Chapter 12 - THE TRAP FOR VINCENT
Marcus wanted to resign.
Dominic refused.
“You didn't do this.”
“She used my name.”
“She used all of us.”
Marcus looked at Noah.
“I should have known.”
Dominic shook his head.
“That's exactly what Vincent wants.”
“Us blaming ourselves instead of hunting him.”
They moved to one of Dominic's secure properties downtown.
Clara stayed.
Not as a maid.
Dominic made that clear.
“You're not cleaning anything.”
Clara almost smiled.
“What am I doing?”
“Helping Noah.”
She looked at the boy.
“And Tyler?”
Dominic knew about her brother now.
“The surgery is scheduled.”
Clara stared at him.
“What?”
“Friday.”
“I can't accept—”
“Yes, you can.”
“Dominic.”
“You protected my son when people I paid millions failed him.”
“This isn't charity.”
Her eyes filled.
“Thank you.”
Dominic nodded once.
Then returned to the war.
They needed Vincent to believe they had Elena's complete evidence.
Lauren suggested leaking information about the safe-deposit box.
Beatrice agreed.
Dominic hated using his mother as bait.
But he hated Vincent more.
They retrieved the box.
Inside was a handwritten letter from Elena.
And a second flash drive.
The letter began:
Dominic, if you're reading this, I failed to come home.
His hands shook.
He continued.
Please don't let revenge become more important than Noah.
Dominic stopped reading.
Clara watched him.
He closed his eyes.
Then continued.
Vincent wants you angry because anger makes you predictable.
He wants Noah afraid because fear makes him controllable.
Do the opposite.
Love our son.
Think before you strike.
Dominic sat down.
For perhaps the first time in his life, someone had told him exactly how to defeat an enemy without violence.
The second drive contained financial records.
Enough to destroy Vincent's network.
But one file was missing.
The identity of the final shooter.
Dominic leaked a false rumor.
The drive contained everything.
Vincent responded within hours.
A message arrived.
MIDNIGHT. OLD FREIGHT TERMINAL 6. BRING THE DRIVE. COME ALONE OR CLARA DIES FIRST.
Clara stared.
“Why me?”
Dominic looked furious.
“Because he knows Noah trusts you.”
“And because he thinks I care about you.”
Clara looked at him.
A silence formed.
Dominic looked away first.
The plan was simple.
Dominic would go.
Marcus would position men outside.
Police would wait farther back.
Clara would remain at the safe house.
At 11:40 p.m., the power went out.
Clara immediately grabbed Noah.
“Dominic?”
No answer.
The door opened.
Madeline Shaw stepped inside.
She held a gun.
Marcus's sister was beautiful.
Elegant.
Calm.
Nothing about her looked like the woman Noah called Needle Lady.
“Hello, Clara.”
Noah screamed.
Madeline smiled.
“Still remembers me.”
Clara moved in front of him.
“What do you want?”
“The boy.”
“No.”
Madeline laughed.
“You think kneeling in front of him makes you his mother?”
Clara's jaw tightened.
“No.”
“But it makes me someone who won't hand him to you.”
Madeline raised the gun.
“That can be fixed.”
A shot exploded.
Clara flinched.
Madeline's gun fell.
Blood appeared on her hand.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
His weapon was raised.
“Sis.”
Madeline stared at him.
“You shot me.”
“You aimed at a child.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You always chose Dominic.”
“No.”
Marcus's eyes hardened.
“I chose not being a monster.”
Madeline suddenly reached inside her jacket.
Marcus fired again.
She fell.
Dominic rushed inside seconds later.
He stared at Madeline.
“Vincent?”
Marcus searched her phone.
There was a live location.
Freight Terminal 6.
Dominic looked at the clock.
11:52.
“He's waiting.”
Clara looked at him.
“Then don't give him what he expects.”
Dominic remembered Elena's letter.
Think before you strike.
He nodded.
At midnight, Dominic entered the abandoned freight terminal alone.
Vincent stood beneath a hanging light.
And beside him was a woman tied to a chair.
Dominic stopped.
He recognized her immediately.
May you like
Elena.
His dead wife.
