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daughter. The instant Hector asked about her brother’s health – a question he had been warned not to ask – they gagged the girl and hung up.
    Several hours later, they still hadn’t called back.
    And all Hector could do was wait.

8
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Station Square is a 52-acre entertainment venue that sits on the south shore of the Monongahela River near the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers. Built in the 1800s as a major hub for P&LE Railroad, the railway complex had become virtually obsolete by the 1970s, when passenger traffic had all but disappeared into the city. Despite its prime location on the waterfront, the entire property—including the large terminal, extensive freight station, seven-storey warehouse and several minor buildings—threatened to become a ghost town.
    Thankfully, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation never let that happen. Instead of tearing down the complex, they developed the site for commercial use. Docks were added to the nearby shoreline. A hotel was built at the water’s edge. Two of the city’s iconic restaurants, the Grand Concourse and the Gandy Dancer Saloon, opened inside the refurbished terminal, while the train shed was transformed into retail space called the Freight House Shops. Dripping with old-world charm, the restored train station has more than twenty stores, including five freight cars that were left inside the building and converted into shops.
    In 2002, Station Square added a new area known as Bessemer Court. Named after the Bessemer converter, a massive machine that converted molten iron into steel, helping Pittsburgh become the Steel Capital of the World, the plaza includes a Hard Rock Café, several restaurants and a state-of-the-art fountain show featuring hundreds of multi-coloured water jets that are choreographed to music. During the warm-weather months, a new show begins every twenty minutes. They include a wide variety of musical themes – everything from Elvis to Sinatra to Christina Aguilera, a pop star who grew up just north of the city.
    Unfortunately, it was far too cold for the fountain to work in the middle of February. With temperatures in the teens and dropping lower, people of all ages scurried from their frost-covered cars to the shelter of the surrounding buildings, but none of them moved faster than David Jones, whose personal version of hell contained ice and snow, not lakes of fire.
    As per their tradition, Jonathon Payne pulled up as close to the restaurant as possible before Jones bolted from the warmth of the SUV to secure a table inside. With his hands jammed into his pockets and a wool cap pulled over his ears, he sprinted across the crowded sidewalk, dodging everyone who got in his way. At times, Jones moved so fast across the slippery surface he looked like a cartoon character learning to skate, his legs and feet flailing in all directions like Bambi on ice, yet at no point did he come close to falling. Payne watched the scene from the driver’s seat, hoping and praying Jones would fall and skid across the ice on his backside, but he made it to the entrance unscathed. Just like he always did.
    Disappointed, Payne cursed under his breath, then drove off to park his car. By the time he returned, Jones had claimed a corner booth in the restaurant as far from the windows as possible. Not just to avoid the cold, but because it offered the most tactical position in the room. No matter where they went or what they did, they still thought like soldiers.
    In their world, it was the small things that kept them alive.
    Still bundled in his winter jacket, Jones started to complain about the weather before Payne even sat down. ‘I’m telling you, Jon, I need to get away from this city for a while. I’ve had it up to
here
with winter.’
    Payne took off his coat. ‘Had it up to
where
?’
    ‘Here!’ he blurted while remaining frozen in place.
    Payne slid into the booth across from him. ‘Just so you know, when you use