Chapter 6 - Nobody Walks Away From Vincent Carter
Vincent slammed his fist against the locked office door and shouted, "Anthony, open this door!"
Madison held the newborn blood-screening report beneath the desk lamp.
One line had been circled in red.
PATERNAL DNA INCONSISTENCY.
Then Leo began crying.
"Anthony!"
Vincent pulled his gun and fired once into the electronic lock.
Madison flinched.
"Are you insane? Leo is right here!"
Vincent stopped.
The baby's cries sharpened.
Madison immediately turned away from the door and lifted Leo from his carrier.
"It's okay."
Her voice softened instantly.
"Mommy's here."
Vincent watched her cradle their son.
Their son.
The words suddenly felt like a question someone else had forced into his head.
He hated that.
Madison noticed him staring.
Her expression changed.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to."
Vincent looked at the paper again.
"I don't believe it."
"Then why are you looking at him like that?"
"I'm not."
"You are."
She stepped closer.
"You walked into my hospital room fifteen days late. You discovered I'd left you. You found out my dead brother was alive. Somebody tried to shoot us. And now one piece of paper appears on your desk and suddenly you're wondering whether your son belongs to you."
"No."
"Vincent—"
"I said no."
His voice was low.
Certain.
He took the document from her.
"This is fake."
Madison stared at him.
"How do you know?"
"Because I know you."
The simplicity of the answer silenced her.
Vincent examined the page.
Hospital logo.
Patient number.
Date.
Doctor's signature.
It looked legitimate.
That was exactly why he didn't trust it.
"Anthony wants me to doubt you."
"Why?"
"Because doubt makes people stupid."
"And shooting doors doesn't?"
Vincent looked at the bullet hole.
"Fair."
Despite everything, Madison almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the intercom crackled.
Anthony's voice returned.
"Always so certain, Vincent."
Vincent raised his eyes.
"Show yourself."
"I'm disappointed."
"Get in line."
"You should read the report."
"I did."
"And?"
Vincent tore it in half.
Madison stared at him.
He tore it again.
Then dropped the pieces onto the desk.
"My son is my son."
Silence from the intercom.
Then Anthony laughed.
"You haven't changed."
"No. But apparently you have."
"Have I?"
"You lied about Madison."
"I protected the organization."
"You intercepted medical information."
"You were dealing with a crisis."
"A crisis you created?"
Anthony didn't answer.
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"That's what I thought."
Madison looked at him.
"You think Anthony arranged the docks?"
"I think somebody did."
The intercom clicked again.
"You were always clever, Vincent. Just never clever enough to understand what family costs."
Vincent stepped toward the speaker.
"You want to discuss family? Come downstairs."
"I practically raised you."
"And now you're hiding behind a wall."
"I kept you alive."
Vincent's expression darkened.
"You kept me useful."
A pause.
Madison sensed something old between them.
Something deeper than business.
"Vincent," Anthony said, "your father made the same mistake you're making."
Vincent became still.
"Don't talk about my father."
"He chose sentiment over survival."
"He was murdered."
"Exactly."
The intercom went silent.
Madison studied Vincent.
His face had become unreadable.
"What did he mean?"
"Nothing."
"Vincent."
"Later."
"No."
Madison shifted Leo against her shoulder.
"We're locked in your office while your uncle talks to us through an intercom and someone forged a medical report about my child. There is no later."
Vincent looked at her.
She held his gaze.
"Tell me."
He exhaled.
"My father wanted out."
"Out of what?"
"Everything."
"The organization?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Vincent looked at Leo.
"For my mother."
Madison had heard almost nothing about Vincent's mother.
She knew Elena Carter had died when Vincent was eleven.
Cancer, she'd been told.
His father had been killed four years later.
Anthony had raised Vincent afterward.
At least, that was the story.
"My father planned to dismantle parts of the business," Vincent said. "He wanted legitimate companies. Real estate. Construction. Shipping."
