlucky twist of fate was all it would take for her to become the number one name on Lorenzo’s kill list.
That evening, she had been walking home along the old docks. Like always, she had her camera with her. She’d been photographing the waterfront, completely absorbed in her passion, not even noticing how quickly night had fallen.
It was late. Far too late to be walking alone in that part of the city.
She picked up her pace, her nerves on edge, when suddenly a bloodcurdling scream tore through the silence.
A cold shiver shot through her entire body.
Terrified, she looked around with wide eyes. Near one of the old warehouses, she spotted a figure in the dark.
Maybe someone needs help, the thought flashed through her mind.
She cautiously moved closer. Her heartbeat quickened with every step. When she reached the corner of the building, she leaned out slightly—and that was when she saw him.
Lorenzo.
She didn’t know who he was yet. Had no idea that within seconds, she would witness something that would change her life forever.
A man was kneeling on the rain-soaked concrete. His face was covered in blood, his arms twisted at unnatural angles. He gasped for air, struggling to stay upright.
Diana froze.
The air caught in her lungs, and icy fear clenched around her stomach.
What she was looking at felt like something out of a nightmare.
Her fingers tightened instinctively around the camera hanging from her neck. Reflex kicked in before reason could.
She started taking pictures.
One after another.
She wasn’t thinking about safety. She wasn’t thinking about consequences. All that mattered was the photographer’s instinct—the need to capture the truth.
And that was the moment she photographed an execution.
Lorenzo pressed the gun against the victim’s forehead. He leaned down and said something quietly, almost calmly. A second later, he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot shattered the silence of the night.
The man’s head snapped back violently before his body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.
Diana watched it all as if in slow motion.
It wasn’t until the sound of the shot echoed through her that she regained the ability to think. Survival instinct took over.
At the very last second, she threw herself behind a pile of old crates beside a dumpster. Pressing against the wet brick wall, she went completely still, praying no one had seen her.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
The murdered man’s face still burned behind her eyes—twisted with pain, terror, and a desperate plea for mercy.
She had no idea how long she stayed hidden there. The minutes stretched endlessly.
Only when silence finally settled over the docks did she dare move.
Slowly, she stepped out from behind the crates and glanced around nervously. Then she turned and ran.
She never looked back.
She ran as fast as she could. Fear and adrenaline burned through her veins, forcing her body onward.
By the time she reached her apartment, she was barely holding herself together.
Her breathing was ragged, her whole body trembling—from exhaustion, shock, and pure panic.
She had never seen death before.
And certainly not murder.
Images like that stayed with a person forever.
She locked the door, then slid down onto the floor with her back against the wall.
Her eyes fell on the camera.
The evidence was inside it.
With shaking hands, she copied the photos, then sat motionless for hours, trying to decide what she was supposed to do next.
She didn’t sleep for a single minute that night.
The following morning, she saw the familiar location on the news along with reports about the murder of a well-known construction businessman.
And when they showed pictures of the victim with his family, something inside her broke.
A wife had lost her husband. Children had lost their father. They deserved to know who had done this.
And she was the only person with proof.
So she went to the police.
Luckily, she had ended up with Detective Conery.
The moment he realized why she was there, he immediately got her out of the precinct. He knew that if the mafia found out she was inside, she might never walk out alive.
New York was drowning in corruption.
Without wasting time on unnecessary questions, he took her straight to the Organized Crime Division.
That decision had probably saved her life.
She gave her statement and handed over the floppy disk containing copies of the photographs. The second the investigators saw the images, the decision was immediate—witness protection.
And that was when everything started to fall apart.
Diana wanted no part in a system she completely distrusted. She was convinced that sooner or later, someone would sell her name for the right price.
Thanks to Conery, she managed to slip out of the building unnoticed.
The detective understood exactly how deadly her situation was. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her on her own.
And that was why she was running now.
On her own terms.
Without police protection.
Without any guarantee she would survive.
No one knew where she planned to hide.
Diana closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh, her thoughts drifting back to the night that had destroyed the life she used to know.
There were still several hours left before they reached Philadelphia, so she pulled the new documents from the envelope and began examining them carefully.
There was no turning back anymore.
