Chapter 13 - THE BABY
Ava screamed.
Daniel caught her before she fell.
“No.”
Marcus grabbed his keys.
Victor blocked him.
“Think.”
“I am thinking.”
“You go angry, you die angry.”
Ava pushed between them.
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
Marcus looked at his phone.
A message arrived.
A photograph.
Noah.
Alive.
Wrapped in his blue blanket.
Ava sobbed.
Below it:
MIDNIGHT. HARBOR POINT. BRING AVA AND BOTH KEYS.
Ava wiped her face.
“I’m going.”
Daniel immediately said, “No.”
Ava turned.
“He’s my child.”
“They’ll kill you.”
“Then help me make sure they don’t.”
Victor looked at Marcus.
“We need the second medallion.”
Crowe had taken it.
But Marcus had placed a tracker inside the clasp years ago when Victor first started receiving threats.
The signal was moving.
Harbor Point.
“Richard has both the baby and Victor’s medallion,” Marcus said.
Daniel nodded.
“He still needs Ava’s blood signature.”
Ava looked at him.
“Then I’m the advantage.”
At 11:52 p.m. they reached Harbor Point.
The old warehouse had been rebuilt as a shipping terminal.
Richard waited inside.
Crowe stood beside him.
Noah’s carrier rested on a table.
Ava’s entire body shook.
“Give me my son.”
Richard smiled.
“Open the vault.”
A laptop sat nearby.
Daniel stepped forward.
Richard’s men aimed weapons.
“Not you.”
Richard pointed at Ava and Victor.
They approached.
Victor whispered, “When I say down, get down.”
Ava didn’t look at him.
“I’m not leaving without Noah.”
“You won’t.”
They inserted the medallion key.
The system requested biometric confirmation.
Victor pressed his thumb.
Ava pressed hers.
ACCESS GRANTED.
Numbers appeared.
Hundreds of millions.
Files.
Richard smiled.
“Finally.”
Ava looked toward Noah.
“Now give him to me.”
Richard nodded at Crowe.
Crowe lifted the carrier.
Then stopped.
Ava saw it.
Something in Crowe’s face.
Fear.
Richard frowned.
“Give her the baby.”
Crowe slowly looked toward him.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
Richard’s voice sharpened.
“What?”
Crowe held Noah closer.
“I said no.”
Ava stared.
Crowe looked at her.
“I didn’t kill your mother.”
Richard’s face changed.
Crowe continued.
“I was there. I saw what they did.”
Richard raised his cane.
“You stupid—”
Crowe drew his gun.
But he didn’t aim at Ava.
He aimed at Richard.
“I’ve spent twenty-seven years doing your dirty work.”
Richard’s guards raised their weapons.
Crowe shouted,
“Enough!”
Gunfire erupted.
Victor pulled Ava down.
Marcus entered from the loading bay.
Daniel attacked one guard.
Crowe shoved Noah’s carrier across the floor.
“Ava!”
She crawled toward it.
Bullets tore through wooden crates.
Ava reached Noah.
She covered him.
Then heard a gunshot behind her.
Crowe fell.
Richard held a small pistol.
Ava stared.
Richard slowly turned the weapon toward her.
“You should have died with your mother.”
May you like
Before he could fire, Daniel stepped between them.
The gun went off.
