Chapter 8 - EVELYN VALE
Dominic stopped breathing.
Evelyn was thinner.
Her hair reached her shoulders.
A bruise marked one side of her face.
But she was alive.
Dominic touched the screen.
“Evelyn…”
Marcus appeared behind the women.
“Good evening.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Let them go.”
Marcus smiled.
“You always were better at threats than negotiations.”
“What do you want?”
“Control of the Vale logistics division.”
“No.”
Marcus pressed a gun against Helen’s head.
Clara grabbed Dominic’s arm.
“Wait.”
Marcus looked into the camera.
“Sign everything within one hour.”
Evelyn suddenly shouted, “Don’t!”
Marcus hit her.
Dominic lunged toward the screen as if he could cross through it.
“You touch her again and—”
“You’ll what?”
Marcus laughed.
“Kill me?”
He leaned closer.
“You’ve been trying to intimidate ghosts for years, Dominic.”
The feed disappeared.
Clara stared at the frozen screen.
“We have an hour.”
Dominic immediately began organizing an assault.
Clara interrupted.
“They expect that.”
“So?”
“They know your security.”
“Not anymore.”
“They know you.”
Dominic looked at her.
Clara pointed at the video.
“Marcus wants you angry.”
“He kidnapped my wife.”
“And my mother.”
She swallowed.
“So we use something he doesn’t understand.”
“What?”
“Noah.”
Dominic’s face darkened.
“No.”
“I’m not putting him in danger.”
“Then don’t say his name.”
“Noah remembers that building.”
The boy looked up.
Clara crouched.
“Do you know where Mommy is?”
Noah nodded.
“Tunnel.”
Dominic froze.
“What tunnel?”
Noah took a crayon and drew.
A square building.
A road.
A smaller rectangle.
Then a line beneath everything.
Dominic recognized it.
The abandoned rehabilitation clinic had once been owned by his father.
It had an underground service tunnel connecting to an old utility building.
Marcus likely did not know Dominic remembered the original blueprints.
They approached from below.
Dominic, Clara, Noah, and six trusted guards entered through the utility tunnel.
Noah stayed behind with two men at the entrance.
Clara followed Dominic despite his protests.
“My mother is inside.”
Gunfire began upstairs.
They moved faster.
Dominic kicked open one door.
Empty.
Second door.
Empty.
Third.
Helen.
Clara ran to her.
“Mom!”
Helen sobbed against her shoulder.
“Evelyn.”
“What?”
“They moved Evelyn.”
“Where?”
Helen pointed upward.
“Roof.”
Dominic turned.
Then an explosion shook the building.
Fire ripped through the hallway.
The stairwell collapsed.
Marcus’s voice came over the old intercom.
“You have ten minutes before the whole place burns.”
Then Noah’s terrified voice came through Dominic’s radio.
“Dad!”
Dominic grabbed it.
“Noah?”
“Bad man!”
May you like
A gunshot cracked over the radio.
Then the connection died.