She couldn’t afford to miss a single detail.
“I see you let me keep my first name,” she remarked with mild surprise. “Isn’t that a little risky?”
She studied the new driver’s license. The photo actually looked decent, considering it had been taken in a rush at the precinct. The only thing missing was an identification number underneath—like the ones criminals had in mugshots.
Then again, she was running like a criminal.
Under the cover of night.
Conery cleared his throat softly.
“I don’t think the first name matters that much. Reflexes matter more. When someone calls your name, you react automatically. With a new name, you might hesitate—and sometimes that’s all it takes to make a mistake.”
It made sense.
Diana simply nodded. She didn’t have the energy to argue. Besides, she liked her name. It was the only thing they hadn’t completely taken from her yet.
Without a word, she pulled out her wallet, then her old driver’s license and the rest of the documents tied to her real identity.
“What am I supposed to do with these?” she asked.
“Give them to me or burn them. You can’t carry them with you.”
He held out his hand without taking his eyes off the road.
She handed him the documents and turned back toward her bag.
A sharp ache twisted in her chest.
It was a strange feeling—as if she had just handed over her entire past. Her old life. The calm, ordinary version of herself who, just a few days earlier, still believed the world was predictable and safe.
“I’ll come back for them,” she said uncertainly, glancing at Conery’s reflection in the mirror. A second later, she let out a quiet snort. “Although… maybe you should just burn them. My ID photo was awful.”
She laughed softly, trying to ease the tension.
Only now was the full gravity of the situation beginning to sink in.
It was all becoming painfully real.
A cold shiver ran through her.
Get it together. You can do this.
She took a deep breath and slipped the new documents into her wallet.
Now all she had to do was make it to the station.
Fear clung to her constantly, no matter how desperately she tried not to show it. Every few seconds, she glanced at the cars behind them, half-expecting to see familiar faces appear through the rain-streaked windows.
She kept sinking farther into the shadows of the back seat.
She knew constantly looking over your shoulder could drive a person insane.
But she didn’t have a choice anymore.
She had to learn to notice everything.
I think I’m starting to lose my mind.
Just three days ago, her life had been normal. Predictable. Safe.
Now she was running from a New York mobster.
She let out a heavy sigh, curled up against the seat.
Her only hope was that Lorenzo would end up behind bars soon… or that someone else would get to him first.
“Don’t worry, kid,” Conery said with a faint smile. “This could be the start of one hell of an adventure.”
She looked at him grimly.
“Or my last trip before I die.”
Dark humor was the only thing still keeping her from completely falling apart.
“If they find me, they’ll probably kill me on the spot. Why would they bother creating more problems for themselves?”
She nervously picked at a fingernail, avoiding his gaze.
This wasn’t some vacation.
She was terrified. Overnight, she’d been forced to abandon her entire life just because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fate really has a sick sense of humor, she thought bitterly.
“Yeah. Sounds like the time of my life,” she muttered with sarcasm.
Conery noticed the panic starting to creep in.
“You’ve got one huge advantage right now,” he said calmly. “They’ve got nothing to go on. Hell, even I don’t know where you’re headed.”
The steadiness in his voice was strangely comforting.
“Don’t torture yourself over things that haven’t happened yet. It won’t change anything. Focus on what matters right now. Be smart about every move you make. Your safety comes first.”
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and gave her a quick wink.
To her own surprise, she felt some of the tension ease from her body.
Only a little.
But sometimes, even that was enough to keep a person from falling apart.
“Thanks,” she said more quietly. “I needed that.”
She rested her head against the cold window and went back to watching the darkness outside.
“You’ll be fine, kid. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”
She let out a soft sigh.
Hopefully that head stays attached to the rest of me, she thought bitterly.
Her eyes drifted toward the night sky, tracing the faint glow of scattered stars.
Not long ago, she had lived a quiet, almost painfully ordinary life. She kept to herself, never drawing attention. She escaped into photography and books—that had been her safe place, her own little world.
She was a hopeless romantic.
She used to dream that one day she’d meet someone who would give her the happy ending she’d always longed for.
But ordinary dreams had collided headfirst with reality.
The distant glow of city lights appearing on the horizon pulled her out of her thoughts.
