Chapter 5 - The Price of Silence
Dominic ordered Leon to take Marcus and me through an underground passage.
I refused.
“No.”
Dominic stared at me.
“You have a strange habit of saying that to armed men.”
“I have a stronger habit of keeping my son alive.”
“The tunnel exits two miles east.”
“And Victor knows this house.”
Dominic didn’t answer.
Exactly.
“He knows the tunnel, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“So we walk into it and hope nobody’s waiting?”
Dominic rubbed his jaw.
“You have a better idea?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Stop thinking like the owner of this house.”
He frowned.
“Think like the people who clean it.”
For years, I had moved through hallways rich people didn’t notice.
Laundry stairs.
Service elevators.
Storage passages.
Heating access.
Housekeepers always knew how to move unseen.
I pointed toward an old service map on the wall.
“There’s a kitchen supply corridor connecting to the greenhouse.”
Leon looked at it.
“That route was sealed.”
“Not completely. Maintenance still uses it.”
Dominic looked at me.
“How do you know?”
“Because last month a pipe burst and I spent four hours carrying towels through it.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“Lead the way.”
We moved.
Caroline stayed behind with two guards.
I carried Marcus.
Dominic walked behind us.
Gun in hand.
Every few seconds, distant gunfire echoed through the mansion.
Marcus whispered, “Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Are we in trouble?”
I swallowed.
“A little.”
“Big trouble?”
Dominic answered.
“Big.”
I glared at him.
“What?”
“He asked.”
“He’s three.”
“He seems emotionally mature.”
“He eats glue.”
Marcus lifted his head.
“One time.”
Dominic actually smiled.
Then bullets tore through the wall beside us.
“Down!”
Dominic slammed us to the floor.
Leon fired back.
The hallway exploded with noise.
Marcus screamed.
I covered his ears.
Dominic fired twice.
A man dropped near the doorway.
Another ran.
Leon chased him.
“Don’t!” Dominic shouted.
Too late.
Leon disappeared around the corner.
A gunshot.
Then silence.
“Leon?” Dominic called.
Nothing.
He moved toward the corner.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t.”
Dominic looked at my hand.
I let go.
He stepped around the corner.
Seconds later, he came back.
His face told me everything.
Marcus whispered, “Where’s Mr. Leon?”
Dominic looked at him.
“He had to stay behind.”
I knew what that lie cost him.
We kept moving.
At the greenhouse entrance, Dominic’s phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
A photo filled the screen.
Caroline.
On her knees.
Victor standing behind her.
A gun to her head.
Text beneath the image:
BRING THE BOY.
Dominic’s face turned to stone.
Another message arrived.
HE TOOK SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME.
I grabbed the phone.
“He’s talking about the device.”
“No,” Dominic said quietly.
I looked at him.
“What?”
Dominic stared at Marcus.
“Victor doesn’t care about the device anymore.”
“Then what does he want with my son?”
Dominic looked sick.
“Leverage.”
My blood boiled.
“No.”
Victor sent one final message.
TEN MINUTES.
OR CAROLINE DIES.
Marcus looked between us.
“Who dies?”
Neither of us answered.
Then another photo arrived.
This one wasn’t Caroline.
May you like
It was my apartment building.
And outside it stood two armed men.
