The Car in the Street

Jessica sat in the dimly lit apartment, the weight of the past pressing against her chest like an iron hand. The room smelled of coffee and dust, and the air was thick with silence. Olivia sat across from her, arms crossed, leg bouncing with a nervous tick Jessica had come to recognize over the years.

Neither of them had spoken since they got back. Neither of them needed to. They had seen the car. They had felt the eyes. Whoever had been watching them outside Montesi’s home was still out there. And now, Jessica and Olivia were on borrowed time.

Olivia finally broke the silence with a low voice that cracked with honest fear. “Someone wants us to stop.”

Jessica exhaled. “When has that ever worked?”

Olivia smirked faintly but didn’t laugh. She leaned forward, rubbing a hand over her face. “You’re sure about what you saw?” she asked.

Jessica’s fingers curled around her coffee cup. She thought about the ledger again. It wasn't that her name was there, but that this one stood apart from the others. And that Pasolini had seen it too. That was the part she couldn’t let go. Unable to find the words, she replied to Olivia with a simple nod of the head.

“Then we need to figure out what it means,” Olivia said.

Jessica exhaled, setting her coffee down. “No. We need to figure out what Pasolini knew.”

Because this wasn’t just about her anymore. Pasolini had uncovered something. Something big enough to get him killed. Now, they were standing on the same ground he had before he died.

That meant one of two things.They either stopped now, or they found out what had been worth killing for. Jessica already knew which option she would take.

* * *

Olivia reached for her laptop, fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.

“Okay,” she murmured, pulling up the files they had scanned. “Pasolini left breadcrumbs, but we’ve been looking at them the wrong way.”

Jessica arched her brow.

Olivia tapped the screen. “He was tracking something or someone. He wasn’t just looking at past records, he was connecting them to modern names.”

Jessica leaned in, scanning the highlighted sections Olivia had pulled up. It was a list of names and dates. At the very bottom of the list was a location.

Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Paris?”

Olivia nodded. “There was someone Pasolini was supposed to meet before he died. Someone who might have known what he found.”

Jessica sat back, considering. Pasolini had been murdered before he could speak. But maybe, just maybe, someone else still could.

Jessica stood, stretching out the tension in her spine. “We leave tomorrow,” she said.

Olivia frowned. “Just like that?”

Jessica smirked. “We’re already being followed, Liv. Might as well make it interesting.”

Olivia exhaled, shaking her head. “You really have a death wish, don’t you?”

Jessica didn’t answer. Instead, she moved to the window, pushing aside the curtain just enough to see the street below. The car was still there waiting with its engine off. As she let the curtain watching too.

Tomorrow, they’d be gone. And whoever was watching them would have to catch up. But deep down, Jessica knew the truth. She wasn’t just running toward answers. She was running toward whoever didn’t want her to find them. And soon, she’d find out why.fall, the driver’s door cracked open a few inches, just enough to remind her they knew she was