"And Anthony?"
"Thought he was weak."
Madison looked toward the speaker.
"You think Anthony killed your father?"
Vincent didn't answer.
That answer frightened her.
A buzzing sound came from the wall.
The lock released.
Vincent immediately raised his gun.
The door opened three inches.
Nothing.
"Stay here."
Madison laughed once.
"Absolutely not."
"Madison."
"The last time you told me to stay somewhere while you handled something, I gave birth without you."
The words stopped him.
Madison walked past.
Vincent caught her arm gently.
"At least let me go first."
She looked at his hand.
He released her.
"Fine."
Vincent opened the door.
Empty hallway.
Two security guards lay unconscious near the staircase.
Vincent checked one.
"Alive."
Madison hugged Leo tighter.
"Where's the rest of your security?"
"That's what I'd like to know."
They moved downstairs.
The house looked untouched.
Too untouched.
Vincent knew every sound in that building.
Tonight it sounded wrong.
No guards speaking through earpieces.
No staff moving through the kitchen.
No television from the security room.
Nothing.
They reached the foyer.
The front doors stood open.
Outside, one of Vincent's SUVs burned near the gate.
Madison stopped.
"Oh my God."
"Stay inside."
"No."
Vincent looked at her.
"Can you please disagree with me after someone stops trying to kill you?"
"I've spent three years agreeing with you."
"Madison."
"And look where it got me."
Vincent had no response.
A groan came from behind them.
Nico.
Daniel supported him as they entered through a side corridor.
Blood covered Nico's shirt.
"You're supposed to be at the safe house," Vincent said.
"Safe house wasn't safe," Daniel replied.
Vincent looked at Nico.
"How bad?"
"Through the shoulder."
Nico forced a smile.
"Ruined another suit."
Vincent didn't smile.
"Who breached the house?"
"Your own men."
That answer landed hard.
"Names."
"Half the west security team."
"Anthony?"
Nico nodded.
"Looks that way."
Daniel looked toward Madison.
"You okay?"
"For now."
"Leo?"
"Fine."
Daniel approached.
Vincent moved between them instinctively.
Daniel stopped.
"Seriously?"
Vincent's eyes hardened.
"You don't get near her until you explain why you're alive."
Madison stepped around her husband.
"He's my brother."
"He's also the man who betrayed my father."
Daniel laughed.
"That's what Anthony told you?"
Vincent raised his gun.
Madison stepped directly between them.
"Put it down."
"Move."
"No."
"Madison."
"Put. It. Down."
Vincent stared at Daniel over her shoulder.
Then slowly lowered the weapon.
Daniel shook his head.
"Still taking orders from dead men."
"Careful."
"No, Vincent. You be careful."
Daniel removed his coat.
Beneath it was a faded scar across his chest.
"Seven years ago, I discovered money disappearing from Carter accounts."
Vincent's expression changed.
"That was you?"
"I traced it to offshore companies."
"You stole from us."
"I was investigating theft."
"My father trusted you."
"Your father asked me to investigate it."
Vincent froze.
Daniel continued.
"Your father knew Anthony was moving money."
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
"My father died before you joined the organization."
"Publicly."
Vincent stared.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Your father recruited me eighteen months before he died. Off the books."
"You're lying."
"I have proof."
"Convenient."
"That's why Anthony tried to kill me."
Madison looked between them.
"Daniel told me Vincent was responsible for everyone thinking he was dead."
Daniel's face tightened.
"Indirectly."
Vincent turned toward him.
"Explain."
"You gave the order."
Silence.
Madison looked at Vincent.
"What order?"
Vincent's face had gone cold.
Daniel answered for him.
"Seven years ago, somebody told Vincent I was selling Carter information to federal agents."
"I had evidence."
"You had photographs Anthony manufactured."
"You met an FBI agent."
"Yes."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
"Because your father told me to."
"My father was dead."
"Your father prepared instructions before he died."
Vincent's certainty flickered.
