Chapter 12 - A Promise Made Beneath a Loaded Gun
Raymond entered unarmed.
I didn't believe that meant harmless.
"Where did you get the necklace?"
"Victor."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to take you to him."
Marcus drew his weapon.
Raymond ignored him.
"Victor wants the chip."
"He knows prosecutors have it."
"He doesn't care anymore."
"Then what does he want?"
"You."
Of course.
Men like Victor eventually stopped fighting for money.
They fought for revenge.
Raymond had spent years pretending loyalty to Victor to protect our family.
That explained his kidnapping of Noah.
He had been trying to pull Noah out before Victor could reach him.
Bad method.
Right reason.
I still punched him.
He accepted it.
"Fair."
We made a plan.
Victor waited at an abandoned hotel.
I went wearing a wire.
Elena stopped me before I left.
"Don't promise you'll come back."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because people make promises they can't control."
"What should I promise?"
She touched my face.
"Promise you'll try."
"I promise."
She kissed me.
Then Noah ran down the stairs.
"Dad."
I crouched.
He hugged me.
"Come home."
Three years of silence.
Now those two words mattered more than every fortune I owned.
"I'll try."
At the hotel, Victor waited alone.
Or appeared to.
"Chip."
"Gone."
"Then why come?"
"To see the man who killed my wife."
Victor smiled.
"I didn't kill Hannah."
"You ordered the crash."
"I ordered fear."
"Same difference."
"No. Your father taught me that."
I refused the bait.
"You're finished."
"Maybe."
He raised a gun.
"But so are you."
A laser sight appeared on my chest.
Sniper.
Then another.
Raymond had been wrong.
Victor wasn't alone.
My wire went dead.
Signal jammer.
Victor stepped closer.
"One last question, Preston."
"What?"
"How much is your promise to Elena worth?"
My blood chilled.
He turned a phone toward me.
Live video.
May you like
Elena and Noah.
Someone was inside my house.
