Chapter 12 - BACK TO WESTCHESTER
Every police officer involved told me the same thing.
Do not go.
I agreed.
Then I told them how to get me inside.
Detective Harmon stared at me.
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“Exactly.”
“He’s holding Rosa because of me.”
“He’s holding Rosa because he’s violent.”
“He won’t talk to you.”
“He doesn’t need to talk.”
“Yes, he does.”
Harmon rubbed his face.
Maya looked at me like she wanted to shake me.
“Elena.”
“I’m not going in unprotected.”
“No.”
“We wire me.”
“No.”
“Police surround the property.”
“No.”
“Then what? We wait until Grant gets scared and hurts her?”
Silence.
That was the problem.
Grant had spent his whole life getting away with escalation.
Nobody knew where his line was.
Maybe he didn’t have one.
At 4:18 p.m., I returned to the estate where my marriage had ended nine hours earlier.
Police vehicles stayed hidden beyond the property line.
I wore a transmitter beneath my blouse.
A tactical team waited nearby.
Harmon’s last words were simple.
“If he shows a weapon, you get down.”
I walked through the front door alone.
“Grant?”
Nothing.
The house felt dead.
Breakfast dishes were still sitting on the dining table.
My ring was gone.
I moved toward the library.
The door stood open.
Rosa sat inside.
Still tied.
Alive.
Her eyes widened when she saw me.
Grant stepped from behind the door.
He held a pistol.
“Elena.”
I stopped.
“Let her go.”
“You brought cops.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“Maybe.”
His hand trembled.
That scared me.
“Why Rosa?”
“She recorded us.”
“She recorded you.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“You ruined everything.”
“You ruined everything.”
“I loved you.”
“You studied me.”
“I loved you!”
His shout filled the room.
Rosa flinched.
I kept my voice low.
“You knew about Northline before our first date.”
He stared at me.
Then smiled.
“Who told you?”
“Your father.”
“Of course.”
“Is it true?”
His eyes changed.
Pride.
That was what I saw.
Not shame.
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
“How early?”
“Before we met.”
I swallowed.
“So the coffee shop?”
“Planned.”
“The charity dinner?”
“Planned.”
“Denver?”
He hesitated.
I almost laughed.
“You flew across the country because I had food poisoning.”
“I needed you to trust me.”
Every good memory cracked at once.
I felt tears finally rise.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because I was mourning a man who had never existed.
Grant saw the tears and relaxed.
“There she is.”
I hated him for that.
He stepped closer.
“You’re emotional. Good. Now listen to me.”
He pointed the gun toward the floor.
“We can fix this.”
I stared at him.
“You kidnapped a woman.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“You threatened me.”
“You pushed me.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“Everything is someone else’s fault.”
His face tightened.
“Shut up.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
His gun rose slightly.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I remembered Harmon.
If he shows the weapon, get down.
But Grant wasn’t pointing it at me.
He was pointing it at Rosa.
May you like
And then he said the words that changed the entire operation.
“Tell the police outside to leave, or I shoot her.”
