Chapter 5 - The Ghost in the Penthouse
Adrian pointed his gun toward the bedroom.
The closet door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Deep lines across his face.
Julian stopped breathing.
Marco whispered, “No.”
Adrian knew the man from photographs.
From his father’s files.
From old nightmares.
Dominic Raines raised both empty hands.
“Hello, Adrian.”
Adrian fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Dominic’s head.
Ellie screamed.
Dominic did not move.
“That was close.”
“The next one won’t be.”
“Then shoot.”
Adrian aimed at his chest.
Dominic smiled faintly.
“If you kill me, Claire Hart dies in six minutes.”
Adrian’s finger remained on the trigger.
“You lie well.”
“So did your father.”
“Where is Claire?”
“Pier 17.”
“Who has her?”
“Men who obey instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“To kill her if I don’t call.”
Julian moved forward.
“You used me.”
Dominic looked at him.
“I educated you.”
“You murdered Nathan.”
Dominic’s expression did not change.
“Nathan made a choice.”
Julian lunged.
Marco caught him.
“Not now.”
Dominic looked at Ellie.
“There she is.”
Adrian stepped between them.
“You look at her again and I’ll remove your eyes.”
Dominic smiled.
“That temper. Pure Lorenzo.”
Adrian raised the pistol higher.
“Why the girl?”
“Because her father was smarter than all of you.”
“Thomas is dead.”
“Yes.”
“What did he leave?”
Dominic’s smile faded.
“The part of Lorenzo’s archive I could never find.”
Adrian held the microfilm behind his back.
“You mean this?”
For the first time, Dominic’s eyes changed.
There.
Greed.
Fear.
Adrian saw both.
“You found it.”
“Apparently.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Then Claire dies.”
“You came here personally. That means you need it more than you need Claire.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Adrian continued.
“If killing her solved your problem, she’d already be dead.”
Dominic said nothing.
“So now we negotiate.”
“You sound like your father.”
“Better than sounding like you.”
Dominic looked at Marco.
“You never told him?”
Marco’s face hardened.
“Told me what?” Adrian asked.
Dominic smiled again.
“Marco was supposed to kill Lorenzo.”
Adrian turned toward Marco.
Marco shook his head.
“No.”
Dominic laughed.
“He can deny it. He was there.”
“Marco?”
“I refused.”
The words came immediately.
Adrian stared.
Marco stepped forward.
“Lorenzo asked me to stage his death.”
Silence.
Even Dominic stopped smiling.
Adrian felt the room tilt.
“What?”
Marco swallowed.
“Your father knew Dominic was closing in. He wanted to disappear.”
“But he died.”
“Yes.”
“You said stage.”
“It was supposed to be staged.”
“What went wrong?”
“Dominic found out.”
Dominic’s expression darkened.
Marco continued.
“The car was supposed to be empty when it crashed. Lorenzo changed plans at the last second. Said he needed to collect something himself.”
“The microfilm.”
“Yes.”
“And you let him drive.”
“I tried to stop him.”
Adrian’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“You let my father get into a car you knew had been altered.”
“The brakes were supposed to fail at low speed. A controlled crash. He was meant to walk away and disappear.”
Dominic said, “Touching.”
Marco ignored him.
“But someone cut the backup line.”
Adrian looked at Dominic.
Dominic smiled.
“There it is.”
“You killed him.”
“I corrected his betrayal.”
Adrian fired.
This time the bullet struck Dominic’s shoulder.
He fell against the wall.
Ellie covered her ears.
Julian shouted, “Adrian!”
Dominic grabbed his shoulder.
Blood spread through his shirt.
“You idiot.”
Adrian walked toward him.
“Claire.”
Dominic laughed through the pain.
“You think she’s innocent?”
Adrian stopped.
“Careful.”
“She lied to you for six months.”
“To protect her daughter.”
“To protect Thomas’s secret.”
“Same thing.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian saw the trap.
He didn’t ask.
Dominic answered anyway.
“Thomas Hart is alive.”
Ellie gasped.
Adrian turned toward her.
Her face had gone white.
“My dad is dead.”
Dominic smiled.
“That’s what your mother told you.”
“Stop.”
Adrian’s voice silenced him.
Ellie looked at Adrian.
“Is he lying?”
Adrian crouched beside her.
“I don’t know.”
“Mom said Dad died.”
“I know.”
“Why would she lie?”
“I don’t know.”
