Chapter 10 - THE PRICE OF A FATHER
Ava wanted to attack Richard.
Victor grabbed her arm.
“Not here.”
Richard’s guards surrounded them.
Marcus had already calculated the room.
Too many weapons.
Too little cover.
Richard picked up the medallion.
“At last.”
Ava glared.
“Where is my father?”
“Safe.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“I expect you to cooperate.”
“What do you want?”
“The second medallion.”
Victor touched his necklace.
Richard nodded.
Victor removed it.
Ava grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.”
Victor looked at her.
“Your father is alive.”
“He’ll kill him anyway.”
Richard laughed.
“She learns quickly.”
Victor clenched his jaw.
Richard continued.
“The two medallions contain matching halves of an account key.”
Marcus frowned.
“Account?”
“A very old account.”
Victor stared.
“How much?”
Richard smiled.
“Today? Roughly four hundred eighty million dollars.”
Ava nearly laughed.
“All this for money?”
Richard’s eyes sharpened.
“Everything is eventually about money.”
“No.”
Ava shook her head.
“My mother wasn’t.”
Richard’s smile faded.
“And that was her mistake.”
Victor placed his medallion on the table.
Richard reached for it.
Marcus moved.
Fast.
He kicked the table upward.
Victor tackled one guard.
Ava dove behind the couch.
Gunfire erupted.
Richard shouted.
Marcus disarmed one man and struck another.
Victor grabbed Ava.
“Move!”
They ran through a side door.
Marcus followed.
Richard screamed behind them.
“You won’t find Daniel!”
They escaped through the kitchen.
Outside, Marcus stole an SUV.
Ava jumped inside.
Victor slammed the door.
They sped away.
Ava looked at Marcus.
“You left both medallions.”
“No.”
Marcus opened his palm.
Victor’s medallion was there.
Victor stared.
“When?”
Marcus almost smiled.
“Marine.”
Ava didn’t.
“My father.”
Marcus nodded.
“We find him.”
“How?”
Victor looked thoughtful.
“Richard made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He told us Daniel was safe.”
Ava frowned.
“That’s a mistake?”
“It means Daniel is useful.”
Marcus understood.
“He’ll keep him alive.”
Victor nodded.
“For now.”
Ava looked at the medallion.
“What does Daniel know?”
Victor answered.
“Probably the account access protocol.”
Marcus checked his phone.
“I can trace Crowe’s old vehicle network.”
Ava looked out the window.
Thirty minutes later Marcus found a signal.
An abandoned nursing facility north of the city.
They arrived at dusk.
The building was dark.
Too quiet.
Victor opened the door.
Marcus went first.
They moved down a hallway.
Room 112.
Empty.
Room 114.
Empty.
Then Ava heard coughing.
“Dad?”
No answer.
She ran toward the sound.
“Ava!” Marcus hissed.
Too late.
She opened a door.
Daniel sat tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
Alive.
“Dad!”
She rushed forward.
Daniel’s eyes widened.
“No!”
Ava stopped.
Click.
A pressure plate shifted beneath her shoe.
Daniel looked down.
A wire ran from the floor to a brick of explosives.
May you like
“Ava,” he whispered, terrified.
“Do not move your foot.”