Daniel saw it.
"He knew someone inside the family was coming for him."
"Stop."
"He knew."
"Stop."
"And he was right."
Vincent grabbed Daniel by the collar.
Madison moved forward.
"Vincent!"
Daniel didn't resist.
"You want the truth?"
"I want you to stop saying my father's name."
"Why? Because Anthony taught you dead men can't contradict him?"
Vincent shoved Daniel against the wall.
Leo started crying.
The sound cut through everything.
Vincent released Daniel immediately.
Madison walked away with the baby.
"Enough."
Both men went silent.
"Whatever happened seven years ago can wait until my son is somewhere safe."
Vincent nodded.
"Agreed."
Daniel straightened his shirt.
"I know somewhere."
"No," Vincent said.
"You don't even know where."
"I don't care."
Daniel laughed.
"Your house just got taken over by your uncle."
Vincent stepped toward him.
"Not helping."
Nico leaned against the wall.
"Daniel's right."
Vincent turned.
Nico continued.
"We need somewhere Anthony doesn't know."
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a key.
"Your father had a place."
Vincent stared at it.
"What place?"
"A house in Wisconsin."
"My father never owned property there."
"Not under his name."
Daniel tossed him the key.
Vincent caught it.
A small brass tag hung from the ring.
E.C.
Vincent stopped breathing.
His mother's initials.
Elena Carter.
"Where did you get this?"
"Your father."
"When?"
"Three days before he died."
Vincent looked at Daniel.
"He told me if anything happened to him, I should disappear."
"And you waited seven years to tell me?"
"I tried once."
"When?"
"The warehouse."
Vincent remembered.
Daniel bleeding on concrete.
Vincent standing over him.
Anthony beside Vincent.
The gun in Vincent's hand.
Daniel had tried to speak.
Vincent had walked away before he finished.
His stomach tightened.
"Who helped you survive?"
Daniel glanced at Nico.
Nico looked surprised.
"Not me."
Daniel's expression became complicated.
"Someone Vincent won't want to hear about."
"Try me."
"Your mother."
Vincent didn't move.
Madison stared.
"His mother died when he was eleven."
Daniel looked at Vincent.
"No."
Vincent's face emptied.
Daniel continued carefully.
"Elena Carter disappeared when you were eleven."
"I watched her coffin go into the ground."
"Closed coffin."
"She had cancer."
"She was poisoned."
Vincent crossed the distance between them.
"Say another word."
"Anthony needed your father isolated."
"Shut up."
"Your mother survived."
Vincent punched him.
Daniel hit the wall.
Madison gasped.
Nico grabbed Vincent.
"Boss!"
Vincent shoved him away.
"He's lying."
Daniel wiped blood from his mouth.
"I wish I were."
"She's dead."
"Then why do you think your father bought a house under her name?"
Vincent stared at the key.
His hand trembled.
Barely.
But Madison saw it.
She had never seen Vincent's hands shake.
Not once.
Daniel took out his phone.
"I have a photograph."
Vincent didn't respond.
Daniel opened it.
Then handed him the phone.
A woman stood beside a lake.
Older.
Silver threaded through dark hair.
Her face was partially turned away.
But Vincent recognized the profile.
He remembered that nose.
That mouth.
The small scar near her temple from when she'd fallen off a bicycle as a child.
His mother.
The photograph had been taken three months ago.
Vincent stared at it.
"No."
Madison moved beside him.
"Vincent..."
"No."
Daniel's voice softened.
"She's alive."
Vincent looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
For years, Anthony had been the man who saved him.
The man who raised him.
The man who taught him that weakness invited death.
If Daniel was telling the truth, Anthony hadn't saved Vincent after his parents were gone.
He had made sure they were gone.
Nico's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yeah?"
His expression changed.
He walked away.
Vincent barely noticed.
Madison did.
"Nico?"
He turned.
"We have another problem."
Vincent finally looked up.
"What?"