Tears filled Ellie’s eyes.
Dominic chuckled.
“Because adults always have noble reasons for destroying children.”
Adrian stood and struck him across the face.
“Speak to her again and I finish it.”
Dominic spat blood.
“Pier 17. Ask Claire yourself.”
Adrian looked at Marco.
“Can we move him?”
“Yes.”
Dominic laughed.
“You have four minutes.”
Adrian grabbed his collar.
“Then call.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian pressed the barrel into his wounded shoulder.
“Call.”
“You need me conscious.”
“I need your voice. Pain doesn’t stop that.”
Dominic studied him.
Then smiled faintly.
“Lorenzo would be proud.”
“I don’t care.”
Dominic gave them the number.
Marco dialed.
A man answered.
Dominic spoke.
“Hold.”
One word.
Then he hung up.
Adrian said, “That bought what?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Good.”
Adrian handed the phone to Marco.
“Call Reed.”
Reed answered on the second ring.
“We found the warehouse. No Claire.”
“Then she’s somewhere on the pier.”
“I’ve got two detectives I trust.”
“Bring them.”
“You telling me to raid your property?”
“I’m telling you to save a woman.”
Reed paused.
“Who’s with you?”
Adrian looked at Dominic.
“A dead man.”
They left through a private service corridor Dominic had used to enter the apartment.
Adrian wanted to know how he knew it existed.
Dominic only said Lorenzo showed him.
That answer hurt more than Adrian expected.
His father’s secrets seemed endless.
At the garage, they found an armored SUV untouched.
Marco drove.
Julian sat beside Dominic in back with a gun pressed into his ribs.
Ellie sat with Adrian.
She said nothing for several minutes.
Then whispered, “Do you think my dad is alive?”
Adrian looked at her.
“I think Dominic wants you confused.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
She waited.
Adrian said, “I don’t know.”
Ellie nodded.
She seemed to prefer uncertainty over false comfort.
They reached Pier 17 in twelve minutes.
Reed was waiting behind an abandoned warehouse.
Two plainclothes detectives stood with him.
Reed looked at Dominic.
His eyebrows rose.
“That’s Dominic Raines.”
“Yes.”
“He’s legally dead.”
“Apparently he disagrees.”
Reed looked at Ellie.
“Child shouldn’t be here.”
“I agree.”
Ellie said, “My mom is here.”
Reed studied her.
Then Adrian.
“Fine. She stays behind cover with Mason.”
One detective nodded.
Adrian handed Ellie his coat.
“You stay with him.”
She clutched the sleeve.
“You promised.”
“I know.”
“Bring her back.”
“I will.”
Adrian entered the warehouse with Marco, Julian, Reed and Dominic.
They found blood.
A chair.
Rope.
No Claire.
Adrian looked at Dominic.
“You said she was here.”
“She was.”
“Where now?”
Dominic smiled.
“You’re thinking too small.”
A freight door opened across the warehouse.
A woman stumbled through.
Claire.
Ellie saw her from outside and screamed.
“Mom!”
Claire looked toward the voice.
“Ellie!”
Adrian moved toward her.
Dominic suddenly shouted, “NOW!”
Gunfire erupted from the catwalk.
Reed pulled Claire behind cover.
Marco fired upward.
Julian dragged Dominic down.
Adrian turned toward Ellie.
A masked man had grabbed her.
Mason lay unconscious.
Ellie kicked and screamed.
Adrian ran.
The masked man dragged her toward a waiting vehicle.
Adrian fired once.
Missed.
He couldn’t risk hitting her.
“ELLIE!”
The man threw her into the back seat.
Adrian reached the vehicle just as it accelerated.
He grabbed the door handle.
His feet slipped.
He fell hard.
The SUV vanished through the open gate.
Claire screamed behind him.
Adrian pushed himself up.
Then he saw something lying on the pavement.
Ellie’s bracelet.
Broken.
The blue bead split open.
Inside was not paper.
It was a tracking chip.
Claire stared at it.
Then at Adrian.
“I put that there four years ago.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Why?”
Claire’s face collapsed.
“Because Thomas told me one day Dominic would come for our daughter.”
Adrian grabbed the tracker receiver from her shaking hand.
A red point moved across the city.
Fast.
Toward one destination.
Vale Memorial Cemetery.
May you like
The place where Lorenzo Vale was buried.
And where Thomas Hart’s grave stood beside him.