"The hospital."
"What about it?"
"I had someone verify Leo's records."
Madison stiffened.
"And?"
"The report in your office was fake."
Vincent nodded once.
"I knew it."
"But..."
Nico stopped.
Madison's stomach dropped.
"But what?"
"There is an irregularity in the real records."
Vincent stared at him.
"What irregularity?"
"The hospital logged two newborn blood samples under Leo's patient number."
Madison went pale.
"Two?"
"Collected forty-three minutes apart."
"That's impossible."
"Apparently not."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who authorized the second sample?"
Nico checked his phone.
"Doctor named Evelyn Ross."
Madison frowned.
"I don't know that name."
"She isn't on your medical team."
"Then who is she?"
Nico's expression darkened.
"According to the hospital, she doesn't exist."
Vincent immediately took out his phone.
"Get the original samples."
"Already requested."
"Security footage?"
"Being pulled."
Madison looked at Leo.
Her baby slept peacefully.
A horrible thought entered her mind.
"No."
Vincent saw her face.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
"Madison."
"After surgery..."
She struggled to remember.
Everything had been blurred by medication.
Pain.
Blood loss.
Fear.
"When I woke up, Leo wasn't with me."
"That's normal," Nico said.
"For how long?"
Madison closed her eyes.
"Hours."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Madison, what are you thinking?"
"I don't know."
"Tell me."
She opened her eyes.
"When they finally brought him back, I asked why his hospital bracelet looked different."
Vincent's expression changed.
"What did they say?"
"That the first one had been damaged."
Nico and Daniel exchanged a look.
Vincent noticed.
"Don't."
Nico frowned.
"Boss?"
"Don't look at each other like that."
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Vincent answered.
Nobody spoke.
"Who is this?"
Static.
Then a woman's voice.
Old.
Shaking.
"Vincent?"
Every trace of anger vanished from his face.
Madison watched him.
Vincent's lips parted.
The voice came again.
"My boy?"
The phone nearly slipped from his hand.
"Mom?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
Nico went still.
Madison covered her mouth.
Vincent stepped away from everyone.
"Where are you?"
"There's no time."
His eyes filled with something Madison had never seen before.
Not tears.
Something even more vulnerable.
The eleven-year-old boy he had once been.
"Tell me where you are."
"Vincent, listen to me."
"I'm listening."
"Anthony knows about the house."
Vincent looked at Daniel.
Daniel immediately reached for his gun.
Elena continued.
"You cannot bring Madison there."
"Why?"
"Because that's where he wants her."
Vincent's blood chilled.
"How do you know?"
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Elena gasped.
"Mom?"
No answer.
"Mom."
Footsteps.
Then Anthony's voice came through the line.
Calm.
Close.
"Hello, nephew."
Vincent's face changed.
"Anthony."
"You've been asking so many questions."
"If you touch her—"
"I already did."
A muffled cry sounded in the background.
Vincent gripped the phone.
"What do you want?"
"You."
"Then you have me."
"Not yet."
"Name the place."
Anthony laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"This was never about taking your empire."
Vincent looked at Madison.
Anthony continued.
"It was about making sure you never had an heir."
Madison's arms tightened around Leo.
Vincent went completely still.
"What did you do?"
Anthony didn't answer.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?"
The call ended.
At that exact moment, Nico's phone chimed.
He looked down.
Hospital security footage had arrived.
"Boss."
Vincent turned.
Nico's face had gone white.
"What?"
Nico held out the phone.
The video showed a nurse pushing a newborn bassinet through a restricted corridor forty-three minutes after Leo's birth.
Another woman waited beside an elevator.
She wore medical scrubs.
A mask covered half her face.
But when she turned toward the security camera, Madison recognized her eyes.
"No..."
Vincent grabbed the phone.
The woman removed her mask.
Sofia Bellini.
She reached into the bassinet.
May you like
The elevator doors opened.
And another newborn was already waiting inside.
